BeIN Sports, the major international pay-TV broadcaster, has announced an exclusive three-year deal with governing body World Athletics to broadcast its flagship World Athletics Championships and other major competitions across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The deal, which runs through 2027, sees BeIN broadcast 12 top-tier athletics events across 24 countries, and started with last month’s World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing.
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Its coverage this year continues with the upcoming World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China, from May 10 to 11, and the flagship World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, from September 13 to 21.
The communications arm of Indian conglomerate Tata will provide coverage and broadcast content as part of its five-year host broadcasting deal with World Athletics, struck last year.
Under that deal, Tata Communications provides events across the World Athletics calendar with bespoke coverage and broadcast content, which it delivers across continents.
Mohammad Al-Subaie, chief executive of BeIN Media, has now said: “Securing the rights for the World Athletics Championships across 24 countries in MENA is another significant strategic achievement for BeIN and one that reinforces our commitment to providing world-class coverage of diverse sports to our extensive regional audience.
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By GlobalData“We now look forward to working with World Athletics to bring the excitement of athletics directly to new and current athletics fans throughout the region.”
Next year’s schedule includes the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun and the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, as well as the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships and the World Athletics Relays.
The last year of the partnership, meanwhile, will see two major events in China aired by BeIN – the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Yangzhou and the World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe commented: “We are delighted to have BeIN Sports as our exclusive broadcaster for World Athletics Series Events in the Middle East and North Africa.
“BeIN is renowned worldwide for the quality of its sports coverage and can help athletics reach new and existing fans in key markets for us in Africa and the Middle East.”
The new rights come shortly after BeIN secured an extension to its deal covering UEFA European club soccer competitions in MENA and several markets in Asia.
It has also unveiled the extension of its deal with the International Tennis Federation to continue showing the men’s Davis Cup and women’s Billie Jean King Cup national team competitions exclusively across MENA (and Australia) through 2026.
World Athletics, meanwhile, has been ramping up its commercial partners ahead of this year's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, signing Japanese companies Japan Airlines, Honda, the car manufacturer, and Otsuka Pharmaceutical as sponsors.
Japanese property management company Mori Building signed up as the event’s principal supporter in the real estate category.
The governing body also announced a renewal of its long-term partnership with Italian sports equipment company Mondo. As an official supplier, Mondo will be involved in all World Athletics Series stadium events from 2025 to 2029.
