Shortlisted among 7 other candidate sports to become a part of the Olympic Games in 2020, sport climbing, one of the cornerstones of the outdoor market, has strengthened its position among mainstream sports. The time has come for the IFSC to open up to new partnership opportunities, and offer a unique chance for companies to benefit from sport climbing’s fast growth and young connected community.
Sport climbing has experienced spectacular growth over the past two decades. Indoor climbing walls have sprouted up all over the world, and sport climbing has gained credibility not only as a competitive sport but also for its social values and associated lifestyle. Today, the climbing community includes 25 million climbers worldwide, with almost 3,000 new climbers joining the sport every day.
A sport like no other
“Climbing is unique because it represents one of the basic motor skills used throughout human evolution. Children can climb before they are able to walk. Climbing is not linked to technology but is primordial, an integral part of basic human nature. Climbing works in both the natural and urban environments, it represents a journey through the vertical world and beyond. Only body and mind are used to climb, apparel and tools exist only to protect the climber if gravity wins,” explains Anne Fuynel, IFSC Director of Marketing & Communications.
In addition, sport climbing has many other extremely appealing and positive attributes:
“Climbing appeals to those looking for alternative and/or outdoor activities. Young people love to climb: IFSC athletes are 20 years old on average, 56% of them are between 16 and 24. It is also an extremely inclusive sport: men and women, boys and girls, kids and seniors, and people with physical impairments all play on the same field. Last but not least, climbing is a formidable educational tool to fight obesity, social problems and discrimination and a low cost investment for individuals: 250 USD for elite level athletes and 150 USD for newcomers. Even less when you consider that climbing gyms provide equipment rentals,” adds Anne Fuynel.
An unprecedented partnership opportunity
As of now, the IFSC is in a position to market a complete set of sponsorship packages, along with available Title or Presenting Partner packages, allowing sponsors to procure all IFSC assets throughout the season. TheInternational Federation of Sport Climbing has set up tailor-made packages for climbing industry partners.
This initiative to open the IFSC platform to global commercial partners remains in line with the trend of new climbing facilities springing up all over the world and an everexpanding climbing community. Together with climbing outdoors on rock, sport climbing’s reach extends to enthusiasts in the heart of big cities like San Francisco, Beijing and Moscow.
Brands now have the opportunity to connect with the unique features of sport climbing. “This sport has all the excitement and adrenaline of the extreme sport that it is. Climbers make big dynamic movements in large overhangs hanging by their fingertips and can take big crowd-wowing falls. It also includes the grace and poise of gymnastics and the tension and endurance of strength sports, making it a fantastic spectacle to watch,” says Rob Adie from the British Mountaineering Council.
Main IFSC values:
– Creativity / sense of daring
– Agility (a combination of strength and grace)
– Serenity / self confidence
– Respect and support for Olympic values and principles
– Inexpensive
– Healthy and educational activity for youth
– Equality between men and women
– Competitive
– Sport for all
About the IFSC
The IFSC was created in 2007 and is a continuation of the International Council for Competition Climbing (ICC), which was created in 1997. The IFSC is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and member of ARISF, SportAccord and the International World Games Association. IFSC represents 81 active member Federations. The principal role of the IFSC is to oversee, regulate, promote, develop and further advance climbing competition on a worldwide scale.
For more information regarding sponsorship opportunities, please contact:
Anne Fuynel
IFSC Director of Marketing & Communications
anne.fuynel@ifsc-climbing.org
or
Aurélien Chaumaz
Sponsorship Manager, LC2
sponsorship@ifsc-climbing.org
+33 677 956 044 l Skype: aurelien.fwt
The IFSC by the numbers:
• 81 active member federations (almost all of them organize annual national championships),
• Biannual World Championships (since 1991),
• Annual World Youth Championships (since 1992),
• 40 international events per year,
• 1600 international memberships issued every year,
• 19,000 spectators for latest World Championships 2012, Paris-Bercy,
• 129,862 daily viewers for the whole event,
• 40,000 unique visitors per month on www.ifsc-climbing.org,
• More than 40,000 contacts on social medias,
• More than 80,000 views per month on YouTube,
• More than 50,000 viewers per LIVE event webcasting,
• Hundreds tweets during each World Cup thanks to the hashtag #IFSCwc.