Bell Media has reached an agreement with the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) securing media rights to a comprehensive soccer programming package from 2015 through to 2022, including exclusive Canadian broadcast rights to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar and the FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 in Canada.
Canadians can expect to see complete FIFA World Cup coverage in both English and French exclusively on Bell Media's industry leading platforms between 2015 and 2022. This includes English language coverage on CTV, Canada's #1 television network, as well as on TSN, Canada's #1 specialty channel, TSN2, TSN Radio, TSN.ca and TSN Mobile TV.
French language coverage airs exclusively on RDS, Canada's #1 French-language specialty channel, RDS2, RDS.ca, and RDS Mobile TV.
“The FIFA WORLD CUP is an event that galvanizes the world and has a demonstrated ability to touch all communities and cultures. Bell Media is proud to be Canada's leader in soccer broadcasting and we know the passion for the sport is sure to grow,” said Kevin Crull, President, Bell Media.
“We are honoured that FIFA has put their trust in Bell Media to bring these events to all Canadians. Our strategic vision has always been to give Canadians the industry's best coverage of the biggest events and we are fully committed to delivering the World Cup across multiple platforms like never before. All of us are looking forward to getting it all started on Canadian soil for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.”
“We are particularly pleased with the development of our media rights and the reach of our events. For every cycle we are reaching more fans than ever, and with the channels and media platforms of Bell Media we are in very good hands for the 2015-2022 period, ” said Niclas Ericson, Director of FIFA TV Division.
“This is a historic day for Bell Media and sports broadcasting in Canada. We are thrilled that FIFA has recognized our unmatched ability to produce, promote and market the World Cup to all Canadians,” said Phil King, President, CTV Programming and Sports. “Our production team has a long legacy of delivering outstanding coverage of major international events across multiple platforms. In this partnership, FIFA can expect Bell Media's coverage to not only serve avid Canadian soccer fans but also showcase their marquee events to non-traditional sports fans. We'll be working closely with our partners to put a national spotlight on 2015 Women's World Cup ensuring the event has a long-term impact on the future of soccer in Canada.”
Canada hosts the FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 featuring the top female soccer players from around the globe. Host cities and venues for the landmark event will be confirmed in the coming months.
The full programming package also includes other FIFA events between 2015 and 2022 including the Women's World Cup in 2019 along with the FIFA Men's and Women's U-20 and U-17 World Cups, FIFA Confederations Cup, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are also official broadcasters of Major League Soccer (MLS) as well as the exclusive Canadian broadcasters for EURO 2012 and EURO 2016.
