Universal Sports and ISU Ink Four-Year Deal

Universal Sports and UniversalSports.com will be the home of the International Skating Union's (ISU) key events through 2013, highlighted by the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, ISU Speed Skating Championships and ISU Short Track Speed Skating Championships. The announcement was made by Universal Sports Chairman and CEO Claude Ruibal and ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta.

"The ISU is thrilled to have a permanent home for our major competitions showcased by Universal Sports in the United States," Cinquanta said. "Our major figure and speed skating events and championships will be well-served by this partnership with Universal Sports, which will offer our viewers a vibrant, multi-platform opportunity to interact with our stars."

Details of the events and rights to be showcased annually by Universal Sports include the following:

ISU World Figure Skating Championships
ISU European Figure Skating Championships
ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships
ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships
ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Individual Events (5) and Final
(Does not include 2009-10 season and excludes all Skate America events).

“We’re very excited to have reached this wide-ranging deal with the ISU making Universal Sports the long-term home for key ISU events,” Ruibal said. “These prestigious events will provide our consumers with what has traditionally been some of the most compelling and entertaining Olympic sports content. As a new sports network, we are proud and encouraged that ISU has selected Universal Sports as their USA distributor to highlight their amazing athletes as they compete in their respective competitions.”

The ISU is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating.

Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, serves as a multiplatform destination for Olympic-related and lifestyle sports programming available on television and online. Universal Sports, available in 56 million homes, is in nine of the top 10 DMAs including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Houston, Seattle and Denver.

Major world championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports range from track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, as well as interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year round.

For more information on the availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, visit UniversalSports.tv.

________________________________________________________________________________

The Nov./Dec. 09 issue of International Figure Skating (IFS) magazine, which features Patrick Chan on the cover, is on newsstands. To subscribe, click HERE, email customerservice@madavor.com or call 800-437-5828. The digital issue costs $20 (U.S.) for a one-year subscription or is free with a print subscription, and provides you with access to ALL THE BACK ISSUES posted online.