The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and its exclusive marketing partner for the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, Infront Sports & Media, have announced a total of over 6,100 broadcast hours (+35% as compared to the 2013 edition) as the event was transmitted on TV and digital platforms in over 150 countries and territories (+29%). These are the highest results ever achieved. The cumulative audience totals at more than 945 million, which is the second best result in history*.

In addition to the media rights contracts with more than 60 broadcasters on all continents, Infront offered again a high quality video streaming service, which was fully integrated into the official event website. In regions where no media rights agreements were in place, supporters could buy access to individual games, highlights or subscribe to a tournament pass. The official mobile application of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship powered by Škoda was downloaded more than 314,000 times – outnumbering the previous year’s results by 9 per cent.

Confirming continuous growth

René Fasel, President of the IIHF, commented: “The media reach for the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship is truly remarkable – especially because it has been not a one-off, but a constant and significant growth over the last 15 years. The media performance of the flagship event in world ice hockey puts the success of our long-term partnership with Infront in numbers. Also, the fact that the programming was enthusiastically received both in traditional as well as in emerging ice hockey markets confirms the future growth vision we have for the sport.”