IWGA Plans Launch of The World Games Channel
Ron Froehlich: “The new heart of our media strategy”
LAUSANNE (06/11/2013)
The International World Games Federation (IWGA) plans to launch its own video channel as an additional media platform for the top events of its member associations. During the SportAccord IF Forum in Lausanne, the TV & New Media Coordinator of the IWGA, Hagen Bossdorf, presented The World Games Channel project to representatives of the 35 member associations, under the tag: “Discover the World of Sports.” The positive reactions accorded to the presentation, also attended by IWGA President Ron Froehlich and CEO Joachim Gossow, clear the way for the next steps of implementation. The new video channel is planned to come on line early next year.
Following the presentation of the project in Lausanne, Ron Froehlich said: "The World Games Channel will be at the heart of our media strategy in the coming years. Already in Cali, the access figures showed that our sports attract the interest of the fans. A permanent platform is now needed that makes our events accessible, for example via live streaming and highlight shows. "
The 9th edition of The World Games in Cali / Colombia this summer was highly successful, with more than 500,000 visitors. So it is now the desire of the IWGA to expand the media presence of its sports on the internet with a dedicated channel. In this way, multi-sport events can be successfully promoted in the run-up to The World Games 2017 in Wroclaw.
Hagen Bossdorf described the channel as an opportunity to present the outstanding competitions of member federations under the auspices of IWGA, and to combine events within the World Games family. "We see this as an advantage for the federations, to which we provide an additional media channel, as well as for the IWGA itself. A joint showcase reinforces the perception of The World Games brand. We would also like to be perceived as a family in the years between The World Games. "
The decisive factor here is close cooperation with the Federations who feed their video content into the channel. The IWGA provides the platform to enable a continuous experience of these events worldwide. "So even between the individual editions of our multi-sport events, we are on air and so in people’s consciousness," added IWGA CEO Joachim Gossow.
Ron Froehlich concluded: „For us, it was important first to discuss The World Games Channel with the member associations and to obtain their support, because this is going to be a joint project. Enthusiasm for the idea was very clear. We received the support that’s vital for the implementation of the next steps. Our goal is now to go online officially as soon as possible in 2014 – in time for the next Sportaccord meeting.