IFSC Climbing World Cup live streaming remains free of charge
The IFSC, the International Federation of Sport Climbing, has just announced that the Climbing World Cup will be streamed free of charge. In its short press release the International Federation of Sport Climbing admitted that the agreement announced last week with Flosports for payment based viewing was an error, for which it apologises. A good news for all climbers in the world. And also for the development of the sport.
This is undeniably an overwhelming victory for the thousands of climbers who protested vehemently against the deal announced last week to render live streaming of sport climbing competitions subscription based. The IFSC Boulder World Cup opening ceremony in Meiringen got off to a feisty start, with all of the athletes displaying their disapproval of the recent announcement by showing red cards.
Free or not free ?
Historically all World Cup events could be streamed live for free. In a press release, the IFSC first stated, “This partnership with FloSports will allow the IFSC to invest more resources than ever before into Sport Climbing. This will result in a more viable economic environment for the events, host countries and athletes. The new deal will also allow the International Federation of Sport Climbing to create more content, high quality production. And more in depth coverage than ever before. This will allow the IFSC to reach a broader audience”. But IFSC decided to change his mind.
Official Statement of the International Federation of Sport Climbing
“It was made a mistake. And we apologize for that. The live streaming for International Federation of Sport Climbing will remain free of charge. In fact the same as it was at the 1st World Cup in Meiringen, Switzerland and in previous years. The deal – despite having been announced – has not been signed. And thus has not been concluded. Any possible future variation of this policy will be discussed inside the IFSC and subject to the approval of our key stakeholders.
Let’s keep climbing together.
Photo Eddie Fowke – IFSC
