The English Schools Athletics Association (ESAA) has revealed Vinco is to be the official broadcaster for its 2014 national track and field championships.
It means the championship will not be shown on satellite TV for the first time since 2008 as it will be replaced by a live internet stream. However, in previous years Sky had concentrated its coverage on the finals on the second day whereas the action will be shown in its entirety by Vinco.
The exclusive deal crowns a superb year for the Sheffield-based broadcaster as it has also secured the streaming rights to the Europe Athletisme Promotion (EAP) programme across Europe, and has also streamed several high-profile meetings in the UK. It has also provided interviewers and social media commentary at the British Championships and Diamond League fixtures.
“We’re really happy to be able to covering the ESAA Champs this year. It’s the biggest event in the calendar for the junior athletes in the country, and if it hadn’t been shown anywhere it would have been a travesty,” said Matt Quine, managing director and founder of Vinco.
“There’ll be full track and field coverage from the Friday and Saturday and we’ll interview the winners and medallists from the Champs. Plus, we’ll have a full social media feed alongside the live streaming as well as live commentary. And afterwards athletes will be able to watch their races and field events back as we’ll have them all on our website pretty quickly.”
The ESAA Championships will take place on the 11th and 12th of July at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Athletes are selected to represent their counties at Junior (U15), Inter (U17) and Senior (U19) age groups and the event is generally considered as the most prestigious among those competing.
For more information on ESAA, please go to https://www.esaa.net/v2/2014/tf/tf14intro.php
