New agreement completes sponsorship line-up for ice hockey’s international top event

Zug, Switzerland/Linz, Austria, 1 April 2011 – Infront Sports & Media, the long-term marketing partner to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), has inked a new agreement with bet-at-home.com as new Official Sponsor of the 2011 IIHF World Championship. The agreement marks the end of a successful marketing and sales period for the tournament, resulting in a line up of 13 international top sponsors.

A well-established sponsor joins in
bet-at-home.com is one of the leading European online gambling and sports betting companies and is well established in sports sponsorship. Amongst others the company is involved in football, ski jumping, tennis, handball and club ice hockey. The Official Sponsorship package for the 2011 IIHF World Championship provides bet-at-home.com with product category exclusivity and guarantees the company a strong presence at all 56 games of the tournament. The agreement includes board advertising, brand exposure on the official event homepage and in all print materials as well as attractive hospitality opportunities throughout the two weeks of the event (29 April - 15 May 2011).

 

Major brands attracted by strong media exposure
For 2011, the sale of the sponsorship packages for the events has been a complete success with the media coverage year on year magnifying the value of the platform. In 2010, the cumulative television audience reached a record 734.7 million. The compliment of partners for the 2011 championship is a broad selection of well positioned international brands. Each company will benefit from involvement in the event receiving far-reaching brand exposure alongside the positive association of being connected with the premium event in international ice hockey.

 

Official Main Sponsor Škoda takes the lead and has been involved for almost 20 years, thereby establishing a GUINESS WORLD RECORD as the longest Main Sponsor of any World Championship in history. At the start of the year, Škoda presented a new corporate design concept, including a revised and modernised logo. This will be displayed at one of the most prominent platforms of the 2011 IIHF World Championship – the under ice advertising space in the middle of the rink.

 

There is a selection of twelve Official Sponsors that include: AJ (home and office furniture - Sweden), Bauhaus (home stores - Germany), Boehringer – with its brand Finalgon (OTC medicals - Germany), bet-at-home (betting – Austria), Heineken – with its Eastern European brands Ochota and Corgon (beer – the Netherlands), Henkel – present with the main brand Henkel, as well as with Ceresit and Thomsit (adhesives, detergents - Germany), Kyocera Mita (printing, faxing and copy-service - Japan), Nike (sports apparel - USA), Raiffeisen Bank International (banking - Austria), Tissot (watches/timing - Switzerland), YAT (spirits – Russia) and Zepter (home and kitchen ware, cosmetics, health lamps - France).

Highly popular communication platform
“The IIHF World Championship is an excellent platform for boosting our reputation and increasing awareness for our brand in major ice hockey markets, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe”, says Jochen Dickinger, Chairman of bet-at-home.com. “Being ourselves a part of the international sports business, we highly recognise the value of a wide-reaching sports sponsorship platform. Our miscellaneous sponsorship commitment in the past has proved highly beneficial and we are excited to see the results of being involved with such a global event as the IIHF World Championship.“

 

Bruno Marty, Infront’s Executive Director of Winter Sports, said: “bet-at-home.com completes a strong sponsor line-up for this year’s IIHF World Championship, clearly demonstrating that the popularity of the tournament as an international communication platform continues to soar. The attraction of new partners on the one hand and the dedication and long term commitment of existing brands is the very best proof that the joint efforts of the IIHF and Infront in marketing a highly attractive tournament remain successful.”

 

About bet-at-home.com
bet-at-home.com AG is part of the Betclic Everest Group, a leading European company in online gaming and sports betting. With currently over 2 million registered users from all European countries and listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange, the company is one of the most popular betting providers in Europe, especially Eastern Europe and German speaking countries. bet-at-home.com AG has holdings in Germany, Austria and Malta and offers sports betting, casino, games and poker on www.bet-at-home.com.

 

About Infront Sports & Media
Infront Sports & Media, based in Zug, Switzerland, has grown impressively in recent years to become one of the leading international sports marketing groups in the world. Known for its high standards of delivery, the company covers all aspects of a successful sport event – including distribution of media rights, sponsorship, media production and event operations. As a key player in winter sport, football and other summer sports, Infront enjoys long-lasting partnerships with 120 rights-holders and hundreds of sponsors and media companies. With an experienced and passionate team of 500 staff in over 20 offices across 10 countries, the Group helps to annually deliver more than 2,300 event days of top class sport around the world.

 

For further information, please contact:      
                        
Jörg Polzer / Nike Möhle              
Corporate Communications
Infront Sports & Media AG     
Tel. +41-41-723 15 15
Fax +41-41-723 15 16
press infrontsports.com
www.infrontsports.com

Claus Retschitzegger
Corporate Communications
bet-at-home.com
Tel.+43 732 9015 1024
Fax +43 732 9015 1001
retschitzegger bet-at-home.com
www.bet-at-home.com