Zug, Switzerland, 20 April 2005 -- Infront Sports & Media has signed a long-term agreement with Finnish broadcasting company YLEISRADIO Oy (YLE) for the exclusive television and radio rights of the 2008 – 2011 IIHF World Championships in ice hockey, for the territory of Finland.

YLE has held the television and radio rights to the IIHF World Championships without a break since 1995 and was also the host broadcaster for the 1997 and 2003 championships in Finland, both extremely successful events. It has reconfirmed its commitment to ice hockey – a major sport in Finland - by securing the rights for an additional four competitions under this agreement.
 
YLE will broadcast the majority of the games live. The IIHF World Championships are among the most popular sports events on television in Finland. The audience figures in Finland have reached two million viewers at peak viewing times. In 2004, the top four sports events broadcast on domestic Finnish television were IIHF World Championship games.
 
The most recent 2004 IIHF World Championship, hosted in the Czech Republic, was an outstanding success, with a record number of spectators and 750 million television viewers worldwide during more than 1700 hours transmission time (70 % of it live). These statistics have confirmed the IIHF World Championship as the biggest annual winter sports event in the world.
 
 "This is the most important annual event in YLE's television rights portfolio", said Heikki Seppälä, YLE's Director of Programmes. "We entered negotiations with the objective of preserving these rights for YLE and we are very happy to have achieved this."
 
"This agreement represents good news for Infront, YLE and ice hockey fans across Finland and a major extension to the ongoing relationship between Infront and YLE." commented Oliver Seibert, Executive Director Media for Infront. "
 
Through its current agreement with Infront, YLE will broadcast the upcoming 2005 IIHF World Championships in Austria, the 2006 event in Latvia and the 2007 event in Russia. The current title holders Canada will host the championship in 2008 and in 2009 it will be in Switzerland. 
 
For further information, please contact:
John Kristick
Infront Sports & Media AG
Tel. +41-41-723 15 15
Fax. +41-41-723-15 16
info@infrontsports.com