ZUG, Switzerland, 24 June 2008 – Infront Sports & Media has signed a three-year partnership agreement with the World Curling Federation (WCF). With this agreement, the Swiss-based sports marketing group underlines its leading position in the marketing of winter sports at the international level through official partnerships with six of the seven Olympic Winter Sports.

The contract will run from 2008-2011 with Infront having the option to renew and further extend the partnership. Infront's title will be "Official Marketing Partner of the World Curling Federation".

Championship events included in the contract are the annual Men's and Women's World Curling Championships and the annual European Curling Championship. Infront's role covers the exploitation of all media and marketing rights on a worldwide basis, except for territories where existing agreements are in place which are being reviewed with the partners concerned. In Canada, TSN remains the official WCF broadcast partner in an agreement that is in place until 2014.

The production of the broadcast and new media signal for worldwide distribution will continue to be handled by the WCF. It is already of high quality and the production also includes special highlights programming.

Attractive packages for sponsors

Infront is tasked with the development of a marketing hierarchy and attractive packages for sponsors, utilising exposure opportunities such as in-ice advertising; stadium and venue advertising and combining these with official sponsorship status and designations, use of marks, hospitality and promotional opportunities.

WCF President Les Harrison said: "The World Curling Federation is extremely pleased to have reached a partnership agreement allowing Infront to assist us in our efforts for the promotion and development of the sport of curling around the world. We are looking forward to a long term relationship beneficial to both of our organizations that will solidify the future growth and success of our sport.

"We also look forward to Ford of Canada's partnership over the next two years, starting with the 50th anniversary Ford World Men's Curling Championship in Moncton."

Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront said: "We are really proud to team up with the World Curling Federation. The sport is highly competitive and I am convinced that our marketing partnership will open a new era of commercial success. This agreement is also another key step in strengthening Infront's position as leading specialist in the marketing of international winter sports. Specialisation is potentially valuable to all
our clients in this area. We are now able to create even more opportunities and to
exploit synergies to full effect."

Bruno Marty, Executive Director Winter Sports, who will be responsible for theoperational aspects of the new relationship, added: "We are looking forward to working with the World Curling Federation to give curling a strong base for future expansion. The sport has a lot to offer to both commercial and broadcast partners and it is our aim to unlock its full potential."

Tradition and Sportsmanship

The game of curling is more than 500 years old. The earliest written records of curling were found in Scotland. Today curling is played throughout the world. Forty-four Member Associations belong to the WCF and the popularity of the sport is increasing. The sport is most firmly established in Canada and is growing fast in Europe and Asia.

An integral element of curling is sportsmanship, highlighted in the WCF rule book as "The Spirit of Curling". Even at the highest level, a curler is expected to "call his or her own fouls" such as drawing the opposition's attention to a touched stone.

Increasing popularity

The competition between two teams of four, played with stones on ice, was featured at the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, France in 1924 when the Outdoor Men's Curling Competition was won by Great Britain. After a gap of 74 years, it returned as an Olympic Winter Sport as an indoor competition at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games, with both men's and women's tournaments. Becoming an official Olympic sport, improvements in ice making and changes in the rules to make the game more attractive to spectators, and to promote complex strategy, have increased the popularity of the sport and its television audiences. This boosts the TV figures which rise continuously each year.

Curling as a TV sport

Interest in curling is growing, as the sport becomes more international. As well as the traditional winter sports countries, Asian teams have already qualified for the World Curling Championships and they will continue to do so and increase performance at future events. Among the top countries are Canada, Norway, Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, and competitive countries from Asia including Japan, China and Korea.

Curling is an attractive television sport. The competition is direct and simple, making comparison easy for the spectator, who can soon pick up the essentials of the sport. Players' voices can be heard by the viewers, making them feel very much part of the game, as the tension is prolonged and the excitement builds. The attributes needed for competitive curling include mental strength, physical endurance, precision and tactical ability.

A schedule of top events

There is an annual schedule of international events at the World Curling Championship and
European Curling Championship level, for both men and women.

• 2009 Ford World Men's Curling Championship - 4-12 April, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
• 2009 World Women's Curling Championship - 21-29 March, Gangneung, Korea
• 2010 World Men's Curling Championship - 3-11 April, Cortina, Italy
• 2010 Ford World Women's Curling Championship - 20-28 March, Canada (host city TBD)

• European Curling Championships (Men's and Women's combined)

2008 - 6-13 December, Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
2009 - 5-12 December, Aberdeen, Scotland
2010 - 4-11 December, Champery, Switzerland

The annual World Curling Championships involve the top 12 curling countries in the world. Each Championship takes nine days and is played to a round robin format to determine the qualification for the final rounds. While the Women's World Curling Championship is played in March each year the men's event takes place in April.

The European Curling Championships take place each December and are split into A and B groups where group A contains the top ten national teams. The final top eight countries of group A for men and women qualify for the next World Curling Championships.

Additional WCF Championships include the World Junior Curling Championships, the World Senior Curling Championships, the World Wheelchair Curling Championship (leading to the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games) and the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship.

About Infront Sports & Media

Infront Sports & Media, based in Zug, Switzerland, is an experienced international full service sports marketing company with a capacity for innovation that is helping to transform the industry.

These innovations have enhanced every area of sports marketing, including distribution of rights, host broadcast, programme production, event operations, brand development, sponsorship and even online entertainment.

The group is the strongest, most experienced marketing agency in the winter sports arena, now representing six of seven Olympic winter sport federations at the international level. Infront has 400 employees across 24 offices in 11 countries.

About WCF

The World Curling Federation is the international sports federation governing the Olympic winter sport of curling and the Paralympic winter sport of wheelchair curling with headquarters in Perth, Scotland. WCF represents 44 Member Associations and is generally  acknowledged to direct one of the fastest-growing international winter sports.