Sport 24 To Provide Another First For Air Travelers With Live Coverage Of The 2014 FIFA World Cup™

Sport 24, the only 24/7 live sports channel exclusive to the in-flight industry, will broadcast live coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ this summer – the first time in history that passengers traveling by air will be able to experience the tournament as it happens.

Sport 24 will show all 64 matches in Brazil, the majority of which will be live, starting with the opening game on Thursday, June 12, 2014. The match coverage is produced by FIFA TV’s broadcast production team in Brazil before being tailored for in-flight viewing and distributed by IMG Media.

Richard Wise, Senior Vice President, IMG Media said, “We are committed to showing the biggest events live on Sport 24 and we are obviously therefore delighted that we will be carrying FIFA TV’s broadcast production of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ on the channel. Football fans who will need to travel by air during the tournament can now choose to do so safe in the knowledge that they need not miss any of the action in Brazil this summer.”

“For the first time in its history, the FIFA World Cup will be broadcast live by some 180 planes of commercial airliners including Emirates,” said Niclas Ericson, Director of FIFA’s TV Division. “It is one of the many innovations we are introducing for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, including 4K, 8K and a whole host of multimedia services. This pioneering move into in-flight viewing also opens up new possibilities and new audiences for FIFA as we seek to promote and develop football around the world.”

Patrick Brannelly, Vice President Corporate Communications, Emirates, said, “Since we began our official partnership with FIFA in 2006, we’ve shown “as live” matches on Emirates and sent goal by goal updates to our award winning in-flight entertainment system, ice. For 2014, we are delighted to offer live coverage from Brazil on Sport 24 to customers on select Boeing 777’s.

“This year we have already seen some fantastic responses to live football on our flights. For instance, on a recent flight from London to Dubai, around three-quarters of all those on board tuned in to a vital end of season match from England. Our sponsorship strategy aims to bring sports fans together and closer to the action; bringing the excitement from Brazil directly into our cabins will be a highpoint in our partnership with FIFA.”