The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Lagardère Sports as its regional media rights partner for the Asia-Pacific region.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lagardère Sports will help to sub-license and manage the distribution of certain WDSF media rights to third parties for broadcast in their respective territories, where broadcasters will be able to broadcast via free-to-air, pay-per-view, video-on-demand, and other modes of transmission.
Among the content covered by these arrangements, the 2019 Best of Dance Sports programme comes with six episodes featuring six major tournaments held in five cities that showcase the best talents across Latin, Standard, Breaking and Ten Dance. One of the programmes includes the highly successful 2019 WDSF World Breaking Championship in Nanjing that features some of the biggest names in Breaking, with over 150 b-boys and b-girls from 66 countries. Breaking is particularly popular with younger viewers and will give broadcasters a chance to connect with a new generation of audiences.
Meanwhile, the 2019 WDSF Grand Slam Series programme consists of 12 episodes featuring the 12 tournaments held across six cities that showcase the best teams in the world in the Standard and Latin dance categories.
Driven by the overriding goal in our VISION 2020 plan to bring DanceSport to the next level, this agreement is a strong testament to the WDSF’s determination to increase the viewership ratings of the sport to record numbers.
Speaking of the partnership, WDSF President Shawn Tay said, "We are delighted to have renewed our collaboration with Lagardère Sports, which will expose people of all ages across the Asia-Pacific region to the inspiring artistry and athleticism of our dancers. As the global popularity of DanceSport disciplines continues to increase, the agreement will give our athletes a bigger platform to showcase their talent while satisfying the growing hunger for dance in the region at the same time.
"In addition, as an Olympic-affiliated organisation gearing up for Breaking’s potential debut at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, part of our mandate is to educate and inspire young people to lead healthy lifestyles and live by the Olympic values. Our deal with Lagardère Sports will greatly assist us in this mission."
Weighing in on the partnership, Malcolm Thorpe, Managing Director, South East Asia at Lagardère Sports, said, "At a time when broadcasters are looking to fill a void in live programming, and with communities in the region always eager to consume world-class sports and entertainment content, we foresee DanceSport’s increasing appeal following its second inclusion at last year’s SEA Games in the Philippines and the provisional inclusion of Breaking at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris."
"Together with Breaking’s evergreen popularity among younger dancers and with Asian heavyweights Japan, China and South Korea making inroads, we are pleased to contribute to the wealth of aspirational content programming for the region’s dance enthusiasts."
Lagardère Sports previously worked with the WDSF from 2010 to 2016 as their global media rights partner and helped garner a wider television audience worldwide.
Breaking has been provisionally approved for inclusion by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. It will mark the first time any DanceSport discipline has appeared at the Olympic Games. Breaking first made its Olympic debut at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018.
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