EBU extends IBU partnership
September 21, 2026



The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the International Biathlon Union (IBU) have extended their media rights and production partnership, ensuring fans can continue to follow biathletes across EBU Members’ and partner services until 2034. The partnership first began in 1993 and is this into its fifth decade.

The extension runs from the 2030/31 season to the end of the 2033/34 season, building on the current agreement, which runs until 2030. The EBU will continue to hold the exclusive worldwide media rights (excluding Russia and Belarus) and, together with EBU Members, act as host broadcaster, producing international coverage for audiences around the world.


The agreement covers 3 IBU World Championships, in 2031, 2032 and 2033. It also includes 4 IBU Open European Championships and 4 IBU Junior World Championships, from 2031 to 2034. Each season brings 58 competitions as part of the IBU World Cup.

Rights holders receive at least 150 hours of international coverage each regular season, spread across 14 weeks/weekends. The most recent IBU World Championships in Lenzerheide in 2025 attracted a record 27 rights holders, reaching audiences in 53 territories across Europe, with more than 20 broadcasters on site.

Olle Dahlin, IBU President, commented: “The IBU’s longstanding partnership with the EBU has been critical to extending biathlon’s reach and reinforcing its position as Europe’s most watched winter sport. The evolution of our work with the EBU has seen huge growth not just in broadcast but across digital platforms. The extension of our partnership is therefore a testament to the value of biathlon and its ever-growing appeal across Europe and beyond. With this agreement we have secured a bright future for biathlon, driving us towards our strategic goals of increasing the number of athletes, fans and commercial opportunities for our sport.”

Glen Killane, Executive Director, EBU Sport added: “For more than 30 years, the EBU has brought biathlon into millions of homes and made it a winter fixture across Europe. Partnerships that last that long are rare in sport. This extension will keep world-class biathlon freely accessible to millions of fans, while giving our Members, partners, athletes, National Federations and Organising Committees certainty for years to come. And it means we can keep raising the standard of how we bring the sport to new and existing audiences.”