Exclusive: Diamond League blackout averted after BBC signs last-minute TV deal
British viewers will be able to watch Diamond League athletics live on television after the BBC signed a last-minute deal to show five of this year’s six meets.
Telegraph Sport revealed on Tuesday that athletics fans in Britain were facing a total blackout of the sport’s showpiece competition after the Diamond League failed to find a broadcaster to replace Eurosport, who opted not to extend its contract after it expired in 2019.
The terms of the Diamond League’s licensing agreement with IMG, who organise the competition’s international media rights and broadcasting deals, also meant an online feed hosted on the Diamond League website was set to be blocked to viewers in Britain.
Telegraph Sport’s story prompted outrage within the athletics community, with athletes, commentators, coaches and fans all voicing criticism of the Diamond League’s absence from screens in Britain.
That prompted the BBC to step in and confirm a deal has been struck to show Friday’s opening Diamond League meet in Monaco.
The event, which features British stars Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Laura Muir and Adam Gemili, will be streamed live from 7pm on Friday on BBC iPlayer, the BBC red button and the BBC Sport website.
Telegraph Sport understands the BBC has also signed a deal to use the Diamond League’s feed from subsequent meets in Stockholm, Lausanne, Rome and Doha. Only the Brussels event, which clashes with the broadcaster’s coverage of the British Athletics Championships on September 4, will not be shown live.
The BBC already possessed the rights to Diamond League highlights and will continue to show a one-hour show on BBC One the day after the Monaco meeting, as well as similar highlights packages following the remaining five Diamond League legs.
The reprieve is a huge relief for the sport’s governing body, World Athletics, who faced the major embarrassment of its premier product failing to be shown live in Britain less than a year after it announced controversial changes to the Diamond League structure, designed specifically for TV.
The 200 metres, triple jump, discus, 3000m steeplechase and 5000m were all due to be cut from this year's core Diamond League event list to reduce the length of meetings for a "90-minute broadcast".
The coronavirus pandemic has meant those changes have not yet been implemented, but the importance of the British TV audience was underlined with the country selected as one of seven specifically chosen for research to inform the governing body’s initial decision to cull events. World Athletics’ two most senior figures, president Seb Coe and chief executive Jon Ridgeon, are both British.
"Our objective is to create a faster-paced, more exciting global league that will be the showcase for our sport. A league that broadcasters want to show and fans want to watch," said World Athletics' president when announcing the proposed changes last November.
The Diamond League has struggled for profile since its creation in 2010, operating without a headline sponsor for seven years until Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group signed a 10-year contract to become title sponsor last September.
The first season of Wanda's association with the sport has already been decimated by coronavirus. From a planned 15 meets at the start of the year, only six remain in a heavily-reduced season, starting in Monaco on Friday.
