AS THE PARALYMPICS in London are getting under way, IFM Sports takes a closer look at the overall media impact of the event in Germany, where the Paralympics are of significant interest with high cumulated audience figures.
The 2008 Games in Beijing generated nearly half a billion in cumulated audience and a media impact that was almost three times higher than in 2004. Those figures ranked Germany among the top five contributors to the overall media impact.
The media impact is expected to rise further during the Paralympics in London. Part of the reason is the participation of well-known athletes such as Oscar Pistorius, who also took part in the Olympic Games a few weeks ago, and former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi.
The participation of those two athletes alone will definitely help the Paralympics raise more awareness worldwide.
In Germany, ARD and ZDF, the public-service broadcasters, are planning to more than double their level of coverage of the games compared to their previous output in Beijing in 2008.
The 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney received just 16 hours of coverage in Germany, while this year’s games in London are expected to generate in excess of 65 hours.
This increase in media impact will also have a positive effect on the success of the sponsors. Such sponsors usually expect a ROI of 3:1. However, the ROI of the Paralympic Games in Beijing was higher than 5:1 for the overwhelming number of sponsors, illustrating the potential of the event.
By Uli Lacher – Managing Director, IFM Sports Group