The World Karate Federation has signed a far-reaching agreement with US-based platform CSI Entertainment (Fight Sports Channel) to distribute Karate’s biggest events worldwide.

The agreement includes the TV distribution of the 2023 Karate 1-Premier League events (Rabat, Fukuoka, and Dublin) and the 2023 World Senior Championships in Budapest, and it strongly increases the delivery of Karate competitions as it expands over 133 countries and territories in five continents.

Karate’s biggest events, therefore, recover previous distribution heights; the agreement with CSI Entertainment completes the current broadcast of Karate in over 30 countries through networks such as RAI in Italy, SNRT in MENA (Middle East and North Africa), and TRT in Turkiye, among others. It also helps overcome the adversities caused by the exclusion of Karate from the sports programme of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

After a hiatus of two seasons, CSI Entertainment returns as one of WKF’s main distribution partners, thus extending a cooperation of eight years. The new deal is sustained by Karate’s increasing global interest and the excellent viewing numbers at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Karate achieved a net reach on TV of over 48 million spectators in 19 core markets during the Games, according to the report by Intelligent Research in Sponsoring (IRIS Sport). In the United States only, over 53 million people declared to be interested in the Karate event of the Games, according to the report elaborated by Nielsen Sports and commissioned by the WKF.      

WKF President Antonio Espinós said:

“The WKF has devoted many resources to the improvement of the distribution of our sport on Television and to maximise the many opportunities that the outstanding popularity of Karate around the world brings. The development of the TV production of our events, with the enhancement in the number and positioning of cameras, the introduction of innovative graphic design, and the creation of new distribution products, all achieved with the cooperation of International Sports Broadcasting (ISB), are among our initiatives to take our TV distribution to new levels.

“Our many efforts to make the best of our Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020 have truly paid off, not only making Karate one of the most exciting sports of the Games but also producing great audience numbers worldwide. We are very proud of this success, and we are convinced that the new agreement with CSI Entertainment will contribute even more to the outstanding progress of Karate around the world.”

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