International Judo Federation and Hakuhodo prolong contract for four years

At the annual Sportel conference in Monaco, the International Judo Federation signed an important agreement with Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Incorporated.

IJF President Marius Vizer declared: “It is a great honor for the judo family to continue the partnership with Hakuhodo DY Media Partners for the next four years. Based on our common experience and based on the professionalism of Hakuhodo DY Media Partners in general, we can make judo grow bigger. I am convinced that this partnership will bring the right benefit to Hakuhodo DY Media Partners and the right promotion to our sport and its values.“

The IJF’s budget grows each year, but has to stay in line with other international federations. Japanese based company Hakuhodo is the company that dealt with the IJF over the last years.

Kenichiro Yokomizo, General Manager of the sports division, saw a prolongation for the next four years. The agreement covers the fields of broadcasting rights and specific marketing rights for the International Judo Federation events. Kenichiro Yokomizo declared: “We do want to promote judo globally. We believe that through our partnership we can achieve that goal. We want to put at the service of judo our professionalism and our common values to define new ways of promoting the sport, especially in the digital area. This partnership will be an example for judo as well as for other sports worldwide.“

With the World Championships ahead in 2017 in Budapest the IJF will hope to sell the TV rights to more countries and more world wide broadcasters. Also the IJF World Tour is well broadcasted in many countries.

This week at 28 October the IJF celebrates the birthday of its founder Jigoro Kano on World Judo Day.