European Athletics has signed a long-term agreement with Atos as their Official Digital Partner in a deal which extends until 2024.
The first results of this collaboration were witnessed at this year’s European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland from 4-7 March 2021 where Atos designed and developed a new digital ecosystem to manage data for the event – a first for a major European Athletics event.
Atos will be looking to deliver further innovative digital services to increase the online audience and reach at athletics events in Europe. In Torun, Atos was already able to support European Athletics by processing and publishing the schedule and results for all events, enabling athletics fans to view all official competition information live on the European Athletics website.
The first version of the new digital platform included a website with a headless content management system (CMS) for faster and more flexible content delivery than a traditional CMS. The new solution which is currently being designed will help to increase audience and collect new datasets of fan interaction, with the aim to reinforce personal experiences and increase fan participation.
With the support of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), digital agency Sr. Burns and wTVision, the number of live TV hours viewed in Torun jumped by an average of nearly 20 percent in several key markets, compared to the previous edition in Glasgow two years ago.
As European Athletics’ Official Digital Partner, Atos was involved in the conception and delivery of a remote mixed zone concept, enabling media to book virtual interview rooms and provide them with exclusive access to athletes. This facilitated the Europe-wide coverage of the event by media who were not able to be on-site due to travel restrictions.
On the collaboration, European Athletics CEO Christian Milz said: “European Athletics was already working with Atos as our Official Timing and Data Partner to deliver timing, scoring and results at our events. Now with this new agreement Atos becomes our Official Digital Partner allowing us to take our relationship to the next level, where we intend to build a true digital offering in order to better serve the European athletics fans.”
Patrick Adiba, Global Head of Olympic Games and Major Events at Atos, said: “As the governing body for athletics in Europe, European Athletics has to meet the ever-growing demands of fans and the sports market. With over 30 years’ experience in the sports industry, our mission is to serve the sports and major events ecosystem with innovative technology to create amazing immersive experiences for spectators both inside and outside the venue.
“Our objective is to fully support European Athletics to win in the ‘new normal’ with an integrated digital fan experience."
Beyond Torun 2021, Atos will continue working with European Athletics and the EBU to meet the ever-growing demands of fans and media for athletics content.