Eurosport unveil new brand identity following Olympic Games broadcasting agreement

Broadcasting giant Eurosport has announced a new brand identity which carries the tagline “Fuel Your Passion” and is due to be launched on air tomorrow.

The slogan will by supported by a #shareyourpassion social media campaign, which invites fans to share stories about the lengths they go to in order to show their enthusiasm for a particular sport, athlete or team.

Discovery Communications, the parent company of the Pan-European television sports network, claim it will help propel the Eurosport brand into the 21st century.

The announcement comes after Eurosport penned a deal worth around €1.3 billion (£965 million/$1.5 billion) to broadcast the Olympic Games, which covers two Olympic cycles following an agreement signed between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Discovery.

It will cover the Pyeongchang 2018 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, as well as the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, which have yet to be awarded to a host city.

Discovery, the United States-based company who bought Eurosport last year, will also sub-licence a portion of the rights in "many markets across Europe", meaning broadcasters will have to negotiate with them rather than with the IOC.

The deal marks a change from the previous system of working with a consortium of public broadcasters throughout Europe rather than one group, and follows other major Olympic television deals, including one with American channel NBC Sports stretching until 2032.

“Eurosport has firmly established itself as a household name for live sport and, under the ownership of Discovery, we have super-charged our growth and re-ignited the brand to connect with fans,” Eurosport chief executive Peter Hutton said.

“Today’s launch of the new brand identity is another huge leap forward to make Eurosport the preferred destination for sports fans everywhere.

“We have secured the premier rights for local sports fans in every market, allowing us to share unmissable live experiences from all four tennis grand slams, every major European football league, the biggest motorsports races, every major cycling race and, of course, we will be the home of the Olympic Games in Europe from 2018 to 2024.

“We have enhanced production to tell great sports stories in a more innovative way, resulting in record-breaking ratings for many major events through 2015.

“Today we are excited to package that in a whole new identity and language, feeding fans’ passion for sport.”