Tokyo 2020 Sponsor Begins FINA Partnership -- Sponsor Spotlight

(ATR) Athletes will fly to the International Aquatics Federation (FINA) world championships on ANA.

The airline became a sponsor for the next four years on Friday. It will cover the 2015 and 2017 World Championships in Kazan, Russia and Budapest, along with the 2016 and 2016 world 25m championships in Windsor, Canada and Hangzhou, China.

As the exclusive marketer for airline rights, the ANA logo will appear throughout the championships on signs and video boards, and ANA can promote FINA athletes and use the FINA logo in its promotional materials.

"We believe aquatics and swimming will play an important role in the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which led us to this FINA partnership as well as our recent announcement as an official airline partner of Tokyo 2020," Osamu Shinobe, president and CEO of ANA, said in a statement.

IPC Lands Record Rights Deal

NHK broke multiple records with its new Paralympic media rights deal.

The International Paralympic Committee awarded NHK the Japanese television, radio, mobile, and internet rights for the 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024 Paralympic games. It is the largest rights distribution deal in IPC history.

A spokesperson for the IPC tells Around the Rings that NHK will broadcast more than 150 hours of daily live coverage for Tokyo 2020, more than the coverage for the record-breaking London 2012 Paralympics. Broadcast hours for the other three Games covered by the deal have not been decided yet.

The spokesperson said that NHK will have the "option" to broadcast IPC world championships as part of the deal, even in non-Paralympic years.

"The deal means more para-sport coverage than ever before for Japanese TV viewers," Philip Craven, IPC president, said in a statement.

"Such a long-term agreement will enable us to further raise awareness of the Paralympic brand and its values in Japan in the lead-up to, during and in the years following the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games."

NHK will also work to provide dedicated Japanese websites for each Paralympics as part of the media rights agreement.

Rugby World Cup Power

All electronics at the 2015 Rugby World Cup will be powered by Duracell.

Duracell will provide all batteries for the tournament as an official supplier, becoming the sixteenth partner for the flagship rugby tournament.

"The appointment of a yet another brand sector leader within our strong portfolio of commercial partners further underscores the enormous prestige of Rugby World Cup in global commercial marketplace," Brett Gosper, World Rugby chief executive, said in a statement.

"[This] promises to be a very special and record-breaking Rugby World Cup, and we look forward to collaborating with Duracell to project rugby to new audiences worldwide and inspire more men, women and children to get active and play the sport."

Written by Aaron Bauer

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.