Bowls Australia
National, Updates

New long-term deal for Crocmedia and Bowls Australia

BY AIDAN DAVIS

The sport of bowls continues to go from strength to strength with Crocmedia and its production arm Rainmaker; together with Bowls Australia, confirming a five-year extension of its current broadcast deal and an exclusive commercial partnership.

The announcement signals a significant joint commitment to the future growth and development of the sport, its events and its competitors. This will see existing radio and television coverage expanded, while Crocmedia will also represent the commercial interests of Bowls Australia, including broadcast rights, advertising and sponsorship.

Crocmedia Group Business Director, Richard Simkiss, said that with the growing popularity of bowls in Australia, it was the ideal time to leverage its increasing profile.

“Our partnership with Bowls Australia has been a wonderful success so far, and we look forward to offering an innovative viewing experience for fans while delivering commercial outcomes for brands wanting to connect to the highly engaged bowls audience,” Simkiss said.

“This is a unique opportunity for brands to integrate with an intrinsically Australian sport, from grassroots through to live major events and magazine programming like The Bowls Show,” he said.

Bowls Australia CEO Neil Dalrymple said it was exciting to be entering into the significant partnership, which would have benefits for the entire bowls community.

“Bowls Australia has valued Crocmedia as its supplier of radio and television broadcasts over a number of years, and are proud to extend the relationship, expanding the quantity and enhancing the quality of coverage of the sport,” Dalrymple said.

“The success of our sport’s national team demonstrates a strong pathway from grassroots to the elite level, with the BCiB Australian Jackaroos well placed to replicate their 2018 Commonwealth Games heroics at next year’s World Bowls Championships on the Gold Coast, which will feature significant broadcast coverage courtesy of this partnership.”

The new five-year broadcast deal will see Crocmedia’s TV production division Rainmaker deploy its newly acquired state-of-the-art broadcast facilities to produce high-end programming for multiple platforms including Fox Sports, SBS and multiple social channels covering the sport’s biggest competitions including the prestigious Australian Open each June, the made-for-television Bowls Premier League each February and November, the 2020 World Bowls Championships, 2019 World Bowls Challenge and the annual The Bowls Show.

“Rainmaker is fast establishing itself as the production destination for sports looking to showcase their product to new, broader audiences and this latest Bowls Australia partnership is a great example,” Simkiss added.

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