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2017 Audi quattro Winter Games NZ

Stunning scenery, the world’s best talent and Kiwi hospitality is set to be presented to a global audience with the 2017 Audi quattro Winter Games NZ revealing its most diverse event yet and all free to view both on mountain and on ice and as well as on TVNZ’s Duke Channel.

The fifth edition of the 16-day winter sport showcase will not only feature all five of the Southern Lakes ski resorts for the first time ever but also historic ice hockey international test matches between Australia and New Zealand at the Queenstown Ice Arena.

It’s feels like a bit of a champagne moment. Being able to highlight the abundance of New Zealand’s winter sports talent and also introduce the world to our amazing venues, this is exactly why we created the Winter Games NZ.

After the unique flood-lit dual slalom which launches the Games on August 25 at Coronet Peak, attention will swing to one of the four World Cup events at Cardrona as well as mixed doubles curling at the Maniototo International Curling Rink in Naseby. The Remarkables features the new Games event, the North Face Frontier, while Treble Cone also joins the host venue family with a Para- snowboard Banked Slalom World Cup.

The high profile American men’s team have already indicated their intentions to compete in the cross-country events at the Snow Farm, which gives us real confidence that spectators will get the best chance to get up close to the top talent in the world too. People often talk about events that are so called ‘not to be missed’ but I can hand on heart say this year’s Games will reward anyone and everyone who comes to watch. The fact we have such a commitment from TVNZ this year to broadcast the Games free is a massive result for everyone’s effort.

Keep an eye out for further news and updates as we count down to the 2017 Audi quattro Winter Games NZ.

More info: wintergamesnz.kiwi and www.facebook.com/WinterGamesNZ

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Audi Quattro Winter Games NZ

The 5th edition of the Audi quattro Winter Games NZ will be held from 25 August – 10 September 2017, a move which will see the event begin a week later and run a week longer than in previous years.

The move has been strongly endorsed by Queenstown and Wanaka ski areas and the tourism and accommodation sectors. Consultation with both domestic and international coaches has also been very positive. The new dates will also work better with Australian calendaring which will hopefully assist teams with their travel budgets.

2017 Provisional Schedule – Cardrona
Sat 26 – Wed 30th Aug: Slopestyle (FIS WC & WST Int)
Sat 2nd – Wed 6th Sept: Halfpipe (FIS WC & WST Int)
Thurs 7th – Mon 11th Sept: Big Air (FIS WC & WST Int)
*All event windows include a weather day

The full Winter Games NZ schedule for all sports can be downloaded here or check out our website at www.wintergamesnz.kiwi

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Phenomenal global TV interest in Audi quattro Winter Games NZ 2015

Phenomenal interest in the Audi quattro Winter Games NZ is being shown by global television companies in key New Zealand tourism markets, with anticipated widespread international coverage of snow sports and curling events set to showcase some of the world’s best athletes performing in the country’s spectacular Southern Alps region.

Winter Games NZ CEO Arthur Klap said the Games’ partnership with leading international sports marketing company, Infront Sports & Media, had led to a marked upsurge in interest from key international broadcasters.

“The take-up is way ahead of previous years particularly from broadcasters who have the rights already to show FIS World Cups. They include Eurosport, BBC, USA’s Universal Sports, China’s CCTV, TV Tokyo, Germany’s public broadcasting company ARD, ESPN Sur representing Latin and South America and South Korea’s SBS.”

Other countries who have signed up for the New Zealand filmed footage, which will be shown ‘as live’, include Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Global-media-covering-the-FIS-Snowboard-World-Cup-Halfpipe-at-Cardrona-during-the-2013-Games-(credit-Neville-Porter)

Some of the international rights holders, along with others from the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Poland, Slovenia and People’s Republic of China will also show a magazine programme of all the World Cups put together by the International Ski Federation (FIS).

“The programme will start screening worldwide in November and the Audi quattro Winter Games NZ freestyle and snowboard events will be broadcast in December,” said Klap. “Some of the bigger broadcasters who have already taken and screened our footage will also show the magazine programme so it’s really a double whammy. In addition to this we are able to live web stream the freeskiing and snowboard Big Air internationally, because it is a stand-alone event and there are no restrictions surrounding it.”

Many of the countries indicating they will feature the Games on television are New Zealand’s target tourism markets.

“This again reflects the importance of the event to New Zealand as a whole,” said Klap. “We have worked closely with Tourism New Zealand to achieve this and Australia’s Nine Wide World of Sports which has 300,000 viewers and over one million online viewers, together with TV Tokyo, have confirmed their presence.”

In New Zealand there will be free to air domestic coverage of Winter Games NZ on TV3 with two-hour ‘as live’ broadcasts of FIS World Cup slopestyle and halfpipe finals for both snowboard and freeski from 12.30-2.30pm and 10.30pm-12.30am on the key weekend dates of August 22, 23, 29 and 30. A highlights programme will screen from 1.00-2.00pm on September 6.

Radio coverage will be broadcast through the Mediaworks nationwide network and livestreaming on the Games website will feature snowboarding and freeskiing World Cup qualifying rounds and finals as well as the Big Air finals at Cardrona Alpine Resort.

Klap is particularly excited at the prospect of livestreaming the Mixed Doubles curling from the Maniototo Curling International Rink at Naseby.

“There will be live streaming of both the semi-finals and the finals on August 27 which will be of major interest around the world because the sport has recently been included in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.”

Daily video news releases of all the Games events will go out internationally with the support of Infront and are expected to reach a huge global audience. “Domestic media outlets can access the video news releases on the Winter Games NZ FTP server” said Klap.

Klap said it is hard to put a figure on the potential viewing audience for the Games. “But suffice to say the reach is extensive and the viewership is likely to be incredibly high. For example Universal Sports alone has 50 million subscribers. At the conclusion of the event Infront will provide us with a detailed evaluation of the media reach of the event which is critical in assisting us in forward planning.”

The Audi quattro Winter Games NZ television, radio and Internet coverage is backed by a comprehensive social media programme and international accredited media hosting.

The Audi quattro Winter Games NZ are New Zealand’s biggest recurring sports event. The fourth biennial Games take place from 21 to 30 August in Queenstown, Lake Wanaka and Naseby. All sports and festival events are free to watch for spectators (ski pass required to access lifts) and will be broadcast free-to-air on TV3 with live streaming on the Games website. More information is available at www.wintergamesnz.kiwi and its social media channels.