Swiss TV viewers will have great opportunities to follow the world’s most prestigious orienteering competitions for the next four years.
The national broadcaster SRG has acquired the TV rights for the World Orienteering Championships for the period 2025 – 2028.
Before that, SRG has had the rights to broadcast the annual Swiss round of Orienteering World Cup, so the new agreement will enhance the range of Orienteering in Swiss TV.
This will give thousands of Swiss free access to watch their successful national team fight for World Championship medals from home.
“We are pleased with the agreement, which ensures that we reach a large Swiss audience with our high-quality TV productions. With the implementation of new camera and GPS technology, orienteering has developed into one of the most enjoyable sports on TV. And SRG has a long tradition of bringing orienteering to the Swiss audience, so we are confident that the World Orienteering Championships will be presented in the best possible way,” IOF CEO Henrik Eliasson says.
“Our national team has shown outstanding results at the World Championships as recently as last year. And therefore, we are pleased that now, the IOF has reached an agreement with SRG to broadcast the next World Championship races live on their channels. This agreement allows long-term planning and marks a significant step forward in our efforts to make the sport of orienteering visible in Switzerland”, says Christopher Gmür, CEO of Swiss Orienteering Federation.
Swiss orienteering fans can look forward to watching the WOC races live with commentary on TV or online – except for WOC 2026. Due to other major sport events, it remains uncertain whether the World Orienteering Championships will be broadcast live on SRF.
This year’s World Championships will take place in Kuopio, Finland from 7-12 July, while next years’ championships will be held in Genoa, Italy (2026), Vezprém, Hungary (2027) and Girona, Spain (2028).
Top photo: Switzerland’s team (Riccardo Rancan, Natalia Gemperle, Simona Aebersold and Joey Hadorn) wins the WOC Sprint Relay in Edinburgh in 2024. By Kristina Lindgren