STOCKHOLM – Top-level ice hockey action only one click away: The 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship running from 3 to 19 May in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland will again be featured free-of-charge on a dedicated YouTube channel.

Starting this Friday, near-live coverage of all 64 games will be available. The streaming is complemented by an on-demand service – offering every game in full length as well as daily highlight clips including best action shots, goals and saves.

Available at www.youtube.com/icehockey, the channel enables fans worldwide to follow the tournament and enhances the sport’s overall exposure. With a delay of 30 minutes, games will be accessible near-live across the globe – except for 20 countries* where exclusive media rights agreements are in place. This will enable fans in countries where games are not broadcast to follow the games online. Benefitting from the top-level host broadcast production of the tournament, all coverage will be provided in HDTV format.

Initiated in 2012 by Infront Sports & Media, the exclusive media and marketing partner to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the channel was a success at last year’s tournament with available programming streamed more than 1.6 million times. Simultaneously, TV reach increased to achieve a record television audience of more than 900 million – proving the YouTube channel a valuable asset to complement traditional broadcast coverage. The 2013 YouTube channel will once again be managed by Infront and help to further expand the exposure of the tournament.

*The geo-blocked countries include: Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the USA.