The International Hockey Federation (FIH) booked major successes with the different new media and internet features during the WorldHockey Champions Trophy in Rotterdam, Netherlands played at the end of June 2008. Many hockey fans found their way to WorldHockey TV, the WorldHockey section on You Tube and the live commentary on the FIH tournament website.

The statistics for the three new media features were outstanding and showed that the FIH made the right decision to use various methods for following the matches both live and in replay.

More than 150’000 views from 90 different countries and territories of the live text commentary through the special WorldHockey Champions Trophy website were recorded during the event in Rotterdam. Most viewers came from Argentina, Germany and Australia.

Almost 50’000 views from more than 60 countries and territories logged on to www.worldhockey.tv and watched the matches live through this FIH streaming channel. Key matches from the event were made available free of charge on an experimental basis for the WorldHockey Champions Trophy. The FIH aims to develop the site in future months to also offer on-demand content.

Almost 55’000 views were registered on the special WorldHockey section on You Tube www.youtube.com/worldhockey. The FIH used this feature for the first time in history and it immediately proved to be a success. The clash between Netherlands and Germany was the most viewed one, while the final between Australia and Spain was in the top ten of the most viewed sports videos on You Tube in the last week of June.

‘I am very satisfied with these results’, FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman said. ‘This shows that hockey is still a fast growing sport and that the FIH made the right decisions giving the hockey community the possibility to be part of our events in different ways.’

The FIH will continue to further develop the three internet and streaming features which give all hockey fans the opportunity to be part of the tournament from their home.