German TV Channels Won't Show Track And Field's Diamond League

Fourteen meetings on four continents and $8M in prize money -- in a year without Olympics and world championships, the Diamond League "is especially attractive, but German TV viewers will not be able to see it," according to the DPA. The Diamond League will kick off in Doha on Friday, but "neither Germany's public broadcasters nor sports channels will air track and field's top league." Sport1 spokesperson Michael Röhrig said, "Sport1 is in general always interested in attractive sports rights -- of course the Diamond League is such a sports right. However, we currently don't have track and field in our program portfolio." Eurosport spokesperson Heike Gruner said, "Attractive TV rights like the Diamond League are always interesting to us." Eurosport will show several track and field events this year, including the European Championships in August. Former IAAF council member Helmut Digel called it a "fatal decision" and a "big disadvantage" for Germany (DPA, 5/8) .