The first puck of the 2013 Int'l Ice Hockey Federation World Championship will drop in Helsinki, Finland on Friday at 4:15pm local time. The tournament will end with the gold medal game at Stockholm's Ericsson Globe arena on May 19. The IIHF's 77th annual world championship will feature the world's top 16 national hockey teams. Besides the two host countries, defending champions Russia, Canada, the Czech Republic and the U.S. are the favorites to win the title (HJ Mai, SBD GLOBAL).
Some IIHF World Championship facts and figures:
- 3,500 hours of broadcast time is expected globally from the '13 championship -- transmitted by 70 TV partners with around 500 accredited broadcast journalists on site.
- More than 110 countires and territories have secured media coverage -- the event will be seen on TV across the world from Andorra to Zimbabwe.
- More than 750 million is the cumulative worldwide audience predicted to tune into IIHF programming.
- 2,500 meters of advertising boards and backdrops will provide exposure for 14 official sponsors as well as official partners and national partners over the course of the tournament.
- More than 30,000 gourmet meals are expected to be served by Infront Hospitality Management to sponsors and VIP guests during the tournament -- complemented by a buffet and live cooking (Infront).
