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Â鶹Éç Worldwide has renewed the rights to distribute one of the world's oldest and most traditional sports events, which sees the illustrious universities of Oxford and Cambridge battle it out on the Thames every year, to vast crowds supporting along the river banks.

Â鶹Éç Worldwide will take the famous Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race to international audiences for the next 5 years until 2014. The Race takes place on 3rd April at 4.30pm and for the first time since 2004, Â鶹Éç Sport will be producing this year's coverage.

For foreign broadcasters there will be a Â鶹Éç international feed of 65 minutes which will include special features, profiles of the crews, the Race itself and the presentation of the trophy.

David Searle, Executive Director of The Boat Race Company Ltd, organisers of the Race, said: "We are delighted that Â鶹Éç Worldwide has worked so hard to ensure that the Boat Race reaches as many people as possible internationally. When added to the national broadcast networks in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America, which are all taking the Â鶹Éç's world feed for live or highlight footage, it amounts to a significant audience for the Race."

Although a very British event, the Race has fans all over the globe. Last year's Boat Race was sold to over 150 countries including China, Russia, Croatia, the USA and Italy and this year's event will be aired on Â鶹Éç World News and Â鶹Éç America for the very first time.

"The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race is steeped in history and I think it’s this that makes it so appealing internationally – not only is it a great test of strength, determination and skill, the age-old rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge Universities is something that anyone, regardless of nationality, can tap into and get really excited about," commented Richard Hornsby-Smith, Sales Manager for Benelux and Sport at Â鶹Éç Worldwide.

Caroline Sennitt