New year, new resolutions! The World Karate Federation (WKF) has already announced its own, and they will begin to materialize this week in Tbilisi, Georgia, the first stop of the year for the Karate 1 – Serie A circuit. The event will be broadcast in its entirety on the WKF's YouTube channel. Get used to it: from now on, all major WKF competitions will be available on YouTube. This includes the World Cup, the qualifying rounds and finals of the Individual World Championships, as well as the Cadet, Junior, and U21 World Championships, and the various Karate 1-ranked events (Premier League, Series A, Youth League).
Winning over a young audience
The WKF has 818.000 subscribers on the platform. A very respectable total considering, for example, that World Aquatics has 430.000 and the International Tennis Federation 140,000. The IF has identified a " growing demand for accessible and high-quality sports content from a young audience and active on social media. Expanding its YouTube offerings should therefore allow it to meet this demand. The stakes are high for a sport aiming to return to the Olympic Games as early as Brisbane 2032.
« The enormous popularity of karate throughout the world confirms that the WKF is a modern organization that continues to adapt its vision to the times and maximize the exceptional values and heritage of this sport."This is a key point," emphasizes WKF President Antonio Espinós in a statement. Thanks to this strategy, we continue not only to reach new audiences, but also to further expand the already impressive community of young karate fans. Our goal is to offer the global karate community the best possible visual experience, both on traditional and digital platforms. »
The IOC's approach taken as an example
In parallel, the WKF remains committed to a "classic" international television distribution plan. It has extended its collaboration agreement with Mediapro for the 2026-2027 cycle. The group will therefore continue to manage audiovisual production, content creation, and live coverage of the WKF's main events over the next two years. WKF competitions are currently broadcast on " 30 key territories "(Australia, Italy, the Middle East, etc.), ensuring that karate remains " accessible to traditional viewers "and strengthens its position in developed television markets." This approach reflects the direction taken by other major sports organizations, notably the International Olympic Committee "Innovate, without cutting yourself off from your base," emphasizes the WKF on its website.
