Australian public-service broadcaster SBS will take its coverage of the Tour de France to four decades after extending its rights deal with the owners and organisers of the iconic cycling race, Amaury Sport Organisation.
Announced today (Tuesday) during the final week of the rescheduled 2020 Tour de France, the rights deal means SBS will continue to be the only provider of live coverage in Australia for the next decade. The two parties will mark a 40-year partnership in 2030.
SBS last extended its deal in July 2013, agreeing a 10-year contract for the exclusive rights to broadcast the Tour de France until 2023.
Under the extended agreement for the Tour de France, SBS has secured the exclusive Australian rights to deliver live, multi-platform coverage. The coverage will encompass every stage and include in-depth highlights and clips.
From 2021 to 2030, SBS will broadcast over 300 hours of cycling across the network each year.
As part of the new broadcast deal, SBS has also acquired the exclusive Australian rights to properties managed by ASO, such as the Dakar Rally and Paris Marathon, as well as additional men’s and women’s cycling events including Paris-Roubaix, La Vuelta a España, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
In July 2019, SBS acquired exclusive rights to eight cycling events through a new agreement with ASO. The five-year deal covered rights to the Tour of Oman, Volta a Catalunya, Arctic Race of Norway, Tour of Turkey, Eschborn-Frankfurt, Tour de Yorkshire, Tour de Hungrie and CRO Race.
SBS managing director James Taylor said today (Tuesday): “The Tour de France is one of the most prestigious events in the sporting calendar, combining a rich cultural experience with magnificent sporting achievements. The Tour’s popularity stretches beyond the world of cycling, bringing people together and contributing to social harmony – that’s what our Charter is all about.”
ASO managing director Yann Le Moënner added: “By 2030, end of the newly-signed agreement, it will have been 40 editions since SBS has become the home of cycling, a tenure that has seen an ever-growing passion for our events Down Under, crowned by the victories of champions like Cadel Evans, Richie Porte, Mathew Hayman and Caleb Ewan, while Toby Price went to win the Dakar Rally twice.”
At the start of this year, ASO extended its Tour de France rights agreement with the European Broadcasting Union until 2025.