MotoGP gets off grid with record coverage

MotoGP commercial rights-holder, the Dorna Sports agency, has said the 2015 season of the motorcycling championship will receive record global broadcast coverage.

The 2015 MotoGP season opened with the Qatar Grand Prix at the weekend – an event that resulted in seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi (pictured) racing to victory on Sunday.

Dorna said 87 networks in 207 territories will show the 18-race season, with a number of rights deals concluded ahead of the start of the campaign.

In Europe, Cypriot pay-television broadcaster CyTAvision has acquired rights for the 2015 and 2016 MotoGP seasons, while Israeli pay-television broadcaster Sport 5 has extended its contract until the end of 2017.

In Japan, a new three-year deal will result in G+ offering all MotoGP events live. Commercial broadcaster NTV will show the local MotoGP race in Motegi live, and the other 17 events on a same-day delay basis.

Indian subcontinent pay-television broadcaster Taj TV is also a new MotoGP rights-holder, having confirmed an exclusive five-year deal last month.

The contract takes in the 2015 to 2019 seasons of the championship and means MotoGP will be broadcast exclusively by a single broadcaster in the Indian subcontinent for the first time.