SBS agrees new rights cycle for Tour de France

Australian public-service broadcaster SBS has agreed a 10-year deal for the exclusive rights to broadcast the Tour de France cycling event until 2023.

The deal has been agreed with the owner and organiser of the race, Amaury Sport Organisation, and extends a partnership that has run for over two decades.

The agreement is the longest rights deal between SBS and ASO and covers live coverage of every Tour de France stage, along with highlights, pay-television rights and extensive online and mobile rights.

The 10-year deal between SBS and ASO also includes the television rights to the La Vuelta a Espana, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Fleche Wallonne, Criterium du Dauphine, Paris-Nice and Paris-Tours cycling events, as well as motor sport’s Dakar Rally and the Paris Marathon.

Ken Shipp, head of sport at SBS, said: “The Tour de France is a signature event for SBS, which our viewers look forward to every year. With the certainty of a 10-year agreement we can invest further in cycling to make our coverage even better for cycling fans.”

The Tour de France is one of SBS’s biggest sport properties, and 2013 marks the 23rd year of the broadcaster’s coverage of the event.