Cycling

The Union Cycliste Internationale’s long-standing goal of centralising the media rights to the UCI World Tour looks set to be put on the back burner under new president Brian Cookson in favour of more achievable objectives: creating a coherent calendar and improving cycling as a television product.

The Union Cycliste Internationale’s decision to move away from pan-regional deals for its world championship events and appoint the Infront Sports & Media agency to sell the rights on a market-by-market basis appears to be paying off.

Media rights clips from October 30 to November 12

Interview with Adam Mason, director of summer sports at Infront Sports & Media, on expanded coverage for the UCI world championships.

Interview with Brian Cookson, president of the Union Cycliste Internationale, on the future of cycling as a media product ahead of next month’s UCI seminar on the reform of the cycling calendar.

Interview with Laurent Prud’homme, director of sports-rights acquisitions, and Géraldine Filiol, deputy managing director for international communications, marketing and external relations, Eurosport, on the UCI World Tour.

Australian commercial broadcaster Seven has acquired the rights to the inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the last professional event the Australian cycling great will contest.

The European Broadcasting Union, the consortium of European free-to-air broadcasters, has launched a tender for the broadcast rights to the Vuelta a España cycling race for the period spanning 2016 to 2020

The Infront Sports & Media agency has announced that it has secured record broadcast reach for the International Cycling Union’s (UCI) 2014 Road World Championships.

Media rights clips from September 4 to 17

German public-service broadcaster ARD will consider showing boxing bouts beyond the end of this year on an ad hoc basis and is considering bringing back coverage of the Tour de France cycling race, according to spokeswoman Anna Engelke.

Pan-regional broadcaster Eurosport has acquired exclusive rights to German cyclist Jens Voigt’s attempt to break the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour.

US sports broadcaster Universal Sports Network, a subsidiary of media company NBCUniversal, has signed a media partnership with Richmond 2015 for the US city’s staging of next year’s UCI Road World Championships cycling event.

Eurosport France, the French arm of the pan-regional broadcaster, has renewed its non-exclusive domestic rights to cycling’s Tour de France.

Media rights clips from July 24 to August 20

Mike Kiernan, Analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, looks at audiences in key European markets for the 2014 Tour de France