Discovery picks up Giro d’Italia cycling rights

Discovery has secured the exclusive global rights to cycling’s Giro d’Italia.

The long-term deal with RCS Sport via IMG will see Discovery continue to exclusively show the Italian event until at least 2025, and follows the announcement that Eurosport will screen a wide range of UCI events in 2021. The rights deal covers the entire world, save for Italy, San Marino and Vatican City, where the event will be shown non-exclusively.

Every stage of this year’s competition will be shown on Eurosport via the recently launched premium OTT service discovery+ and through the Global Cycling Network (GCN) pay TV channel.

Andrew Georgiou, President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions, said: “Discovery has a rich heritage of screening the widest range of men’s and women’s cycling events through Eurosport and GCN and is constantly innovating to provide the best viewing experience for passionate cycling fans everywhere.

“We’re pleased to have consolidated our portfolio of world-class cycling rights through a long-term extension with RCS to keep the Giro d’Italia on our channels and platforms for years to come. Through our partnership between Eurosport and GCN, and increasingly in 2021 through discovery+, we will continue to harness our deep cycling expertise and unrivalled global scale to unlock the power of the sport for all to enjoy.”

Guy Voisin, director of cycling at Eurosport and GCN, said: “Eurosport and GCN will deepen our collaboration even further this year and will screen more live cycling than ever before including uninterrupted coverage of every Grand Tour, Classic and Olympic cycling event, and through local digital and linear shows covering all forms of the sport. We look forward to kick-starting the 2021 road cycling season through our first-class coverage of the UAE Tour from February, offering more ways than ever for fans to engage with the sport they love.”