The European Broadcasting Union consortium of free-to-air broadcasters and pan-European broadcaster Eurosport have extended their rights agreement for the Vuelta a España cycling race under a five-year deal running from 2016 to 2020.
Under the renewal with event organiser the Unipublic agency, the EBU’s member broadcasters will continue to cover Spanish cycling’s ‘Grand Tour’.
In addition, Eurosport has renewed its rights to the Vuelta through to 2020. The agreement, which was renewed through the EBU, incorporates all 54 territories covered by Eurosport in Europe, and features exclusive rights in key markets including France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK.
The Vuelta is produced and broadcast in Spain by public-service broadcaster TVE. All broadcast partners of the Vuelta can exploit their rights to the race on digital platforms including websites, social networks and mobile platforms.
Yann Le Moenner, chairman and chief executive of Unipublic, said: “The EBU is already partner of the Tour de France and other major cycling events. Through this agreement the Vuelta will be guaranteed maximum exposure over the next few years, reaching a growing number of European cycling fans, both on the major general-interest channels and on Eurosport.”
Spanish star Alberto Contador (pictured) won the 2014 Vuelta for the Tinkoff-Saxo team.