Amaury Sign New 4-Year Broadcast Deal with EBU for Cycling Events

The media group that runs the prestigious Tour de France cycling race, clinic Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) has signed a new four-year broadcast deal with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

The new contract  runs from 2012 to 2015 and covers the Tour de France, order Paris-Roubaix, arthritis Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Flèche Wallonne Hommes & Femmes, Paris-Tours, Paris-Nice, the Critérium International and the Tour de l’Avenir events.

The EBU serves 85 national media organisations in 56 countries in and around Europe, including many free-to-air channels, and will distribute the rights among them.

Feeds for events, including the Tour de France, will be produced by France Télévisions with which ASO has signed an agreement up to 2013, a deal believed to be worth some US$170m over a five-year period.

Ingrid Deltenre, director general of the EBU, stated: “We are extremely pleased to give the European audience the opportunity to follow these prestigious events live, and especially the Tour de France, which we know is highly successful in all the European countries that it sometimes crosses.”

Yann Le Moenner, director general of ASO, added: “The huge popularity of these events and the audiences they attract throughout Europe have not decreased with time. Thanks to the EBU and its members, these events will be accessible to the largest number of people, enabling the magic relationship between cycling and its audience to continue.”