Following the creation of a
new circuit for track cycling by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) on 26 September
2019, the UCI and Discovery are today launching a new UCI
Track Cycling World League set to debut in the 2021-2022 season. By deepening
its long-term relationship with the UCI, Discovery will harness its global
scale, extensive media platforms and promotion expertise to help grow cycling.
Under the agreement, signed at the 2020 UCI Track
Cycling World Championships presented by Tissot in Berlin (Germany), the management,
TV production and distribution of the new UCI series will be entrusted to Global
Cycling Network (GCN), in collaboration with Eurosport’s dedicated event promotion
division, Eurosport Events, for an initial term of eight years. The partnership
will ensure extensive international exposure for the new UCI Track Cycling
World League via Discovery channels and platforms including Eurosport, the
number one sports destination in Europe, and GCN, the world’s number one
cycling media brand.
The new UCI circuit has a short, dynamic and
attractive format that is perfectly suited to the needs of TV and the
expectations of viewers. It aims to make track cycling more accessible and to
open it up to new audiences who enjoy the spectacle of high-quality sport.
The competition programme for the new UCI league
features four events for men and women: individual sprint, keirin, elimination race
and Scratch race. The inaugural season will run from November 2021 to February
2022, following the 2021 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, and will
comprise a target of six rounds, each running for around two hours.
The nine best-placed riders in sprint and keirin as
well as all medallists of bunch races at the UCI Track Cycling World
Championships will gain selection for the UCI Track Cycling World League.
Participants will wear jerseys inspired by their
national flags, while the newly crowned UCI World Champions will sport their
new rainbow jerseys for the occasion.
The events in
the new UCI Track Cycling World League will:
· Enable participants to collect UCI points according to a points scale
similar to that used at the UCI World Championships;
· Allow riders finishing in the top three in each event in the circuit’s
final overall standings to qualify by name for the UCI World Championships (only
if their nation does not qualify);
· Allow riders to compete for attractive prize pots on top of their participation
bonuses.
As of 2021, the
UCI International Track Cycling Calendar will be structured around the
following major competitions:
· The UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup, comprised of three rounds held
between March and September;
· The UCI Track Cycling World Championships, held in October, after the
UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup;
· The new UCI Track Cycling World League, which will run from November to
February.
UCI President David Lappartient said: “I am
thrilled and delighted that Discovery will be by our side to help launch and
promote our new UCI Track Cycling World League. Their expertise and recognised
know-how in the fields of organisation and TV production and broadcasting will
contribute significantly to the development and popular appeal of track
cycling.
"With this new UCI circuit, the discipline will have a
packed and attractive annual calendar that offers variety and will meet the
expectations of new audiences while also appealing to existing cycling fans. Along
with our new partner, we will grow the appeal of track cycling beyond the
Olympic Games, where it has been on the programme since the very first Games of
the modern era, in 1896.”
President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions, Andrew Georgiou, said: “We are excited to deepen our longstanding relationship with the UCI and go even further to grow the sport across Europe. Eurosport Events is an increasingly important strategic offer within our business, affording rights-holders the opportunity to build and strengthen their event portfolios globally.
“The partnership
with the UCI demonstrates what the scale and expertise of the wider Discovery family
can offer partners in sport, providing both highly localised content to
the widest variety of audiences as well as offering unrivalled expertise,
analysis and storytelling from the best experts. Combining this strength in
cycling with Eurosport Events’ promotional know-how and the global scale of
Discovery’s channels and platforms, including Eurosport and GCN, we are
confident we will build the UCI Track Cycling World League into a huge success. As Home of
the Olympics in Europe, Discovery and Eurosport look forward to continuing to champion
the riders who will be the stars of the velodrome all the way to Paris 2024.”
Eurosport has pioneered cycling coverage for millions
of passionate fans around the world by broadcasting the UCI Track Cycling World
Cup and World Championships to consistently growing audiences for more than 25
years. With over 2,500 hours of coverage across 200 days of live cycling from
more than 110 professional events, Eurosport is firmly established as the ‘Home
of Cycling’ in Europe and beyond. Through its sister streaming platform, GCN,
Eurosport broadcasts the largest portfolio of cycling events on the planet,
bringing premium cycling content directly to fans however they choose to watch.
GCN is part of Play Sports Group, whose brands serve 8.2
million followers and reach 100 million monthly viewers. Launched in 2013, GCN
quickly gained a reputation for creating ground-breaking fan-first digital
content that combines a love of cycling with expert analysis and unparalleled
access to professional riders. It has built up a community of almost two
million passionate subscribers on YouTube by delivering content directly to its
audience, via smartphone, computer, tablet or television, to be consumed
whenever and wherever. Discovery
acquired a majority stake in Play Sports Group in January 2019.
About the UCI
About Eurosport
Eurosport is
the number one sport destination in Europe, fuelling the passion of fans and
connecting them with the greatest sports events in the world. As the Home of
the Olympic Games in Europe, Eurosport delivered the ultimate Games experience
for PyeongChang 2018 reaching both record linear and digital viewership across
localized Eurosport services. Firmly established as the Home of Cycling, Grand
Slam Tennis and Winter Sport, Eurosport channels – Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2 –
reach 246 million cumulative subscribers across 75 countries in Europe, Asia
Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Eurosport.com is Europe’s No 1 online
sports news website with an average of 30 million unique users per month and,
along with the Eurosport app (available on iOS and Android), the only place to
watch Eurosport anytime online, on mobile and on tablet devices. Eurosport
Events specializes in the management and promotion of international sporting
events. More information is available by visiting corporate.eurosport.com.
About Play Sports Group & GCN
Play
Sports Group is the world’s leading creator of cycling digital video
distributed on YouTube and Facebook. We are a digital sports media company
focused on the world of cycling. Combining our deep love of the sport with
world-leading expertise in video and digital distribution, we have built a
leadership position in the market.
Headquartered in Bath, England, PSG is also home to SHIFT Active Media, the
award-winning cycling marketing agency, who work alongside some of the biggest,
most high profile brands in the cycling world. Play Sports Group is a
subsidiary of Discovery Inc.
For more
information about the Play Sports Network visit www.playsportsnetwork.com or for SHIFT Active Media, visit www.shiftactivemedia.com.
About Eurosport Events
Established in 2007, Eurosport Events is the Discovery
Communications-owned Eurosport Group’s sport event management division. It
promotes the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup and FIA European Rally
Championship under agreements with the sport’s governing body, the FIA. From
2020 it will promote PURE ETCR, theworld’s first all-electric touring car championship. Eurosport
Events delivers a full spectrum of event management services including
promotion, television production, media rights distribution, press office
management, sponsorship acquisition and client servicing.
About
Discovery
Discovery,
Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is a global leader in real life
entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world with
content that inspires, informs and entertains. Discovery delivers over 8,000
hours of original programming each year and has category leadership across
deeply loved content genres around the world. Available in 220 countries and
territories and nearly 50 languages, Discovery is a platform innovator,
reaching viewers on all screens, including TV Everywhere products such as the
GO portfolio of apps; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Eurosport
Player, Food Network Kitchen and MotorTrend OnDemand; digital-first and social
content from Group Nine Media; a landmark natural history and factual content
partnership with the BBC; and a strategic alliance with PGA TOUR to create the
international home of golf. Discovery’s portfolio of premium brands includes
Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel
Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and the forthcoming
multi-platform JV with Chip and Joanna Gaines, Magnolia, as well as OWN: Oprah
Winfrey Network in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport,
the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the
Olympic Games across Europe. For more information, please visit corporate.discovery.com and follow @DiscoveryIncTV across social platforms.
