Montauban – France – wielrennen – cycling – radsport – cyclisme – Illustration image media television portrayed during stage 6 of the Tour de France 2016 from Arpajon-sur-Cère to Montauban, 187.00 km – photo VK / PN / Cor Vos © 2016
The television network NBC Sports is scheduled to close before the end of 2021, leaving a question mark on how fans will watch the network’s main cycling property, the Tour de France, as well as a collection of other important races.
The news first appeared on SportsBusiness Daily on Friday, and was later confirmed by an internal memo from Pete Bevacqua, president of the NBC Sports Group.
NBC Sports currently owns the Tour de France broadcasting rights in the United States, as well as other races in the Tour de France ASO organizer’s portfolio, including Vuelta a Espana, Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Nice, Liège-Bastogne- Liège and much more. It holds these rights until 2023.
NBC Sports also has an agreement with UCI to broadcast the world road championships.
How will Americans watch the Tour next year?
According to the internal memo, which makes no specific mention of the Tour, “key elements of NBCSN programming” will be transferred to the USA Network, owned by NBC, or the company’s streaming service, Peacock, for 2022. These Key elements include major sports like the NHL, NASCAR and the Premier League. Smaller events in the NBC portfolio, which includes events like the National Dog Show, will have their rights sold or may lose coverage altogether. It is not clear in which category cycling falls.
At the moment, even those who work at NBC Sports are not sure what the destination of the Tour de France TV coverage in the United States will be. A source indicated that most of the internships would likely end at Peacock, perhaps even paid service Peacock Premium, while the main internships could end in a traditional TV broadcast over NBC or the US.
NBC Sports also owns the United States’ rights to sports such as the English Premier League, which offers an insight into how cycling can work in 2022. Premier League games are available in a combination of NBC TV broadcasts or streaming via Peacock and Peacock Premium, depending on the popularity of the match in question. Liverpool’s games tend to be free; my beloved and beleaguered Wolverhampton Wanderers are usually behind the paywall. A similar system, which sees the main stages of the Tour free-to-air and free-to-stream and almost everything else hidden in Peacock Premium is a likely scenario.
Much of NBC’s existing cycling portfolio, especially smaller races, was found in the paid app from NBC Sports Gold. This app is winning the ax in favor of Peacock and Peacock Premium.
There is, of course, always a chance that NBC will try to resell the cycling rights it currently has before the contract expires in 2023. How, where and even if American fans watch the Tour de France can easily change overnight the day.