In what would be a landmark move, RCS Sport, organiser and rights holder of the top Italian road cycling events, are considering offering the international media rights directly to the market and separately from the domestic rights package. The current four year contract with Rai, covering both domestic and international rights, is set to expire at the end of 2008.
RCS Sport’s highly attractive cycling portfolio includes the Giro d’Italia, Giro di Lombardia, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-San Remo and the new one day race, Monte Paschi Eroica, which together represent around a third of the international professional road cycling calendar. Giro d’Italia, which celebrates its first centenary in 2009, is widely regarded, in terms of commercial value and audience, as the biggest international cycling race after the Tour de France.
The proposed new approach to their international rights reflects the board of RCS Sport’s commitment to exploring the many variables in today’s international marketplace which will benefit Italian cycling in terms of exposure and development as Giro d’Italia enters its second century. RCS Sports’ vision for the future includes plans to upgrade their audio-visual offering to incorporate High Definition, multiple feeds and specifically edited content suited to emerging digital platforms.
Although RCS Sport are currently considering a number of unsolicited offers for the new cycle 2009 – 2012, they plan to commence talks with all the major international players, including broadcasters, media platforms and agencies, in order to gain a full market assessment of these rights. With the marked increase in diversity of operators across different territories, including countries with strong cycling traditions, RCS have decided to investigate all opportunities.
It is expected that RCS Sport will decide how best to approach the market in the coming weeks and further information will be released accordingly.
RCS Sport is a subsidiary of RCS MediaGroup, one of Italy’s leading publishing companies with a portfolio including Corriere della Sera, El Mundo and La Gazzetta dello Sport.
RCS Sport specialise in staging large scale sporting events, organising Italy’s major cycling events, Giro d’Italia, Monte Paschi Eroica, Tirreno – Adriatico, Milano – Sanremo, Giro del Lazio, Milano – Torino and Giro di Lombardia), as well as the youth-orientated Summer Beach Tour (incorporating competitive Beach Volleyball with music concerts across Italy),The Milan Marathon and The Gazzetta Run Italian Tour alongside many other outstanding sports events.
Media enquiries:
Matteo Pastore
Media Director, RCS Sport
E-mail: mailto:matteo.pastore@rcs.it
Tel: +39.02.62828754