Funchal, 20 November 2004 – Eurosport and Youthstream have signed a 3 years agreement (2005-2007) to broadcast the FIM Motocross (MX1 and MX2) and SuperMoto (S1 and S2) World Championships.
All Motocross races will be broadcast live or delayed on Eurosport channels. Eurosport will be the exclusive sport channel broadcaster for MX1 and MX2. News and highlights of all Motocross races will also be shown within Eurosport’s programme ‘Motorsport Week End’ and on the Eurosportnews channel.
As part of this agreement, SportItalia, Italy’s terrestrial sports channel, will broadcast all the Motocross and SuperMoto Live or on same day delay in a complementary way to Eurosport’s scheduling.
FIM President, Mr. Francesco Zerbi, says ‘It’s a superb moment for our sports. Like I have always said whilst the businesses are different every discipline has the same value for the FIM and this agreement confirms that.’
‘Motocross and SuperMoto are very spectacular sports and deserve to have this very high television coverage. Our promotional partner, Youthstream, has worked hard promoting these sports and is successfully reaching the FIM’s goal to increase the sport value, the notoriety and the television exposure and create a full worldwide calendar.’
‘We thank Eurosport again for confirming their commitment to all motorcycle sports. Together with Youthstream we hope Eurosport will make an excellent promotion for Motocross’
Mr. Angelo Codignoni, President of Eurosport and Sport Italia says, ‘Eurosport is improving a development strategy of all Motorsports and, in particular, of two wheels competitions for which the channel has reached today an undisputable leader position on the European market. This agreement is consolidating Eurosport strategy. Through SportItalia, we guarantee an exposure in Italy to Championships that have now reached a very high quality level but that are still under-delivered on the Italian television market.’
Mr. Giuseppe Luongo, President of Youthstream says, ‘This is the most important step reached by our sports. History has never shown such a great television coverage. In 2004 we reached already the highest coverage ever, and now we have made an even bigger step. Nobody thought this was possible, but we have proved that our politics are right to invest in the notoriety of the Championship, television world wide coverage, serious calendar (how a true World Championship must have), better and safer circuits and in professional organizers who understand our line. This is not the arrival point, but instead it is the starting point… Many other items are necessary to be improved and we also are working on these.’
‘Thanks to this coverage, we believe the professional teams, riders and organizers now have a useful tool in their hands to enable them to find serious sponsors to cover the budget necessary to compete in a professional World Championship.’
‘We want to thank Eurosport for believing in our work and project. Eurosport was the first broadcaster to support us when we aquired the FIM Motocross television rights in 1996, and thanks to this half an hour highlight programme, it helped us in bringing Motocross to where it is now… with millions of homes receiving our sports live and delayed and making Motocross to be one of the most well-known sports in the world.’
Contacts:
Isabelle Nguyen / Susan Dumontaud Leger
Inguyen@eurosport.co.uk / sdumontaudleger@eurosport.co.uk
Tel: +33 1 40.93. 81.42 / +33 1 40.93.82.70