The UCI, cycling’s international governing body, has extended its long-term agreement with global sports marketing agency, IMG, through to 2031.
Through the renewal, IMG will continue to distribute the international media rights for the organization’s major UCI World Championships.
The agreement covers all international territories outside Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and China. The IMG extension complements the UCI’s renewed agreement with the European Broadcasting Union for distribution in Europe.
IMG will continue partnering with the UCI to sell media rights for its annual UCI World Championships for road, track, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, gravel, and urban cycling (BMX freestyle and trials), as well as the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup over the period.
The partnership includes the next two editions of the multi-discipline UCI Cycling World Championships taking place in Haute Savoie Mont Blanc (France) in 2027 and in Trentino (Italy) in 2031.
The deal also features five editions of the UCI Road World Championships, Track World Championships, and Mountain Bike World Championships (2025, 2026, 2028, 2029, and 2030), as well as the Cyclo-cross World Championships (2025-31), and the Cyclo-cross World Cup (2024-2025 to 2030-2031).
IMG will also manage and license the UCI’s archives in its territories, which feature historic footage from major cycling events.
The international agency has represented the UCI’s media rights in their territories since 2017.
UCI president, David Lappartient, said: “I am delighted that IMG will continue to distribute media rights outside Europe for our major events. Since 2017, the agency has been ensuring that fans can enjoy cycling action across our many and varied disciplines.
“With the extension of our agreement until 2031, we can ensure that the broadest possible audience has access to our events and also attract new fans to the sport.”
Ed Mallaburn, IMG senior vice president of sports management, added: “Cycling is a truly global sport with a deeply engaged fanbase, and we look forward to building on our shared success by continuing to expand the reach and value of UCI’s World Championship events across both traditional and digital platforms.”
IMG has international media rights tie-ups with several major sports properties, including Conmebol, CAF, and the Eredivisie (soccer), Euroleague Basketball, Wimbledon (tennis), The R&A (golf), British Cycling, and Rugby League Commercial.
