SBS locks in Tour de France broadcast rights until 2030

SBS has secured the Tour de France broadcast rights until 2030, a date which will mark a 40-year partnership with the race’s organisers.

Riders climb the Grand Colombier during Stage 15 of this year's Tour de France. Picture: Getty Images

SBS has secured the broadcast rights to the Tour de France for another 10 years.

The broadcaster on Tuesday announced it had struck an agreement with Amaury Sport Organisation, which owns and organises the popular annual cycling race, ensuring its long-running coverage continues into the next decade.

SBS managing director James Taylor said the broadcaster had been the home of the three-week race for 30 years and that SBS “truly thrilled” to extend its longstanding arrangement with ASO.

“The Tour de France is one of the most prestigious events in the sporting calendar, combining a rich cultural experience with magnificent sporting achievements,“ Mr Taylor said.

“The Tour’s popularity stretches beyond the world of cycling, bringing people together and contributing to social harmony – that’s what our Charter is all about.”

Nine has previously eyed broadcast rights for the Tour de France, while Seven is the current rights holder to the Tour Down Under.

SBS has an annual budget of more than $400m, of which about $285m comes from the federal government and the remainder from its commercial activities. That compares to taxpayer funded ABC’s annual budget of around $1bn.

The announcement comes in the final week of this year’s Tour de France, which was postponed by two months because of the coronavirus crisis. SBS’s race coverage, which concludes on Sunday, has attracted a string of advertisers, including Skoda, CBA and iiNet this year and the renewed agreement with ASO is expected to help retain sponsors for the event.

SBS didn’t disclose the financial cost of the agreement, which an SBS spokeswoman said was confidential.

ASO managing director Yann Le Moenner said it was “proud to have in SBS a trusted and committed partner whose unwavering support has proven stronger than ever”.

SBS’s rights deal comes as commercial TV network Seven looks to dump its pricey cricket broadcast deal with Cricket Australia, which was struck in 2018 by then chief executive Tim Worner.

Mr Worner’s successor James Warburton is due to hand over a $25m cheque to Cricket Australia on Tuesday but if the network decides to walk away it could leave the summer’s biggest sport without a free-to-air TV partner.

Seven secured the free-to-air cricket broadcast rights as a program anchor for the summer, and shares the rights with pay-TV operator Foxtel through a joint $1.2 billion deal with Cricket Australia for coverage of all forms of men’s and women’s cricket for six years.

The Australian’s Margin Call reported on Tuesday that cash-strapped Ten was keen to offload its Melbourne Cup carnival rights, for which it pays $20m, to Seven as part of its efforts to cut costs.

A Ten spokeswoman said Tuesday it was “committed” to its partnership with the Victoria Racing Club as its digital and broadcast partner for the Melbourne Cup Carnival.