ES member SweetSpot Group have appointed sports media company River Media Partners as their official broadcast agents for the UK & Ireland to continue to enhance the broadcast and distribution of the Tour of Britain, Women’s Tour and Tour Series.
River Media will work with SweetSpot and host broadcaster ITV Sport on the coverage of all of SweetSpot’s marquee races in addition to assisting with the distribution of content and exploring additional broadcast streams and opportunities.
The news follows the announcement of SweetSpot’s new partnership with EurosportGCN that will see the Tour of Britain, Women’s Tour and Tour Series broadcast globally on Eurosport and the GCN Race Pass app.
ITV4 will also continue to broadcast live, flag-to-flag coverage of the Tour of Britain as well as highlights of the Tour of Britain and Tour Series in the UK.
Nick Chesworth, River Media director, said:
“We are excited to work with the experienced and innovative SweetSpot team, who, through the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour, have continually raised the bar for international pro cycling events staged in the UK. We look forward to making a significant contribution to the next phase in both events commercial and media development.”
Hugh Roberts, chief executive of SweetSpot, said:
“Thanks to their experience and long-standing relationships, River Media are the perfect rights partner for SweetSpot’s events in the UK and Ireland as we look to continue the evolution of our broadcast output in an increasingly digital age.”
The 2021 Tour of Britain takes place between Sunday 5 and Sunday 12 September 2021, starting from Penzance in Cornwall and finishing in the city of Aberdeen. Full details of the 2021 Tour of Britain race route will be announced later in the year. Previous winners include Mathieu van der Poel (2019) and Julian Alaphilippe (2018).
Launched in 2014, the Women’s Tour is widely regarded as the flagship stage race on the UCI Women’s WorldTour. The six-day event (scheduled for Monday 7 and Saturday 12 June 2021), which was last won by Britain’s Lizzie Deignan, will take place between Oxfordshire and Suffolk. SweetSpot have the intention of broadcasting the race live for the first time this year and are working with stakeholders and partners to achieve this.
The Tour of Britain and the Women’s Tour continue to look for a headline sponsor for 2021 and beyond. With cycling enjoying a boom in the UK, and hundreds of thousands of new and returning cyclists taking to two wheels, partnership opportunities for brands looking to target a healthy national audience and to be associated with Britain’s two biggest professional cycling events are available at all levels and on a regional level to support individual stages.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About the Tour of Britain
Relaunched in 2004 after a five-year absence from the calendar, the Tour of Britain is British Cycling’s premier road cycling event, held annually across eight days in September.
The free-to-watch sporting spectacular features Olympic, world and Tour de France champions, and attracts a roadside audience of over 1.5m spectators. Live coverage of the race is shown daily in the UK on ITV4 and Eurosport, in addition to around the world. The Tour of Britain is part of the new UCI ProSeries, making it one of the most prestigious sporting events in the sport’s global calendar.
Follow the Tour of Britain on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or via the event’s official website at tourofbritain.co.uk
About the Women’s Tour
Created by SweetSpot Group in 2014, the Women’s Tour is the UK’s first international stage race for women, bringing the world’s top riders to compete in Great Britain as a part of the UCI Women’s WorldTour.
The race, which has been won by the likes of Marianne Vos (2014), Lizzie Deignan (2016, 2019) and Coryn Rivera (2018), attracts an annual roadside audience of 300,000, as well as over three million fans through linear and online platforms.
Follow the Women’s Tour on Twitter (#WomensTour), Facebook, and Instagram or via the event’s official website at womenstour.co.uk.
For further media information, please contact:
- Peter Hodges / peterH@thetour.co.uk / 07970 526 519
- Nick Bull / nickb@thetour.co.uk / 07977 151 184
About River Media
River Media is an independent sports media company working with federations, venues, rights owners, media platforms, broadcasters, investors and brands to create and distribute sports content opportunities on a global basis. The principals, Nick Chesworth, Dominic Hayes and Ben Nicholas, together have over 80 years of experience within the sports and media industry and are working with board members Malcolm Wall (Chairman), Aidan Cooney and Mark Nicholas (NEDs).
Current clients and partners include BT Sport Films, EBU, EPCR, InCrowd Sports, Premier Sports, Raceix, RFU, Rugby Europe, SportsMedia Ventures, StatsPerform, SweetSpot, UK Pro League Tennis, 26West Sport and 3Rock Productions.
For further media information, please contact:
- Sophie Naylor / sophie@watchlisttv.co.uk / 07931 785 151