Cycling broadcaster TNT Sports has suggested that despite the shuttering of ITV4’s free-to-air coverage of the Tour de France, there may be a free version of this summer’s race available to UK viewers.
This year will be the first in four decades without the Tour de France, cycling’s flagship race, shown in its entirety on a free-to-air channel, after ITV – who had broadcast it for 25 years, having taken over from Channel 4 – failed to bid to renew its rights from the 2026 edition. The lack of bidding for a free-to-air version meant that UK fans had expected the entire race to go behind the TNT paywall for the first time.
However, Scott Young, Executive Vice President of Production at TNT Sports’ parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), essentially confirmed to The Independent and other outlets last week that there will be a free-to-air product of some description this summer.
Young said: “I think you need to have a free-to-air product [for the Tour de France] and there will be a free-to-air product.
“It could entail having a partner that will show parts of the Tour de France to a free audience, but we’re just working through how much [of the race], what duration, frequency, we’re working through all the elements of that.”
He did not confirm what shape this coverage would take, which platform it would be broadcast on, or whether it would be in the form of live coverage or a highlights package of some description.
“As a subscription broadcaster we have relationships with free-to-air partners across nearly everything that we do,” Young continued, with those partnerships including the BBC for the Olympics and FA Cup, and with ITV for rugby union coverage. “We also have our own free to view channels such as Quest, so there’s lots of different ways to connect to an audience beyond the paywall.
”Companies like us and Sky invest in sport, and that’s why sports like the Premier League have been going since day one behind a paywall. Sport in this market generally sits behind a paywall one way or the other.
“We need to have a relationship with free-to-air to do exactly that, for us to continue to have the value coming in through the subscription so we can invest in sport and have a free-to-air partner, so that a certain amount of that content is also accessible to people who choose not to subscribe and maybe watch the entire 21 stages, but get to see enough of it through free.”
He conceded: “There are some people who will not convert from a free-to-air viewing point into paying for television, and I think you have to sort of accept that there’s an audience out there that will do that.”
While in other sports – most notably football – rights and competitions are spread across a multitude of broadcasters, in cycling the trend has gone the other way, with the last few years seeing Eurosport, now TNT Sports in the UK, purchase the sport’s entire catalogue. The closure of Eurosport in the UK and transfer of cycling coverage to TNT Sports was accompanied by the price for a subscription nearly quintupling, from £6.99 a month to £30.99.
Young said: “We need to explain to cycling fans that whilst the price point has increased, so has our commitment to cycling, we continue to invest in cycling at every level. And I think they just need to come along for the journey and then it’s really up to the individual whether they believe the value is there or not.”
Young rejected concerns that WBD and TNT’s cycling coverage would be affected by the company losing or gaining rights to other sports, particularly football, and emphasised that cycling is a core part of the broadcaster’s offering. He said: “Cycling is not a small cog in the wheel. It’s a major part of that wheel, and I can’t see that changing in the foreseeable future, irrespective of all the other sports around it. So the Champions League coming or going makes no difference to our cycling strategy.”
TNT Sports’ coverage of the Tour de France last year also discarded an ad-free streaming option which had previously been in place. Young said: “I think, as a commercial sports broadcaster, an ad-free product doesn’t make a lot of sense.” However, The Independent understands that WBD is working on a potential dual-screen option with adverts alongside race action.
Young was enthusiastic about the future for TNT Sports as the sole rights holders of the Tour de France in the UK and the responsibility of broadcasting the race. He said: “I think it’s really exciting because I know we’re going to commit to it. I know what we’re going to deliver on the Tour is going to be extraordinary. What we’re going to do on the Tour, I think again will elevate our coverage of cycling.”
TNT Sports is the Home of Cycling in the U.K, with every stage of the Giro d’Italia live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.
