An agreement has been signed today, Thursday 20th June, between the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, its subsidiary Le Mans Endurance Management which organises the FIA World Endurance Championship and Eurosport Group for the broadcast of the 24 Heures du Mans and all the other rounds of the world championship.
The renewal of the agreement linking the parties together is valid from 2014 to 2016 inclusive, and includes TV broadcast rights as well as digital rights for the 24 Heures du Mans and the seven other rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 71 countries in Europe and the Asian Pacific region.
Eurosport has agreed to transmit live and direct the entire 24 Hours on its Eurosport, Eurosport 2 and Eurosport Asia-Pacific channels, as well as on the internet and on its mobile Eurosport Player service. Furthermore, this coverage includes the live broadcast of the three practice/qualifying sessions as well as the daily “Le Mans 24 minutes” show.
As far as the other rounds of the World Endurance Championship are concerned, Eurosport International will broadcast live the final hour of each of the races.
Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest: “We made a commitment to our partners to develop the television coverage of the 24 Heures du Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship. This new agreement with Eurosport shows that this is just what we’ve done. We already have a comprehensive network of TV coverage of our races throughout the world, spearheaded by the 24 Heures du Mans, and this deal strengthens that network.”
Gérard Neveu, CEO of Le Mans Endurance Management: “You could say that this is an historic moment in endurance racing in Europe. Eurosport is now a major broadcaster for the World Championship. This considerably increases the visibility of the FIA WEC in Europe and goes some way to answer the wishes of our competitors, partners and fans. It’s a great move for endurance racing but we haven’t reached the finish line yet and we will continue to work hard to get the FIA WEC further coverage on television throughout the world.”
Jean-Thierry Augustin, CEO Eurosport Group says: "Le Mans 24 Hours is the most famous car racing event in history and one of the highlights of our programming. Viewers will not miss a minute of the race wherever they are, with our round-the-clock LIVE coverage on air, online and on mobile. They will also enjoy unique editorial extras brought each year by our teams on site. The extension of our long-standing relationship with ACO also enables us to guarantee fans the very best of endurance racing throughout the whole season with eight rounds of the FIA WEC."
