news analysis
analysis
Where to watch the best racing provider MotoGP 2013 BBC 2014 BT Sport
Hitting the apex of biking news every single lap
Cost
How to watch
Free BBC1, BBC2, Red button, iPlayer From £10/month Sky Digital, BT TV, BT Sport app
WSB 2013 Eurosport From £2.99/month British Eurosport, Eurosport Player, Virgin Media channel 521/522, Virgin Media Player, Virgin TV Anywhere, Sky Go 2014 Eurosport From £2.99/month British Eurosport, Eurosport Player, Virgin Media channel 521/522, Virgin Media Player, Virgin TV Anywhere, Sky Go BSB 2013 Eurosport From £2.99/month British Eurosport, Eurosport Player, Virgin Media channel 521/522, Virgin Media Player, Virgin TV Anywhere, Sky Go ITV4 Free ITV4, ITV Player 2014 Eurosport From £2.99/month British Eurosport, Eurosport Player, Virgin Media channel 521/522, Virgin Media Player, Virgin TV Anywhere, Sky Go ITV4 (tbc) Free ITV4, ITV Player isle of man tt 2013 ITV4 2014 ITV4 (tbc)
Free ITV4, ITV Player Free ITV4, ITV Player
north west 200 2013 BBC 2014 BBC
Free Free
BBC1 NI, iplayer BBC1 NI, iplayer
Word Ben Lindley Photography Rory Game
Forking out for our racing fix As BT Sport wins the rights for MotoGP it looks as though weekends of free-to-watch motorcycle racing on the telly are over. Or are they?
F
rom next year, MotoGP will no longer be free to watch. A deal between MotoGP organisers, Dorna, and the new sports channel, BT Sport, has put a stop to it. The new contract gives BT Sport exclusive rights to MotoGP in the UK for the next five years, meaning that coverage on the BBC and Eurosport will end after the 2013 season. So what does this mean for the future of MotoGP? And will this put an end to watching fast, frantic and furious motorcycle racing for free? PB sifts fact from fiction in a bid to keep your Sunday afternoons alive.
What changes in 2014?
BT is spending big money to hastily create a competitive package of sport for new and existing customers. Their offering of MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 will complement the new sport channel’s list of Premier League football matches and all Premiership Rugby games. BT’s official press release suggests they’re planning
comprehensive coverage of all the racing, in contrast to the BBC’s focus on MotoGP only: ‘MotoGP fans won’t miss a minute of the action as race weekends will be covered in full starting from free practice on the Friday, including full coverage of Moto2 and Moto3, as well as the elite category MotoGP... Fans will also be able to see races from the riders’ perspective and with more interactive features showing off the most technologically advanced bikes, giving UK fans a whole new MotoGP viewing experience.’
what will it cost?
There are three ways to watch BT Sport. First, on an existing Sky Digital Satellite contract. Adding BT Sport to Sky will cost you £12 a month with a £15 activation fee. Second, a BT TV bundle comes with BT Sport for no extra cost. TV bundles start at £5/ month with a £49 activation fee. If ordered before August 1, both these deals give you access to HD for one year. After this, HD costs an extra £3
Performancebikes.co.uk | august 2013
ABOVE With BBC coverage ending this year, we’ll soon have to pay to see elbow down action
a month. The final option is to watch BT Sport free with the online player and app. To do this, you need BT Broadband. Prices start at £25.45 a month including line rental. And for existing customers of BT’s services, adding BT Sport will be completely free, including free HD, for a year. Cheaper than all these options though, is a subscription to the MotoGP website (motogp.com). This is by far the most feature-packed way to watch. Prices start at £85 a year.
2014 MotoGP Commentators
They haven’t been confirmed yet but potentials for the BT Sport job must include the current regulars – Toby Moody (pictured), Julian Ryder, Steve Parrish and Charlie Cox. But Mat Oxley has his own predictions: ‘There are rumours that Keith Huewen and Julian Ryder will be the men for the job. They were brilliant when they used to do WSB many years ago.’
what about timedelayed coverage?
The days of delayed same-day Eurosport coverage of the GP seem to be numbered. MotoGP expert Mat Oxley explains how Eurosport helped the Beeb out of their tricky situation by showing the classes that the BBC didn’t want to screen [Moto3 and Moto2] and managed to slip time-delayed coverage into the bargain: ‘In 2009, Eurosport was helping the BBC by giving airtime to the racing the BBC didn’t want to cover. The time-delayed coverage of the GP was just part of the deal. That all worked very nicely, but in 2014 BT Sport will show it all and they want everyone to come to them. I don’t think there’ll be any time-delayed coverage on any other channel.’
what will take the place of motogp?
With recent polls suggesting that most MotoGP followers won’t make the switch to BT Sport, there could well be room for the BBC to replace the racing series with another option. Mat Oxley suggests that WSB could be the next big thing to hit the Beeb: ‘The BBC could easily replace MotoGP with another biking sport. Maybe
Dorna are trying to sell them World Superbikes at this very moment. It makes a lot of sense for this to happen: first, it’ll be cheaper to buy; and second, it’s got five times as much potential UK interest, because it’s got five times the number of potential British winners.’ If this is the case, we won’t see it happen by 2014. As Eurosport said in a recent press release, it holds exclusive live rights to cover WSB and BSB in the UK until 2015 at the earliest. ‘In 2013, we added the Speedway European Championships and FIM Speedway Grand Prix to our offer of the MCE British Superbike Championship and the World Superbike Championship. We will show every round of these four series live, in full and in HD until at least 2015.’ But even if WSB is given to us for free in 2015, Eurosport commentator Toby Moody thinks MotoGP will always have a following: ‘Grand Prix is Grand Prix. It says it above the door. Even in 1997 when Repsol Honda dominated, people still turned up to watch it. And they loved it because it’s the Grand Prix. That’s why I feel it will always survive. It is a very strong brand.’