BT Sport are set to win the MotoGP rights from the BBC and Eurosport, articles this evening are suggesting. The usually reliable TV Sports Markets (subscription needed) are saying that BT will screen the series from 2014 onwards. As has been noted on my Contracts page for many months, the current MotoGP contract expires at the end of the season.
My initial thoughts on this is that it will be bad, bad move if it comes off. Just a few weeks ago, MotoGP was having terrestrial television presence in primetime with the beginning of their season on BBC Two. Motor cycling arguably needs the free to air presence more so than Formula 1, and I’m afraid that I struggle to find any positives here for motor cycling if the move happens. Hopefully the coverage stays free to air (BBC or elsewhere, maybe ITV) because a move to BT will slash any existing presence it currently has.
If I hear any more on this, I will update this blog.
Update on April 30th – Broadcast are today reporting that BT’s MotoGP plans are very similar to that of what Sky currently do with Formula 1, with “multi-camera options, such as rider point of view footage” being mooted. I would be surprised if they go as far to have their own MotoGP channel, when you compare the popularity of both sports, if other Formula 1 content gets less than 100,000 viewers, then I would dread to think what the other MotoGP content would get if BT went down that route.
Motorsport Broadcasting 
Do you think you could put up a list of what Motorsport will be shown on BT if anything has been confirmed and also how you can get the channel/s when they start if you know
Channel starts beginning of August, only thing officially confirmed is NASCAR.
Stupid question… Is BT gonna be on the sky platform… I assume it is but don’t know for sure
Yep – two slots for BT channels have popped up now on the Sky guide. Sky are doing their best not to drive subscriptions – got my email and letter direct from sky notifying me of the end of the ESPN subscription but nothing offering to help set up BT channels.
In theory the whole BT sport channel operation could be considered as being paid for out of the investment/marketing budget for BT broadband. Ultimately the football, rugby and other contracts are a bulkhead to stop Sky becoming the biggest broadband provider in the country – the end game could be to withdraw the channels off sky and make them exclusive to BT broadband or TV packages. Going to be fascinating.
Sorry should have said – that is why Sky bumped up TV prices and are handing out cheap/”free” broadband to customers. The costs are covered from within total revenues but you are able to get massive traction and brand loyalty on broadband through integrated packages of services. That then puts you in a dominant position across two of the major content delivery channels.
Just when got some good uk riders in moto gp and gp2 . disappointed
I Hope this BT channel is going to be included in the main Virgin Media package and not be subscription based. The price I have to pay if I want the F1 channel is a rip off and I don’t even get the option of having it in HD, so if I had to pay yet another £20-30 to get access to the BT channels just so I can watch one for a couple of hours every other weekend will be ridiculous.
this is a bad move, for all, riders and fans, why cant they just leave well enough alone, no there gonna rip us off for sure, years ago we didnt get the time of day, now were a great sport with a healthy following their going to stitch us up, shame on the powers that be,