Sky Italia Enriches Sports Offering

MILAN: In Italy, Sky has acquired the exclusive TV rights for the FIM MotoGP World Championship, starting from the 2014 season.

Sky gains exclusive rights to broadcast all 18 races of the three classes from the FIM MotoGP World Championship, via an agreement with Dorna, the company organizing the championship. Under the pact with Dorna, Sky is in charge of providing the free-to-air showings of eight MotoGP appointments. Content will be offered across all Sky platforms, including free- and pay-TV, the Internet, mobile and Sky Go.

Andrea Zappia, Sky Italia CEO, stated: “We are glad we have reached this agreement. It represents a new, decisive and important signal for subscribers who, in years to come, will be able to rely on one of the deepest-rooted sports event in Italians’ hearts. That confirms that Sky keeps investing in order to ensure an unparalleled offer by constantly enriching it.

“We would like to thank Dorna for the trust they have placed in us. It is a partner able to ensure the highest level of organization worldwide and I’m confident that together we’ll be able to further enhance such a great sport. Starting from now, our aim is to work every day so that the MotoGP and the whole Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix can continue to grow in the collective imagination of Italians who are already keen on a sport in which our fellow countrymen are always getting to the top rankings”.

Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna’s CEO, added: “We are extremely pleased about the new agreement with Sky, as it allows MotoGP to keep evolving in the right direction. Sky is a partner known to offer sports coverage at the highest quality and provides us with the best opportunity to display content across its new and varied platforms. Italy is a country with a strong motorcycle heritage, most notably with Valentino Rossi, and we firmly believe that this new partnership will aid in the development of many more local young talents in years to come, such as current up-and-comer Romano Fenati. This, coupled with the unparalleled sport programming of Sky will give another boost to the MotoGP World Championship thanks to its original and innovative digital technologies.”