4 July 2012 | Source: Cycle Speedway Commission
Cycle Speedway has received a big boost with the dual announcement of a six-match TV deal and major sponsorship. The sport has signed a TV television contract with Pro-Active TV, which will see six top tier Elite League matches being screened on the Sports Unlimited programme on Sky Sports.
Each featured match will be aired up to four times across the Sky Sports network. Two matches have already been filmed and transmission on Sky Sports is expected from August this summer.
Meanwhile, a training group, BCTG, from Oldbury in the West Midlands, has signed a lucrative sponsorship package. The BCTG sponsored Elite League features eight man teams from Oxford, Leicester, Poole, Birmingham, Ipswich, Sheffield and Wolverhampton. Newcomers Birmingham have taken the league by storm this year and currently head the table.
In announcing the TV deal and sponsorship contract, Ian Brown, of the British Cycling Cycle Speedway Commission, said “This is a huge step forward for our sport and we look forward to a mutually advantageous partnership with Pro-Active, Sky and BCTG for many years to come”.
Chris Luty, of sponsors BCTG, said “BCTG is proud to sponsor the Elite Cycle Speedway League in 2012. We believe that cycle speedway gives people of all ages, in local communities, an opportunity to take part in an exciting, competitive sport, that’s accessible to everyone.
The individual determination coupled with a team spirit generated by cycle speedway, is particularly appropriate in an Olympic year.”
Russell Fisher, of Pro-Active TV, said “We commissioned the British Finals of Cycle Speedway in 2011 and this all-action cycle sport certainly lends itself to TV. The races are short, are full of robust endeavour and it all makes for highly visual television”.
Joe McLaughlin, representing the Cycle Speedway Commission, who secured both the TV and sponsorship contracts, commented “These joint announcements make for exciting times for the sport. There is no doubt the sport is on an upward trend, with rising sponsorship, increasing membership numbers and new tracks opening”.
