Warner Bros. Discovery has extended its exclusive rights to the Giro d'Italia, the Giro d'Italia Women and a broad set of Italian road races through at least 2029, the company announced on April 22. The long-term deal with RCS Sport extends WBD's association with La Corsa Rosa beyond 30 years, dating back to Eurosport's first broadcast of the race in 1998.
Live television coverage will reach viewers in 50 markets across Europe on Eurosport, with TNT Sports carrying races in the UK and Ireland. HBO Max will offer live and on-demand streaming in both Europe and the United States, including in the UK following the platform's launch in March.
The 2026 Giro d'Italia begins in Bulgaria on May 8 and finishes in Rome on May 31. The Giro d'Italia Women runs from May 30 to June 7. WBD says it will announce full production plans for the 2026 Giro in the coming weeks.
14 races across men's and women's calendars
The RCS package goes well beyond the Giro itself. The full list of races included:
- Giro d'Italia (UCI WorldTour)
- Giro d'Italia Women (UCI Women's World Tour)
- Giro Next Gen (U23)
- Giro d'Abruzzo (UCI 2.1)
- Strade Bianche men and women (UCI WorldTour / UCI Women's World Tour)
- Tirreno–Adriatico (UCI WorldTour)
- Milano–Sanremo men and women (UCI WorldTour / UCI Women's World Tour)
- Milano–Torino (UCI ProSeries)
- Il Lombardia (UCI WorldTour)
- Gran Piemonte (UCI ProSeries)
- UAE Tour men and women (UCI WorldTour / UCI Women's World Tour)
For viewers working out what all this costs in practice, we've broken down the price of watching the 2026 Spring Classics across the major platforms.
The deal builds on a relationship first formalised in 2021, when Discovery secured exclusive global rights to the Giro through at least 2025 via a deal with RCS Sport and IMG.
Record viewership in 2025
WBD said its 2025 Giro coverage was the biggest edition on record for streaming viewership and digital engagement. Video views on streaming platforms rose 44% year-on-year, while social media views increased 84%. Linear audiences grew 4% across all European markets, with record broadcast figures on Eurosport in Germany, Spain and Denmark. In Denmark, free-to-air channel Kanal 5 saw a 174% increase in viewership and a 13.8% market share across all channels — a reminder that cycling's streaming landscape remains considerably uneven across Europe.
Part of a wider cycling portfolio
The RCS extension reinforces WBD's broader position in cycling broadcasting. In October 2024, the European Broadcasting Union announced a new agreement with Amaury Sport Organisation and Unipublic through 2030, covering the Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes, La Vuelta a España, Paris-Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and other races. WBD's sublicense from the EBU was extended in parallel.
The combined portfolio now covers more than 1,000 live races broadcast across 300-plus days each year, including all three men's Grand Tours, the full UCI Women's World Tour calendar, UCI World Championships across road, mountain bike, cyclocross, track and BMX, and the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series.
Trojan Paillot, SVP of Sports Rights Acquisitions and Syndications at WBD Sports Europe, said: "Cycling is at the heart of our live multi-sport offer and no-one covers this sport like we do through unparalleled race coverage and rider storytelling. By extending our rights to show the Giro d'Italia, Giro d'Italia Women and a whole host of premier Italian races, we have underlined our commitment to supporting the long-term growth of the sport."
Paolo Bellino, CEO at RCS Sport, said: "We are proud to continue and strengthen a long-standing partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, which for over thirty years has helped bring the Giro d'Italia and our races to millions of fans around the world with unparalleled reach. This agreement reaffirms the global value of our events and their growing appeal, across both men's and women's racing."
Cover image credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
