When GCN+ shut down last December, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery was initially slow to announce how bike racing fans would access coverage for the 2024 season. That question was answered first for the UK and mainland Europe (Discovery+ and Eurosport), and then for the United States in the form of coverage on the Max platform. But after SBS picked up Australian rights for some WorldTour events, WBD’s promises to announce a coverage plan for other markets within weeks were left unfulfilled, until last week.
In April, WBD and a Swedish-based streaming service called Staylive announced a partnership to show the Mountain Bike World Cup in many countries, but no mention was made of road cycling. Last week, the two companies announced an expanded partnership covering road racing, filling in a number of holes in SBS’ coverage.
Staylive will show more than 40 road races for the rest of the season, although access depends on market. Monthly and annual plans are available. In Australia, subscriptions are AUD$74/annual or AUD$7.49/month. Pay-per-view is also an option for specific events. Staylive’s rights cover a large number of countries but the service is not available in markets like the U.S. or UK where other outlets hold broadcast rights. And there are large gaps in its coverage that prevent it from being a one-stop solution the way GCN+ was for many viewers.
Staylive’s marquee men’s WorldTour events includes the Giro d’Italia, except in Australia, where it remains on SBS. Other top events include August and September one-day races like the GP Quebec and GP Montreal, Bretagne Classic Ouest France, and the Giro di Lombardia. There are also a number of lower-ranked races available. Not on the calendar are any ASO events like the Tour de France/TdF Femmes or Paris-Roubaix. Staylive has mountain bike World Cup coverage, except in Australia where that series is on Stan Sport.
Importantly, Staylive does pick up a number of Women’s WorldTour events that previously lacked broadcast partners for Australia and New Zealand: the revived Women’s Tour of Britain, Women’s Tour de Suisse, and Women’s Giro d’Italia among them.
We contacted Staylive with a number of questions about how long the partnership runs, on what platforms the service is available, and whether more races will yet be added to the 2024 calendar, but Staylive’s press representative has not responded to our request.
You can see the full calendar here, and access details by country here. (PDF) And as always, details of all available men’s and women’s WorldTour coverage for the U.S., UK, Canada, and Australia are found in our annual (and now updated) How to Watch guide.
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