Outdoor Life Gets Tour de France
Stamford, Conn. -- Outdoor Life Network has reached a multiyear agreement to telecast
the Tour de France cycling event beginning in 2001 in a reported $3 million deal,
according to officials.
Along with carrying live coverage of the event, Outdoor Life will also supply highlight
programs to Fox Sports Net and produce three original, one-hour specials for broadcast
network CBS, the company said.
Outdoor Life's coverage will be anchored by daily live coverage each morning of the
23-day, 2,000-plus-mile race, along with primetime encore presentations. Fox Sports Net
will air regular highlight programs.
In addition, Outdoor Life will provide footage of the Tour de France for CBS Sports'
three 60-minute specials on weekends during the three weeks of the competition.
This year's Tour de France made headlines across the United States as American Lance
Armstrong miraculously raced to the head of the pack after one year of surgery and
chemotherapy for an advanced form of testicular cancer.
"Over the past few years, we have made a concerted effort to become the
destination location for cycling coverage," Outdoor Life CEO Roger Werner said in a
prepared statement. "This acquisition clearly makes us the undisputed leader in this
category, which is experiencing unprecedented growth in the overall TV-sports
marketplace."
