Goodbye MTB World Cup, Hello MTB World Series

I just wish, when they initially announced all of these changes, they were just honest about there being a paywall, so many times they skirted around this (like the Chris Ball AMA on Pinkbike last year).

Let's hope RedBull announce their plans soon.

Will there be a highlights programme with Gary Imlach in the evening?

£7 pm for discovery+ either standalone, via Prime or via Eurosport.

Doesn't look to be anything much more worth watching on there, so I won't be paying that just to watch the DH.

Free to Sky Subscribers though, which Im guessing is still a fair chunk.

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/discovery-plus?DCMP=tva-skycom:ec_discovery_plus

I don't think asking people to pay for something they have always gotten for free has ever resulted in growth.

Let’s hope RedBull announce their plans soon.

Are there any plans other than some wishful thinking that RB will want to try to compete with the UCI?

£7 pm for discovery+ either standalone, via Prime or via Eurosport.

Doesn’t look to be anything much more worth watching on there, so I won’t be paying that just to watch the DH.

Same, but I might be able to convince myself I was getting enough value out of a GCN+ sub if it landed there.

I don’t think asking people to pay for something they have always gotten for free has ever resulted in growth.

Seemed to initially work for Strava...

Given Warner Bros. previous record of abruptly dropping projects no matter what stage of development or production they're in, this could be over before it starts, or get started and disappear.

Are there any plans other than some wishful thinking that RB will want to try to compete with the UCI?

Lots of comments around the end of the last season about Red Bull's continuing commitment to MTB. Lots of "this is not the end" chatter.

I don’t think asking people to pay for something they have always gotten for free has ever resulted in growth.

Given the reach of WBD, and the way they structure the delivery of such things, its exceptionally unlikely they won’t deliver massive growth to the viewing numbers. The reality is, as hardcore fans, we will make up a fraction of a % of those watching.

The question is; can they make enough changes such that watching cyclists race is exciting enough to attract a larger audience? I mean, most of my friends would call me a "cyclist" but I'd rather watch paint dry.

Be interesting to see what actually happens at an event. I've tickets for Lenzerheide again as its a DH XCC/XCO combo weekend. I cant see that actually standing somewhere on a course can change much but the online live presentation will, I'm sure be very different.

I wonder what the quality of commentary will be. A few of the US "shows" ive seen (admittedly, limited to a few) have two commentators, blazers, chinos, sneakers, type of thing. Rampage aside, but that was Redbull..

I read the release as if it is landing in GCN+ globally? Have I got that wrong.

If so, I've been quite happy with my GCN membership, found it quite good value and it's introduced me to a few races I'd normally have missed. Never thought I'd be quite as much of a cyclocross fan till I started watching all the races there.

Agree with that, if it is on GCN+. I'm always sitting on the fence with my GNC+ subscription, if it expanded to include the DH I' be more than happy to keep it going

Free to certain Sky Subscribers

discovery+ is now available at no extra cost for Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers.

New subscribers can set up their account on Sky Marketplace.

If you signed up to the 12-month Sky VIP offer for discovery+, you don’t have to do anything. You can continue using your account - and you can now watch sports too.

Inherently, them now calling it a "world series" does make me want to puke in my mouth slightly (didn't take them long to Americanise it. I assume more US rounds will quickly appear like F1?)

But on the plus side I've now discovered I have Discovery+ as part of my Sky package.

If it comes to GCN+ then that may be enough to tip me over the edge and sign up. I've also missed watching the Spring classics and the Giro since I ditched Eurosport.

I feel it's not unfair that we pay for it, people have to earn a living, advertising space on niche sports like ours isn't worth mega bucks and Cycling events are not cheap or easy to televise (track possibly excepted) but I would have resented having to signup for a whole TV package just to access it.

Time will tell how good the coverage is and whether they have found someone to fill Warner's shoes.

can they make enough changes such that watching cyclists race is exciting enough to attract a larger audience? I mean, most of my friends would call me a “cyclist” but I’d rather watch paint dry.

Plenty of people who don't play football, rugby, cricket, athletics etc watch those. A lot of folks just like watching things, especially competitive things.
I dare say if you want to get people watching bike racing, DH, Enduro and increasingly the xc are probably the best candidates for that.

Exactly my point. Snooker used to be huge on terrestrial TV.

Inherently, them now calling it a “world series” does make me want to puke in my mouth slightly

This 100%

discovery+ is now available at no extra cost for Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers.

How DARE you try to be helpful and point out that many will be able to watch this within packages they already pay for!??! LOL at the PB downvotes you're getting, some PB folk are thick.

How DARE you try to be helpful and point out that many will be able to watch this within packages they already pay for!??! LOL at the PB downvotes you’re getting, some PB folk are thick.

I'm getting slayed on the downvotes... it's bonkers.. LOL.

Exactly my point. Snooker used to be huge on terrestrial TV.

But who watches terrestrial TV anymore?

I get that as a [sweeping generalisation] demographic we're [mtbers] generally in higher disposable income brackets but aren't willing to actually pay for anything [/sweeping generalisation] but people not paying for TV isn't the norm these days.

When you think a Minion is £45 (i just bought one) a coffee is £3.50-4.50 and a pint over a Fiver... well, it's hardly asking for the earth even at £6.99 a month.

It's less than a Strava sub 😀 😀

discovery+ is now available at no extra cost for Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers.

that's why I dun said "Certain" customers. I've been a Sky subscriber since about 1949, but I ain't got none of that shite.

that’s why I dun said “Certain” customers. I’ve been a Sky subscriber since about 1949, but I ain’t got none of that shite.

Neither were we until Xmas. Mrs Weeksy rang them and said "our remote control is rubbish"..... we now have SkyQ for no extra cost and not monthly increase.

Worth a call.

Nah, I likes me Sky Box. Got stuff going back decades I ain't watched on it too. Wouldn't wanna lose it! 😀

discovery+ is now available at no extra cost for Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers.

Inherently, them now calling it a “world series” does make me want to puke in my mouth slightly

Given that every year folk on this forum get confused between the World Cup and World Champs, it makes sense to me

(didn’t take them long to Americanise it. I assume more US rounds will quickly appear like F1?)

Bloody hope so given the size of the Rockies!

I’m getting slayed on the downvotes… it’s bonkers.. LOL.

Maybe your comment didn't go down as well on an international site as it did on a primarily UK-based one? If you've got similar tips for the non-UK audience maybe it'll go down better.

Anyway, if I want to watch it I'll have to pay the subscription. Which I'm not going to do. I've already got a number of these 'it's only x a month' subscriptions and it adds up in the end. The same reason I don't watch club rugby anymore.

I'll just watch whatever Red Bull have instead.

Maybe Alex Rankin can start making Earthed films again. Used to be the only way we could watch any WC racing.

calling it a “world series” does make me want to puke in my mouth slightly

Hmm, I do often wonder what the last two letters stood for in EWS. Facetiousness asides, Chris Ball and the ESO gang needed to put their own stamp on it so it's not that surprising they opted for something in relation to what they've already done.

Its going to be interesting to see the registration list for national DH series and thinks like both IXS and Crank, both this year and particularly next year. Whether riders are contracted to race one series but not allowed to race a rival series etc. E.g Jordan Williams raced UK grass roots series in 2022 at times, will be still be allowed or will that be taken away from riders?
Could Jackson be told he can't race Hardline this year? Kerr the same?
It could be very interesting. Obviously that only affects a certain number of riders. But if you were WB/discover, would you let riders loose at Red bull events? Hmmm

It's a shame. Only sport (other than the occasional football match at the pub) that I bothered watching.

Don't subscribe to any TV. Ethically opposed to Sky as they rinse their subscribers tbh. Ah well. I guess I'll just have to go out for a ride, rather than watch other people doing it.

I don’t think asking people to pay for something they have always gotten for free has ever resulted in growth.

F1 and Premiership football are now massive on the Sky platform. The thing is, on the BBC they were free to folks in the UK. On Sky, the potential audience is the entire world.

Eurosport and ESPN both have massive audiences who will watch whats on the schedule, Red Bull, not so much

I'll happily give them £6.99 or whatever to watch the DH coverage exclusively - I have no interest in road cycling and a passing interest in xc at best. There's not way I'm paying 12x £6.99 for 12 hours of coverage. I don't need or want another TV subscription, especially not for content I won't watch.

The UCI have once again ****ed it

it’s hardly asking for the earth even at £6.99 a month.

My concern is they are putting up a paywall for a potentially worse product.

EWS is certainly no better for the Discovery takeover, and they have failed to bring over the figurehead of the Red Bull coverage, so it's not hard to imagine DH being worse than before.

They have added this semi final, which all I can see is adding quantity but removing quality. Beyond that we don't know much so I am reluctant to cough up any cash.

weeksy
Full Member

Its going to be interesting to see the registration list for national DH series and thinks like both IXS and Crank, both this year and particularly next year. Whether riders are contracted to race one series but not allowed to race a rival series etc. E.g Jordan Williams raced UK grass roots series in 2022 at times, will be still be allowed or will that be taken away from riders?
Could Jackson be told he can’t race Hardline this year? Kerr the same?
It could be very interesting. Obviously that only affects a certain number of riders. But if you were WB/discover, would you let riders loose at Red bull events? Hmmm

nothing you mention there is a rival to the World Cup/Series though, and the riders aren’t under contract to Discovery. Maybe a rival series will appear in future, but it’s not there now

The headline is wrong, it's not goodbye to the world cup. The article refers to both the world series and next years dh world Cup. I'm reading it as the 'world series' is the collection of mountain biking events that includes the dh world cup, rather than renaming the world cup.

Bloody clickbait.

If the XC is on GCN I'll consider re-subscribing if not then I won't bother. Zero interest in DH or Enduro.

Never ever any Murdoch-Vision subscription in this household.  I'd rather push rusty barbed wire up my peepee that give any money to them and their excessive right wing influence on the western world.

Hope the DH is on GCN+. I'll watch it then.

But 'world series'. WTAF.  Morons.

I barely found time to watch the DH stuff on Red Bull…I certainly wouldn’t pay for it, so guess I won’t  be watching any of it now. Shame.

@weeksy

I’m getting slayed on the downvotes… it’s bonkers.. LOL.

It's almost as if the youths on Pinkbike don't have a £100+ a month subscription to get the benefit of watching it for nothing? Utterly mystifying.

It’s almost as if the youths on Pinkbike don’t have a £100+ a month subscription to get the benefit of watching it for nothing? Utterly mystifying.

I wasn't saying they should, i was just giving the information. I don't much care about the downvotes i just found it amusing.

The headline is wrong, it’s not goodbye to the world cup. The article refers to both the world series and next years dh world Cup. I’m reading it as the ‘world series’ is the collection of mountain biking events that includes the dh world cup, rather than renaming the world cup

This 👆

Also,

...this 👇

Hmm, I do often wonder what the last two letters stood for in EWS

Perhaps if the article had referred to the 'World Series' branding being 'enduro-esque' rather than 'baseball-esque', it wouldn't be so triggering for some?! Certainly giving off clickbaity vibes...

Is this £6.99 a month something I can just sign up for when I fancy watching a DH or EWS round for a month? Or is it a 12 month subscription?

Is this £6.99 a month something I can just sign up for when I fancy watching a DH or EWS round for a month? Or is it a 12 month subscription?

That's what's going to swing it for me. Zero interest in a 12 month subscription for something I'll genuinely only use to watch DH racing.

First DH round is 9-11 June, final round is 6-8 October. In theory that's only a 4-month period if you started a subscription on the day of the first round. If it is £6.99 on a rolling monthly basis, £28 for a season.

Discovery plus entertainment and sport £59 year. In the absence of a strong ad revenue this may be the only way to support a decent series.
To be fair, Red Bull did a pretty good job imo and for free. Very acceptable.I e no idea how they sell enough of that horrid drink to make a profit after all they spend on sponsorship.
I wonder if their mtb athlete sponsorship will dwindle.
Still. We have wait and see if RB do have a competing series. Hardline style tracks based?

https://get.discoveryplus.com/gb/watch-entertainment-and-sport?utm_source=google&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=GSA-performancemktg&gbraid=0AAAAACz5BITQUP03SPm3BsgBkwPbhjXXd&gclid=Cj0KCQiA8aOeBhCWARIsANRFrQE08opTaqB1nNZEu9PM9hnXmuNB9-SLikm4YSXwj6Uv3awDmJ_F304aAvHTEALw_wcB

But ‘world series’. WTAF. Morons

I think this is good marketing. A lot of people learning their way around the sport get confused about the difference between World Champs and World Cup. Series describes what it is much better.

So £40/year on GCN+ or £84/year on discovery+/eurosport, unless you already have it in another package.
Is that the choice then?

Will the GCN+ stuff be the same commentary team or do they cover it themselves? (Never watched GCN before).

from reading the link above you only need to pay for 1 month rolling, so £6.99 x 4-5 depending on dates..

If its rolling rather than calendar months, looks like 5 if you want to watch Nove Mesto xc, 4 if you start at Lenzerheide for the double header weekend.

I think I’ll probably end up getting a monthly sub to GCN+ through the App Store on my iPhone during the MTB season. This can easily be cancelled in “subscriptions”, within settings, at any time.

If it’s a 5 month season though, it gets very close to the £40 a year annual sub

Exactly my point. Snooker used to be huge on terrestrial TV.

But who watches terrestrial TV anymore?

An increasing number of people it seems. Since lockdown, the number has increased by 2.6% to 78.6%, while the subscription platforms are losing viewers by roughly the same amount.

Judging by the conversations in my office there are very few who don't have normal TV.

If it’s a 5 month season though, it gets very close to the £40 a year annual sub

And of course, there has been a lot of moaning about the late start (especially the DH) - in part because the early season favourite Ft Bill is World Champs this year - if they did extend the season then they get to add to the revenue.

Seen a few videos appearing of the first test event, and it looks like a World Cup DH event, apart from more furniture on the course ie even more tape, stubby slalom poles and odd man made obstacles in the track to stop riders using certain lines.

Also sounds like there is still negotiation going on with the format of the racing which still isnt decided.

Ive not heard of anyone yet who is prepared to pay to watch.

Ive not heard of anyone yet who is prepared to pay to watch.

Hi 🙂

I've got no issues paying £6 a month, £10 a month.. i'd arguably go to £20 a month.

even more tape, stubby slalom poles

The clips I saw had tape in some areas and just poles in others - I assumed they were reducing tape by just doing the sections that actually need it.

Ive not heard of anyone yet who is prepared to pay to watch.

I subscribed to GCN+ for the year (£30/yr with discount) and have already watched a few documentaries and road races. With the WCs as well I'm not feeling too hard done by.