AMA Pro Racing has signed an agreement with CBS Sports Network to air the National Guard Superbike and GoPro Daytona Sportbike classes through the 2014 season. CBS Sports Network’s AMA coverage will begin June 1 at 2:30 pm ET with a 30-minute preview followed immediately by live flag-to-flag coverage of the Subway Superbike Doubleheader at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

CBS Sports Network has yet to release a full broadcast schedule, but AMA Pro Racing says events will be initially presented on weekend afternoons with several events airing live. The 30-minute weekly preview show will include coverage of qualifying sessions and highlights from previous rounds as well as vignettes about motorcycle racing and the history of the sport.

“We’re excited to add AMA Pro to our CBS Sports Spectacular lineup,” says Dan Weinberg, senior vice president of programming for CBS Sports Network. “GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing is a high octane, action-packed sport featuring some of the world’s best motorcycle racers and is a great addition to our live programming this summer.” Continue Reading »

Fox Sports Media Group announced it has signed a new multi-year agreement with Dorna Sports for the U.S. broadcasting rights to the MotoGP World Championship. The agreement will see the 2013 season continue to air on Speed before the channel gets rebranded as Fox Sports 1 on Aug. 1. The series will then air on the new channel.

The future of televised motorcycle racing in the U.S. was left in some doubt when Fox announced it would replace Speed with Fox Sports 1. The new channel focuses on more non-racing sports, securing rights to air UEFA Champions League soccer, Major League Baseball and UFC. The announcement followed news of the World Superbike Championship moving from Speed to the BeIN Sport Network, leaving some to wonder if Speed would also lose MotoGP.

Speed will air the first nine rounds of the 2013 MotoGP championship, including the April 21 Grand Prix of the Americas and the July 21 U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. The subsequent rounds, starting with the Aug. 18 Indianapolis Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will air on Fox Sports 1. Continue Reading »

Fox Sports Media Group announced it is relaunching the Speed channel as Fox Sports 1, shifting focus away from motorsports to more mainstream sports.

Speed will officially change to Fox Sports 1 on Aug. 17, becoming a 24-hour sports channel competing against the likes of ESPN, the CBS Sports Network and the NBC Sports Network. The change had been rumored to be coming for some time now, gaining steam in October 2012 when Speed lost the U.S. broadcasting rights to Formula 1 racing. Speed also lost the rights to air World Superbike racing which has since been picked up by beIN Sport.

Fox Sports 1 has already signed up the broadcast rights to a number of sports properties including college basketball, college football, soccer and UFC. A new rights agreement with Major League Baseball takes effect in 2014. Continue Reading »

It almost came down to the wire, but the World Superbike Championship finally has a U.S. broadcasting partner. With the first round of the 2013 season set to start this weekend from Australia’s Phillip Island circuit, WSBK has reached a deal with the beIN Sport Network. Speed had aired the series for several years but their broadcasting schedule was not renewed for 2013.

The season opening round will be broadcast live at 8:00 pm EST on Saturday, Feb. 23 (which would be Feb. 24 in Australia where the race is taking place) on beIN Sport. The race will also be streamed live on beIN Sport’s website, though it’s likely only accessible to those who subscribe to the television channel. Continue Reading »

Early this year, thousands of drag racers chased the dream and entered Kawasaki’s nationally-promoted “Zero to Hero Challenge,” hoping for the opportunity to face-off against multi-time champion Rickey Gadson and take home a new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R. Beginning this week, Speed and Fuel TV will broadcast the Zero to Hero Challenge across several time slots.

Both cable networks will treat viewers to an inside look at the process all contestants went through on their way to challenging Gadson on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway drag strip in May.  The Speed episodes begin this week, playing on-the-hour, from 8:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. Fuel TV time slots are scheduled to get underway beginning August 20.

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