Freecaster.tv has received a cash injection from the International Mountain Bike Trade Team Organisation (IMTTO), and reversed its decision to charge viewers to watch coverage of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup during the 2010 season.
After six years of broadcasting the world’s biggest events in extreme sports including motocross, surfing and snowboarding, Freecaster was forced to charge for its mountain bike World Cup coverage for 2010 due to lack of sponsorship revenue combined with the current economic climate.
The IMTTO has now stepped in and provided the money necessary for Freecaster to continue to stream the events for free.
Martin Whiteley, President of IMTTO said that despite pay-per-view working for other sports, mountain biking is different: "Our IMTTO members feel that mountain biking is more unique, and should be accessible to the widest audience, as much as possible. As such, key members of our organisation have chosen to contribute towards maintaining a free live webcast service on Freecaster."
Raymond Dulieu, founder and CEO of Freecaster.tv added: “It was a tough, but necessary, decision to charge for the World Cup coverage and we welcome the return to free access.”
The mountain bike world championships will still be shown on a pay-per-view basis, but the next free World Cup will be the cross-country in Offenburg, Germany, live on Sunday 23rd May from 10:45 CET with the Women's Elite race, followed at 14:30 CET by the Men's Elite.