Cycling fans in the UK will have to pay a USD 4-equivalent subscription fee to view a live stream of the British National Cyclo-cross Championship scheduled over the weekend.
The paywall comes as part of a pilot initiative by British Cycling that follows on from the absence of live coverage of the last event in 2025.
Monument Cycling will provide the stream and broadcast it on British Cycling’s YouTube channel. The governing body had provided free live-streaming of the event in the years 2022, 2023, and 2024.
British Cycling described the new USD 4 subscription fee as modest. Subscribers will have access to the elite, under-23, and junior races, with the option to cancel at any time.
British Cycling’s sport and participation director, Amy Gardner, said that the subscription forms part of their dynamic new approach to domestic sports coverage. It’s to reach and inspire new fans and deepen engagement with existing audiences.
Gardner added that they were investing in the coverage to make top-quality Championship racing accessible and engaging. He urged subscribers to sign up immediately so as not to miss out.
Cycling fans in the UK have witnessed a surge in the cost of viewing the sport in the past year. Last January, there was an announcement made that fans would need to pay a nearly 400% increased subscription fee of USD 41.53 monthly to access live cycling on TNT Sports, compared with only USD 9.37 monthly to do so with Discovery.
TNT Sports will exclusively offer the Tour de France in the UK this summer. A paywall that ends 4 decades of free-to-air coverage of the race.
The Lloyds National Cyclo-cross Championships is scheduled to take place in South Shields on Sunday, 11 January. The defending champions in the elite categories are Cameron Mason (7 Racing) and Xan Crees (OGT p/b USE).
British Cycling’s subscription-only live stream will be available starting at 0930 hrs.
Commenting on this, Senior News & Features Writer Tom Davidson said it might not have been explicitly written in the press release. This announcement suggests that cycling fans should adjust to paying to watch British National Championships events going forward.
At the onset, there’s Gardner’s comment that the subscription fee is British Cycling’s new approach to coverage. Similarly, the subscription fee is a monthly charge. Rather than a one-off, it implies that there are more plans in the works. One shouldn’t be surprised to see similar paywalls on the National Track Championships next month or even the National Road Championships during the summer.
Fans naturally feel sore about initiatives like these. During previous years, tens of thousands have enjoyed the Cyclo-cross Nationals free of charge (the free YouTube feed gathered 46,000 views in 2024), and being asked to pay is unlikely to come as welcome news. However, if the alternative is to have no live stream at all, as was the case in 2025, then it’s unlikely to be welcomed. One can imagine USD 4 is a cost some will be willing to meet.
Recalling standing at the start line of the elite women’s race last January in a frosty Gravesend. Davidson added that besides him, a lady held up her phone and live-streamed the start to her Instagram followers. I’m not sure how many people were watching, but for them, those first few pedal strokes were the only action they saw. Had the subscribers paid USD 4 for a well-produced broadcast of the whole event, Davidson probably would have done so, he added.
Perhaps cycling fans in the UK have been spoilt for too long. That’s the argument made by those who are implementing the paywalls. We have no legal right to free cycling coverage. In fact, there aren’t many sports one can pull up and watch for free on YouTube, not mainstream ones anyway.
