UCI grant Discovery WC rights from 2023 to 2030

After seeing the amount of ads Paramount had in every available second of last night's UFC event then maybe Warner Brothers were not as bad as I thought

MONSTER ENERGY ANNOUNCED AS MAIN PARTNER OF WHOOP UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD SERIES 

The brand with the iconic green claw is confirmed as the Official Energy Drink partner.

27 January 2026 – Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports and Monster Energy are proud to announce a new long-term partnership for the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series.

Monster Energy becomes a main partner of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, taking on the role of Official Energy Drink partner. As part of the agreement, the global energy drink giant will join WBD Sports onsite at all 14 events, bringing fresh energy and engagement to fan activations, enhancing the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series experience both trackside and on broadcast.

The partnership builds on Monster Energy’s longstanding commitment to mountain bike, having supported some of the sport’s most iconic athletes since the brand’s inception, including Sam Hill, Steve Peat and Brendan Fairclough. During the 2025 season, several UCI Downhill World Cup podium finishers were Monster Energy athletes, including Amaury Pierron, Marine Cabirou, Loris Vergier, Luca Shaw, Thibaut Dapréla and Troy Brosnan. This agreement will further amplify Monster Energy’s presence at mountain bike events and support WBD Sports’ mission to grow the sport globally.

Beyond the mountain bike, Monster Energy has firmly established itself within the wider cycling world, driven by its investment in athlete development programs, including Freestyle BMX.

Chris Ball, Vice President of Cycling Events at WBD Sports, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Monster Energy as a main partner for the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series. Securing a brand of Monster Energy’s reputation is a testament to the passion and dedication our teams have demonstrated since assuming the organisational and promotional aspects of the series. The team at Monster Energy has exciting plans for the forthcoming season and beyond, and we look forward to working closely with them to bring this new partnership to life.
 
Daniel McHugh, Chief Marketing Officer at Monster Energy, said: “Mountain bike is one of the most progressive and exciting disciplines in global sport, and the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series represents the very pinnacle of competition. Monster Energy has a long history of supporting athletes and events that push limits and inspire fans, and we’re proud to partner with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports to elevate the experience for riders and audiences worldwide. We’re excited to bring our energy, creativity, and passion for the sport to every stop on the series.”
 
Cody Dresser, Vice President of Action Sports at Monster Energy, said: “Mountain bike has always been part of Monster Energy’s DNA. The riders, the culture, and the fans share the same spirit that drives everything we do, pushing limits, taking risks, and elevating what’s possible. Partnering with the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series gives us an incredible platform to support the sport at every level. Fans can expect an elevated presence from Monster Energy throughout the 2026 season, with dynamic on-site activations that celebrate the athletes and bring the passion of the sport directly to fans around the world.”

In 2025, WBD Sports drove the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series to new records across broadcast, digital and social platforms, and on-site fan attendance. Building on these strong foundations, the 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series aims to deliver another record-breaking season across all four formats.

The 2026 season kicks off on May 1 with the Race of South Korea – marking the return of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup to the Asian continent for the first time in 25 years.

Did not see coming 

Another move to distance the series from the previous 'Red Bull era'........Historic venues dropped, new rules, etc They are determined to put their own stamp on the sport........and this is another example of it. 

Whoop recently laid of Jeremy Powers and a few of the other people who secured the loot to pay for the title sponsorship. (Whoop is tech startup out of Boston… they aren’t in the bussiness of making money yet…?).    The last time I rode with Whoop’s marketing staff in August, they didn’t make it sound like the company was in great shape…

Hansen’s Fructose Water, on the other hand… 👍 

The great thing is, Red Bull is so involved in the series through teams and riders, they can still generate the same output as before.

Except that RB sponsored the WC series from 2023 to 2025 with branded jumps, podium, arches on the tracks and start gate etc... I don't think there is much more too it that monster offered big dollars.

Its still a valid point - Red Bull have been involved for the last 10+ years - and done a great deal to promote the series in that time. Red Bull & MTB were intrinsically connected.........

Now, Monster have turned up flashing the cash, it was a double bonus for WBD; more cash - and a break from the old era, which was Red Bull......

I don't think the point is valid at all. If WB were so keen to get rid of the "Red Bull Era" then they would have cut all ties from 2023 on. But instead they were happy to increase the RB branding and presence between 23 and 25.

Red Bull media house (who broadcast the WC series before) and Red Bull the energy drink brand are not the same company. Connected yes, but not the same. So the branding deal from 2023 to 25, I imagine, was actually a new/different deal than anything before. Again showing that WB didn't have any intention of removing the RB legacy in a deliberate/targeted way. 

Monster have obviously come with cash, ideas and a vision and see the WC series in a place worth investing in. Why everything related to WC at the moment has to be RB = gods, and WB = evil is just so childish. All of these brands are in it for $$$. Obviously there are plenty of people working at Monster and RB who love DH racing and see big value in it. 

Hence why we have so many branded athletes racing DH for both brands.

We have a sick Hardline series in the making and now have Monster even MORE interested in WC DH racing. DH is continuing to grow.

All seems very positive to me, so can't see the need for knee-jerk negativity every time WC DH is mentioned. 

I’d rather monster put that budget elsewhere in the sports world.  As someone basically said when discussing fundraising to cover lawlors/vitals press fees.  I’d much rather donate that money if it were going to a company that’s supporting the scene by providing free media and quality advertising, or an actual mtb community focused organization, than an international media conglomerate.  One who is asking the fans and industry to pay them more and more, for them to take budget from the same sponsors who pay the riders and are already deeply associated with the sport.   And to charge the teams and local organizers far more to participate.  Funny how they have claimed how they are going to bring in outside sponsors but the title sponsor of the series has gone from Mercedes Benz to whoop and monster who are industry adjacent at best.  Oh I guess they did put up a sign for their own brand’s movie too.

I enjoyed wwe as a kid.  You can like a product and think the people who own it suck.  I joke that i wish the eso crew would just go full heel in presentation.  But a lot of us see Red Bull as good because they are undoubtedly good for the sport and did an incredible job building the World Cup scene as broadcasters.  I see monster as undoubtedly good for the sport and can’t blame them for putting their name on the series.  It’s awesome they also sponsor us pro dh.  And while I’ll happily eat my hat if there’s loads of new bikers on this forum who found the sport on Eurosport.  I think ultimately the sport has taken a big step back in accessibility.  It is now far more expensive for organizers, participants, and sponsors.  And is shifting culturally away from what makes mtbing so great for mtbers and what works in mountain towns in favor of this super corporate vibe to attract people who are never going to tune in or drive to middle of nowhere in West Virginia, Italy, or New York to see it.

ESO is about as clever as Cracker Barrel’s logo change and about as efficient as government bureaucrats.  The racing may be as good or better than ever but it has absolutely nothing to do with them.  With polegate, cancelled races, increased costs, inconsistent rule changes, fewer teams and rides, etc I’d argue it’s in spite of them.  At least Vince McMahon didn’t pretend to be enriching the world of wrestling.  He just was the son of a bitch that owned it.  

I was just commenting on how it was fairly clear that WBD hadn't made a clear and targeted effort to delete the RB brand from WCs over the last 3 seasons.

While I agree with some of your other points and disagree with others. The one thing that is clear is that many older MTBers or more seasoned WC fans want things that are somewhat mutually exclusive and/or contrary to what people claimed to want during the UCI/RBTV era.

For example;

Sport needs outside sponsors but also must remain totally "core".

DH needs new venues and tracks - but when WBD deliver that, they get killed for deleting old venues/tracks. 

Need more races - now we have 9-10 DH WCs - but that's too expensive for teams etc..

Protection is unfair and confusing - get ride of that but get killed again for "inconsistent rule changes".

Red Bull Good - Monster Bad

The whole thing is just never ending contradictions and fabricated conspiracies. The reality is that WBD have done some good things, some crappy things and no matter who organises or broadcasts these races the riders (XC or DH) make the show and the stories what they are.

The other thing, and I don't know if anyone else has spotted this, there's a very different "athlete profile" from RB athletes (clean cut, media friendly, perfectly polished - and I'm not saying that as a negative, it's just a profile observation) to Monster athletes (edgier, more "extreme sports"). It'll be interesting to see if Monster athletes get more visibility, and how the audience reacts to that. Interesting thing to consider

I'd say Monster athletes getting more visibility was answered in the launch video. but will be intersting to see how it is handled going forward.

I always had that impression too. But more recently I've seen monster sign whoever they can who is fast/winning.

Cabirou, Balanche, Vergier, Pinkerton, Luca Shaw plus others. Are all pretty clean cut, pro athletes.

But I do agree monster still has a dirty/grimy/weird fake t*ts vibe 😂

I mean, kinda expected from a launch video. 

But reality is there's gonna be a full red bull helmet/rider podium in both elite categories this year at least once. Monster and WBD can't avoid that. 😂

Redbull Hardline was able to dodge a Monster helmet on the podium for over 10 years, that was until Troy burst the bubble at Maydena in 2025. 

Although when Danny Hart won Hardline in 2014 he was riding in a Rockstar Energy helmet 😅. Pretty insane that there's been no Monster athletes on the podium until Troy

When Red Bull is the promotor who has the power to influence who is invited its not that insane. Amaury Pierron, Loris Vergier, Luca Shaw, Thibaut Dapréla and Sam Hill 10 years ago all would have given it a shake but haven't been seen at Hardline.

I think Luca got an invite this year.

Not that it changes what you said other than a small detail correction.

And Sam Hill this year and last.

On another board I'm on (football message board) there's a thread on the Winter Olympics. The response to the various sports on there is pretty telling on WBD's efforts to increase viewership of downhill. By and large, people are talking about how watching the various single-athlete on track competitions is somewhat boring. On the other hand, they, by and large, enjoy the events that have multiple athletes going head to head. Not any kind of exhaustive, quantitative data, but I think it's pretty telling about the sort of thing that appeals to the masses. I'm just not sure that DHI has much of a hope of becoming "must watch" television for most people as a sport due to its format. As we've talked about quite a bit, while we all think that DH is sick, I'm not sure that the layman will ever really find enjoyment in watching the same basic run over and over with performance differences being nearly imperceptible. Watching 5 of those runs might be somewhat awesome.. but I don't think that watching 30 of them is going to have broad appeal.

The main exception might be in someone like Lindsey Vonn whose story leading into the games was such that people wanted to tune in and see how it turned out. Once again, though, the appeal was in the story and background, not in the sport itself.

So you're saying it's time to bring back the Eliminator

Seems like Paramount will be the one getting WBD in the end

Latest statements to summarize the WBD acquisition situation:

The proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) by Paramount Skydance emerged in late 2025 following a competitive bidding process involving Paramount Skydance, Netflix, and Comcast. After WBD began evaluating strategic alternatives to a previously planned corporate split, multiple bids were submitted, leading to a bidding war in November 2025. On December 4, 2025, WBD entered into a merger agreement with Netflix, which would have transferred its studios and streaming assets to the company while spinning off its linear networks business.

In December 2025, Paramount Skydance launched a rival all-cash tender offer for WBD and continued to revise its proposal in the following months. After receiving a contractual waiver from Netflix in February 2026, WBD reopened negotiations with Paramount. On February 26, 2026, WBD’s board determined that Paramount’s revised $110.9 billion offer, valuing shares at $31 each, constituted a superior proposal to the existing Netflix agreement. Netflix declined to match the offer and withdrew, allowing Paramount Skydance to proceed as the winning bidder. The subsequent Paramount Skydance-WBD deal is expected to close between September and December 2026.

So likely to increase the amount of hog-wash and propaganda I need to avoid on mainstream news and media. But probably have zero impact on World Cups? Except maybe needing three more add-ons to my subscription to watch 😂☠️

Was going to say, this is bad news, but mostly irrelevant to WC DH. 

I mean, if it just ment one Paramount Plus subscription for all of it, that would be fine. I already have it for those sweet sweet monthly emotional support DS9 rewatches so if DH was included in happy with our new Paramount overlords. 

Maybe Dak can be a guest star on a Yellowstone spin off. 

I take it you’re hoping that you’ll get a few hours off from the forced labor camp to watch? 
 

louder, piggy!

They're expecting $6B in cost savings out of this deal... probably a bit too soon to say what is safe and what isn't.