• by Wayne Friedman , June 30, 2012

NBC Sports is well sold for its three-week big Tour de France race on NBC Sports Network and the NBC Televison Network.

NBC executives have said its TV advertising inventory is 85% sold, with many advertisers returning to sponsor the three-week bike race. Advertisers include Anheuser-Busch, Radio Shack, Nissan Motors, General Motor's Cadillac brand, McDonald’s, Geico, and bike maker Cannondale. Radio Shack, Nissan, and U.S. bike manufactuer Trek co-sponsors an European-based team participating in the race.

Recently NBC Sports Group signed a new 10-year extension agreement for coverage of the Tour de France race -- which runs on its cable channel, the NBC Sports Network. This year, for the first time, the NBC Television Network will air a couple of stages live -- marking the first time an U.S. over the air network has aired portions of the Tour de France live.

Sources says NBC paid around $30 million a year to Amaury Sport Organization, the race’s owner, for each of the next ten years of the deal. The new pact runs from 2014 to 2023.

As part of the agreement, NBC Sports Group will continue coverage of Amaury's cycling cycling events  --  Paris-Nice, Criterium du Dauphine and Paris-Roubaix -- as well as the Paris Marathon.