SUPERCARS’ NEW $200M TV DEAL

Supercars new $200M TV deal – Photo: InSyde Media

Supercars has announced a new $200 million five-year broadcast deal with Fox Sports and Seven.

By MARK FOGARTY

As predicted, Fox Sports will continue its comprehensive coverage from 2021-25, with Seven taking over from Ten as the free-to-air partner.

Although not detailed, Seven is expected to provide more FTA airtime, including live telecasts of selected Sunday sprint round races in addition to full coverage of the six marquee events.

Supercars confirmed the new five-year deal was worth $200 million “in cash and advertising”, suggesting it is almost equal on an annualised basis to the $241 million, six-year agreement finishing at the end of this season.

Fox Sports will again be the prime broadcaster, showing all Supercars track action live and ad-free.

In the current environment of shrinking sports media rights, the deal appears to be a major win.

Teams are certainly happy with the return to the Seven Network, promising increased exposure to a much bigger FTA audience.

Supercars is characterising the switch back to Seven as a return to the sport’s “original” telecaster.

“This deal is the product of a significant body of work to ensure we have the best team possible to take us forward into the future,” Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said. “It provides certainty for our teams, fans and commercial partners that Supercars is here to stay as the top motorsport category in Australasia.

“We’re also thrilled to welcome back the Seven Network, which helped bring motorsport to Australian living rooms way back in the early 1960s as the original broadcast partners of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the early days of Supercars.”

Actually, that’s not true as Ten took over from Seven at the start of the Supercars era in 1997, continuing until the rights returned to Seven from 2008-14.

“2021 will be the start of a new era with some old friends and I know everyone in Supercars is excited about what lies ahead,” Seamer added.

Seven Network chief James Warburton, the architect of the sport-saving Fox Sports/10 deal when he was CEO of Supercars, is also looking forward to V8 racing’s return.

“Seven and Supercars have so much shared history, so we’re excited to begin the next part of our story together with this multi-year deal,” Warburton said. “We can’t wait to bring Supercars home to Seven from next year.”

Supercars, along with TCR and S5000, will join Seven’s sports portfolio of AFL, major horse racing and the delayed Tokyo Olympics.

Foxtel boss Patrick Delaney is equally effusive about the pay TV platform’s renewal, complementing Fox Sports’ live coverage of Formula 1, MotoGP, IndyCar and NASCAR.

“Motorsport has never been more popular in Australia,” Delaney said. “Overall, our motorsport audiences are up by 35 per cent this year compared with 2019. We are looking forward to bringing Supercars to our growing legion of motorsport fans like no one else can over the next five years.”

Seven will broadcast six Supercars events live each year, highlighted by the Bathurst 1000, plus the Bathurst 12 Hour.

The new Australian broadcast deal coincides with the renewal with Sky Sports in NZ from 2021-25.

Supercars has also secured series and Bathurst sponsorship agreements with Repco for the next five years.

Other recent announcements include new long-term deals with the Queensland, Northern Territory, Tasmanian, New Zealand and New South Wales governments, ensuring the future of some of the series’ marquee events.

The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship has two events remaining: the OTR SuperSprint this weekend at The Bend in South Australia, then a spectacular finale on October 18 at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

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