MOTORSPORT: New TV deal for Supercars

The Australian Supercars championship has a new broadcast deal, but if you want to watch every round live you’ll still have to subscribe to Fox Sports.

The big change, as expected, is the return of the Seven Network to replace Network 10 as free to air partner of selected events alongside the subscription channel.

The new deal is for five years and according to a Supercars statement is worth more than $200 million in cash and advertising.

That compares to the $241 million six-year deal it replaces was worth. But that was signed in more buoyant times when there was as many as five brands on the Supercars grid and the coronavirus was the rust riddling an old Toyota.

The TV deal is another big box ticked by Supercars CEO Sean Seamer, who also recently announced a new five-year deal with auto parts retailer Repco to sponsor both the Supercars championship and the Bathurst 1000.

It will please Supercars teams, who are minority owners of the championship and struggling for the funds required to go racing in this tough era.

Finalising the deal may also a trigger a sale of Supercars by majority shareholder Archer Capital. The emerging motor-racing promoter Australian Racing Group (ARG) is linked with a purchase offer.

The new deal also entrenches Seven as the FTA go-to network for Australian domestic motorsport as its adds Supercars to a portfolio that already includes the new carsales TCR Australia Series and other categories run by ARG.

Seven has committed to telecasting six Supercars events each year including the Bathurst 1000 and showing highlights of the rest. While that’s only one live event up on 10 it could be as much as half the schedule, depending on how slimmed down the 2021 calendar ends up being.

Seven will also continue as telecaster of the international GT race promoted by Supercars at Bathurst each February. However, that race won’t happen in 2021 because of COVID-19 and it will likely become the Supercars opener on a slightly later date.

All up, Seven now telecasts four of five motorsport events conducted at Mount Panorama each year. It also has the rights to the Six-Hour production race traditionally run at Easter, but being conducted in November this year alongside the other Seven event, the Bathurst International.

“This deal is the product of a significant body of work to ensure we have the best team possible to take us forward in to the future.,” said Seamer.

“It provides certainty for our teams, fans and commercial partners that Supercars is here to stay as the top motorsport category in Australasia.

“I am delighted to continue working with Patrick Delany and his team at Fox Sports and Foxtel. Their commitment to the sport and standard of coverage is world-class and we’re looking forward to watching on as they showcase the future of Australian motorsport.

“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. Seven is internationally renowned for its motorsport coverage so we’re excited to see them welcome a new generation of fans.”

The deal with Supercars also reunites Seven West Media boss James Warburton with the category he ran as CEO from 2013 to 2017. He remains a minority shareholder in Supercars and is also an ARG board member.

“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. Seven has long been a pioneer in motorsport coverage; our world-leading innovations include the iconic RaceCam, which made its debut in our coverage of the 1979 Bathurst 1000,” Warburton said.

Foxtel Group Chief Executive Patrick Delaney said the network’s overall motorsport audience had grown 35 per cent compared to 2019, primarily across the streaming options Foxtel Now, Foxtel Go and Kayo.

Fox Sports telecast the Supercars digital e-sries during the three-month pause in the championship forced by COVID.

“The team at Supercars have done an outstanding job of keeping their loyal and passionate fan base entertained and most of all producing world-class competition,” said Delaney. “We are looking forward to bringing Supercars to our growing legion of motorsport fans like no one else can over the next five years.”

The 2020 Supercars championship has two events remaining; the OTR SuperSprint this weekend at The Bend in South Australia, then the October 15-18 finale at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Ford Mustang driver Scott McLaughlin has a solid championship lead over Holden’s Jamie Whincup headed into The Bend and could secure his third consecutive title this weekend.