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V8 Supercars set to beef up primetime

V8 Supercars will stage at least 16 hours of racing in primetime next year as part of their next broadcast deal.

V8 Supercars will stage at least 16 hours of racing in primetime next year with two early-season and two late-season races to be run at either twilight or at night, as part of their next broadcast deal.

The Sunday Telegraph reports Seven, Nine and TEN are all vying for broadcast rights for the sport when the current contract expires at the end of the year.

FOX Sports is also hoping to simulcast races live.

The combined media rights deal, including digital rights, for V8 Supercars is tipped to fetch up to $350 million over five years. That’s more than double the current $168 million contract.

Nine were expected to drop out of the race after the pricey NRL rights deal, but the newspaper reports they held discussions with V8 officials last week.

12 Responses

  1. @Craig – not sure what channel you’ve been watching but the races are live into the capital cities including Brisbane. Qualifying is necessarily delayed so that they can show the race straight after.

  2. Not sure is running the US race at night would work. To have it on in the afternoon here would see them running around midnight, not ideal unless the drivers and crew sleep most of the day while over there.

    Maybe an early morning race in the US so it’s on in prime time here? But it would mean an early morning start and then you might have sunlight issues with the rising sun.

  3. I think Seven are doing a decent job and correct me if I’m wrong but they have been showing the races live on 7Mate (In Perth, at least). Could definitely be worse.

  4. @Craig, All the races are broadcast Live either on 7 or 7mate depending which state you live in. And the Highlights later that night. Only Qualifying is not live, only due to the fact that it is run earlier in the day.

    When I think Ch9 and Motorsport, I think of the bad old days when they had the F1 broadcast, if you could call it broadcasting.

    I’m quite happy for it to stay at Ch7, sadly the way Ch10 are heading and after this years Australian F1 coverage, I have no faith in them.

  5. This is starting to develop into a nightmare for my favorite sport,if Nine get this pay to much for it then declare they own it like they have with league it will be dark days ahead…..Please Ten don’t stuff this one up.

  6. I hoe TEN gets them back. Currently none of the races are live except the endure rounds like Bathurst/Sandown And more racings need to be in HD. Most rounds are currently SD and delayed several hours, even on the east coast.

    As for the night rounds, I agree Adelaide and the Gold Coast would be great.

  7. Thinking of races to convert to prime-time events: I’d be looking at re-working the Barbagello event to include two twilight races starting 4:45 WST (which would be 6:45 (with telecast starting at 6:30pm) on the east coast).

    Another option for a night race could be the upcoming North American debut, which can be done so it can air as a traditional afternoon race, in Australia.

    Other things that can be looked at include: a Albert Park event after the Australian F1 GP, and possibly converting GC/Sydney street events to primetime.

  8. Adelaide or Gold Coast would look fantastic under lights but I suspect that they would rather invest in permanent track infrastructure. Moving the Adelaide races to the evening would also be of some comfort to the drivers who currently have to suffer cabin temps of 50-60°C in the height of summer.

    Philip Island would be a logical choice as it currently holds international racing events so would possibly realise the greatest benefit. I think it would also be good to see the Sandown 500 start in the late afternoon and run into the night.

    I’m quite surprised that news this big still (as at 1:15pm EST) has not been announced on the official V8 Supercars website, but less surprised when I recall that it is run by Telstra Big Pond.

  9. Can someone please tell me where Nine thinks its getting the money from? Serioulsy? How can it afford NRL at its cost and then this as well. I wouldn’t mind TEN getting the coverage back but then again look what they have done to F1 and moto GP lately. Its hard to say which way it will fall but just not Channel 9. I couldn’t stand it.

  10. I would watch the V8s more if they were on Speed in HD, the current typical channel 7 rubbish that is served up is almost un-watchable when compared to the NASCAR coverage

  11. Lets hope that Seven do not get the rights again as it plays a poor second to its almighty AFL coverage, I would hope that Ten get them, as they still have the Formula One rights, at least at present.

  12. Look at F1 and NASCAR did when they went underlights, increased the profile of the sport and more tv audience. But where would they stage it with that many lights required to see the show live and on tv? Albert Park perhaps?

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