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V8 Supercars drive from Seven to TEN, Foxtel & FOX Sports

A new $241m deal for six years will see V8s on TEN / FOX Sports after next year.

V8 SupercarsV8 Supercars are driving to a new home in 2015 following a $241m six-year deal between TEN, Foxtel and FOX Sports.

The V8s, which have aired on Seven for seven years, consists of $196 million cash and $45 million of advertising – the biggest ever secured for the sport.

The event will switch to TEN / Foxtel after next year, with high definition coverage on FOX Sports.

V8 Supercars CEO, James Warburton (pictured, second from left), said: “This is a tremendous and significant deal for our sport. It is a great boost to our amazing race teams and fans and will lead to unprecedented coverage on multiple platforms for our sport, never before seen on such a scale.

“I thank Richard Freudenstein, CEO and Managing Director of Foxtel; Patrick Delany, CEO of FOX Sports; and Hamish McLennan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of TEN Network Holdings, for their plans and commitment to grow this sport to unprecedented levels.

“I would also like to thank Seven and their commitment to the sport since 2007 and of course their continued support for 2014, the final year of our partnership.”

Foxtel CEO and Managing Director, Richard Freudenstein (pictured third from left), said: “Foxtel is delighted to partner with V8 Supercars, Australia’s pre-eminent motorsport series. This relationship will significantly strengthen our sports offering and give yet another reason to subscribe to Foxtel.

“Hundreds of thousands of Australians love motorsports and I know that dedicated fans will be delighted that Foxtel and FOX Sports will be able to deliver a breadth and depth of coverage of the V8 Supercars Series that they’ve never seen before.

“Not only will the series be available in amazing High Definition on the Foxtel cable and satellite service, fans will also be able to enjoy all the action on the move with Foxtel Go or with the convenience of Foxtel Play.”

FOX Sports CEO, Patrick Delany (pictured, right), said: “V8 Supercars have a proud history of innovation. We relish the opportunity to work with talented V8 Supercars race teams and the team at V8 Supercars TV to give the sport the FOX Sports treatment – every minute of practice, qualifying, support categories and the Championship races – all Live and in stunning HD.

“We will be there for the fans and we will make no compromises in delivering them the finest coverage. We will focus on innovating coverage to take fans closer to the action, the heroes, the stars and the insights. There will be weekly entertainment shows to complement the Live race coverage and a massive promotional platform via not only our seven FOX Sports channels but the entire Foxtel platform,” he said.

TEN Network Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Hamish McLennan (pictured, left), said: “We are delighted to welcome V8 Supercars back home to TEN in 2015.

V8 Supercars is an iconic Australian sport, reaching into every part of the country, and James Warburton and his team have big plans to make it even stronger and better.

“TEN is now truly the home of motorsport. Formula One, MotoGP and V8 Supercars will make a powerful, exciting combination for all our viewers and advertisers. Today’s announcement is in line with our strategy of investing in premium live sport and adding more Event TV to TEN.

“I’m personally looking forward to seeing the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and other great V8 Supercars events on TEN,” he said.

TEN’s release does not provide broadcast details of its V8 races.

James Warburton, a former Seven and TEN exec, has said parts of the series will be exclusive to subscription and parts will be simulcast on free-to-air.

In a statement Tim Worner CEO of Seven said, “The Seven Network has been a strong and a positive partner for V8 Supercars over the past seven years.

“We have dramatically increased the quality of the television broadcasts and expanded coverage of the sport across our media platforms.

“We put forward an offer for a new television rights agreement that represented a substantial increase on the current rights agreement and one which made financial sense for Seven and V8s and would have ensured its presence on Australia’s leading television network for years to come.

V8 Supercars declined to build on this relationship beyond 2014. However, we look forward to broadcasting V8s next year, the final year of our agreement and leaving the sport in good shape.

“We wish the sport, the teams and the drivers the best. We will give the V8s in 2014 everything we’ve got in the way that only Seven can.

“We have a very strong sports line up across a wide range of live sports that the Australian public love to watch on Seven and this situation will inevitably lead to other opportunities and we will be very ready for them.”

Rick Kelly, Nissan Motorsport co-owner and driver of the #15 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima V8 Supercar welcomed the news.

“From a team owner’s point of view, it’s a very exciting day for Nissan Motorsport and the championship,” he said.

“This new deal is a real credit to James Warburton and his team at V8 Supercars.

“James has a strong background in the television industry and this news really cements the future of our sport and gives a clear indication that V8 Supercars is heading in the right direction.

“In these tough commercial times, to do a significant, long-term deal is very positive for our team and three key stakeholders Nissan, Jack Daniel’s and Norton.

“It will help build our race team into an even stronger force in the years ahead.”

V8 Supercars also announced new three-year deals with the Queensland and New South Wales Governments for four events on the Gold Coast, Townsville, Sydney and Ipswich, with an additional Championship event in Sydney at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2014.

43 Responses

  1. William, the Anti-siphoning laws are for all rounds of the v8’s, but Bathurst is in Tier A of the law so it must be shown Live by FTA channels. The other rounds fall into Tier B which can be shown by FTA channels, or broadcasted by another party. F1 and MotoGP also fall into this area of Tier B.

  2. @Travis – good to know. Was aware that they had HD cams (mostly in and on the cars) but wasn’t sure whether all trackside cams were HD. Do you have a reference that states that all kerb and armco cams at all current tracks are HD?

  3. @William if you really want to watch sport in Australia you need Fox Sports. It’s not a new concept. May have started with ESPN in the US back in the day but it’s the case all around the world now that sport is a pay TV thing.

  4. @knickknack – the Anti-siphoning laws for V8s are for every round including Bathurst 1000
    @joey69 – it could happen before the 2015 V8s begin and does that mean Ten won’t be on FTA anymore or just be rebrand as FOX on FTA
    @glennc – So according to The Roar I am not sure if its complete full list but Ten will broadcast Clipsal, Albert Park, Bathurst, Gold Coast and Adelaide and rest on Foxtel. Which is damn pathetic you V8s and James. Resign James now!

  5. 12.3 Each race in the V8 Supercars Championship Series, including the Bathurst 1000, except for:
    (a) each race in the 2013 V8 Supercars Championship Series, excluding the Bathurst 1000.

    That’s the current anti-siphoning law in regard to V8 Supercars.

  6. @William The only thing mentioned in the anti siphoning laws about V8 Supercars is the race. I didn’t read anything about Warburton saying races were going to be exclusive to Fox, he said ‘parts of the series’ would be exclusive to Fox. Just means the races will be on TEN as per the Anti-Siphoning List, everything else is fair game!

  7. Joey69 you’re right. It is all very cosy for News Corporation and Ten. But it will end up in tears for both parties. I’d back Seven’s judgement every time.

  8. Ten is paying $10m annually while Foxtel and Fox Sports are offering $30m annually and 7 offered $210m for the whole package over 6 years according to AFR

  9. Apologies for the double post but I’ve just seen William’s comment.

    The Anti-siphoning list only mentions V8 Supercars Championship races. FTA must get first refusal for these and, currently, must premier them on their main channel. They may simulcast and show replays on other channels. The rule doesn’t apply to qualifying or practice, or any of the support races so thes can be delayed on FTA or not shown at all.

    It also means that if Ten decides not to exercise its option to broadcast a race, it can be shown on Foxtel. If the US round is back for 2015, it’s possible that it would be broadcast live on Foxtel only with replays on 10/One.

  10. No mention of HD on Ten so I think it’s reasonable to presume that the majority of FTA coverage will be on channel 10 not One, and that 10 will remain SD. There may be replays on One but, unless V8 Supercars Television records the races in HD, they will simply be upscaled SD.

    I’m also fairly confident that Neil Crompton will move back to Ten in a similar role and Mark Skaife may go with him (sorry, JM). Greg Rust will prob return to the desk.

    Matt White and Mark Beretta will obviously stay with Seven, and I’m pretty sure that Mark Larkham is as much a Seven man as he is a rusted on Ford man so we’ll see whether he makes the move or gives the game away.

    @Shoudy Chen – yesterday you wrote that it was sad to see Seven lose the broadcast rights but today you write that it’s good for the V8s to be on Ten.

  11. I am not sure whether that James Warburton knows but it is against the law as you can’t have it exclusive events to Foxtel as it has to be shown on FTA for all rounds in regards to Anti-siphoning laws.

  12. Good to see Ten have a win in securing this series, but I am cautioned by the goings on in the Oz auto industry. Past times of die hard Ford/Holden fans religiously following the V8 events may wane as Ford/Holden cease manufacturing genuine Aussie muscle cars.

    When Nissan/Mercedes/et al start dominating this series there may be an impact on viewership… hopefully it will appeal to a broader spectrum.

  13. While it’s good that it will be in HD, it’s absolutely ridiculous that you have to pay to see it in HD, and it will be shown on two different channels (the same as the rugby was this year).
    *sigh* why can’t either the FTA channels show sport in HD, or just allow Fox to have the exclusive rights.

  14. Well presuming this will all be shown on FOX Sport’s SPEED, this is great news as it’s lack of big name local content has made it one of the least watched sports channels, but this should change that pretty quickly. And it’s great to see another Aussie 1st tier sport make a deal like the AFL which sees all events exclusive to pay and then simulcasts on FTA. If only the NRL were smart enough to make the same deal. And a huge congrats to TEN on getting more great event TV!

  15. Comes to about $40 million a year which is a lot of money for a sport that lacks ratings.

    Without Ford being a major part of the sport, there really wasn’t much in it for me.

  16. Finally we will be able to watch everything Live. The current Seven coverage was pretty good (except for Mark Skaife…..cant stand him) but so much of it was Delayed. Interested to see how much of the sport will be on Ten. From the sound of the Press Release it sounds like Fox will be doing all the work, production etc and Ten is just airing it on FTA.
    I wish Ten would sign an agreement with Fox for the Formula 1 coverage as well and then I could watch all the coverage (legally)

  17. The most interesting part of this story is the cosy relationship that is being formed between TEN, Foxtel & more importantly Foxtel Sports management. This could be the start of something that might have 7 & 9 looking over their shoulders! It seems the rumors of a possible TEN FOX merger could be starting to come to fruition!!!

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