MORE FREE LIVE SUPERCARS IN 2020

At least one race at every Supercars round will be shown live on free-to-air TV next year.

By MARK FOGARTY

As Supercars prepares for a new multi-year broadcast deal from 2021, AUTO ACTION has learned that Network 10 plans to air live coverage of the Sunday race at all SuperSprint events.

They will be in addition to full live telecasts of selected major rounds.

Supercars is also close to announcing more broadcast hours for next year’s Bathurst 12 Hour international GT race on both free-to-air and pay TV.

In 2020, live free-to-air Supercars coverage will also likely extend to the revived Sydney SuperNight, along with the Perth SuperNight, on prime time Saturday night TV.

Both 300 km legs of the Gold Coast 600 could also be floodlit nighttime TV shows on 10 as well as Fox Sports.

The new arrangement will mean fans without Foxtel will see at least one race of every round in 2020 on Channel 10 and regional affiliate WIN.

Since the existing six-year TV deal began in 2015, 10 has had secondary rights, showing the major events live and the rest as same-day one-hour highlights.

This year, eight of the 15 rounds have or will be live on 10/WIN – Adelaide 500, Melbourne Grand Prix, Perth SuperNight, Townsville 400, Bathurst 1000, Gold Coast 600, Sandown 500 and Newcastle 500.

The events from which 10/WIN will likely show all Supercars championship racing in 2020 are Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Townsville, The Bend, Bathurst, Gold Coast and Newcastle.

The GC600 is due to join Perth and Sydney with night racing on prime time TV.

The Sunday races at Symmons Plains, Pukekohe, Winton, Darwin and Sandown (which will become two 200 km sprints) are due to be shown live, with an hour of highlights of the Saturday races.

While it is understood Fox Sports has resisted more live Supercars racing on 10/WIN, it is believed an arrangement for next year has been agreed.

The move to live free coverage at all events is a late response to persistent fan complaints of being forced to pay for Foxtel to see all events live, as well as a push by the teams for more races live on 10/WIN to boost viewing numbers.

It is a forerunner of the likely new broadcast deal from 2021, which is set to again be a combined Fox Sports/Network 10 split with more free TV airtime.

Live race coverage would continue to be simulcast on both networks.

Broadcast industry observers think Supercars will struggle to get a new rights package that matches, much less exceeds, the existing six-year $240 million

contract.

Supercars supremo Sean Seamer, who is leading the renewal talks, will not comment on speculation about the next broadcast rights deal.

“I’m not going to say anything about that deal until it’s done,” Seamer declared. “It’s too sensitive. It’s commercially in confidence.”

However, with only a little more than a year before the current deal expires, he conceded that negotiations for 2021 and beyond were well underway.

He explained that securing an extended TV deal for the Bathurst 12 Hour, which Supercars runs, had been the recent focus.

“Our priority has been getting the 12 Hour renewal done because it was out of the cycle with the overall broadcast deal,” Seamer said.

An announcement is imminent, with AA understanding that next February’s Bathurst 12 Hour TV race coverage will again be primarily free-to-air on Seven

and 7mate.

But it also expected that practice and qualifying will be shown on Fox Sports.

According to industry sources, it is a one-year arrangement ahead of the Bathurst 12 Hour possibly being incorporated in the new Supercars broadcast rights from ’21.

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