Seven loses V8 Supercars broadcast rights to Ten and Fox Sports
Seven has announced it has lost the long-standing rights to the V8 Supercars to free-to-air rivals Network Ten, Fox Sports sand Foxtel in a five-year $241m deal.
Live sport has been touted as a key pillar in rebuilding Ten by CEO Hamish McLennan, and it will see former Ten boss James Warburton, the CEO of V8 Supercars, reuinited again with his former employer.
The new agreement, the biggest ever for the sport, will see $196m in cash and $45m in advertising supplied by the broadcasters, who will hold all TV and digital rights.
It is understood Ten will broadcast races alongside Fox Sports, which will also show “every minute of practice, qualifying, support categories and the championship races” according to boss Patrick Delany, while digital rights will be held by Foxtel Go.
In a statement Warburton 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.”
Seven has held the rights for the past seven years and said it had made an offer which 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”.
The network secured the rights for two more years in January for around $18m per season, in what The Australian claimed was a “major haircut” to the previous deal.
It is the third major sporting franchise to be secured by Ten since McLennan’s appointment, with the Winter Olympics and the T20 Big Bash cricket league already secured as the third placed network looks to bounce back.
Welcoming the franchise “home” to Ten McLennan said in a statement: “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.”
In its statement Seven added: “We wish the sport, the teams and the drivers the best. We will give the V8s everything we’ve got in 2014. 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.”
A great deal for V8 Supercars and will be sorely missed on Seven.
In regard to Ten – how much money is being spent on off -peak sports and programming. Wake up and Studio 10 $22m, The Big Bash $40m, V8 Supercars maybe $100m plus production, commentators etc. Opps Winter Olympics another $25m…..
Maybe they should put some aside for primetime !
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Ha! I agree George.
But TEN has a great team and it’s very exciting for them that V8 is part of the mix..
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Thank goodness they’re going home!
Finally we don’t have to listen to Matthew White fumble his way through hours of broadcast like the weird 3rd wheel on a date – fingers crossed Crompo, Skaife and Larko still retain their roles in commentary and pit lane reporting. Noonan should also hopefully get more of a role since he commentates the NZ coverage already.
Only one more year of crappy coverage and non live qualifying and it’s over!
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Wow that’s a massive deal breaker TEN – well done!
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So James had to choose between the network that he left or the network that boned him. Just like motor racing sometimes it’s the pits.
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Errrm .. isn’t Ten picking up on the Supercars the year that as GM and Ford give up Australian manufacturing? Yeah, I know there will be a few years racing left in end of the line Commodores and Falcons … and Yeah I know both companies will bring in a US-made V8 model for the sake of that end of the market .. BUT it will no longer be the great tussle between two locally-made V8’s that it has always been. .
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I’m on Seven’s side. Let Ten and Foxtel pay far too much for a minority sport and watch them struggle. Seven has better things to do with their money.
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Yeh I hope the regular commentators get the gig, except for Mr White but didn’t he used to work for 10. He’s a mouth piece but I really don’t think he lives & breaths Motorsport, this is not to say I don’t like the guy, I’m sure I couldn’t do the job as good. It will be interesting to see where the v8s (&the v8 utes) end up after the demise of Ford & Holden. Could we be racing F trucks Dodge Rams & Chev trucks?
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So Ten has F1, MotoGP and V8s alongside each other in 2015 which is a pretty good combination. harry – Ten is predicted to get the Olympics as well. The deal is still very unclear for Ten while for Foxtel we already know what is in the package. Ten should get Crompo, Larko, Aaron Noonz, Will McCloy and Leigh Diffey alongside Greg and Daryl
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Insane amount of money for an off peak sport that apart from Bathurst rates “diddley doo”!
Good for Seven and shocking result for TEN, particularly due to the fact that coverage is none exclusive..
As a shareholder in Network TEN I’m not happy as won’t help the Network’s prime time performance one iota!
Deal will run until 2020 and by that time both Holden and Ford well gone so what sense is there in this?
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In fairness to TEN George, the Big Bash IS in Prime Time. Quality Live sport is something TEN lack so this is good news for them. At least we’ll get it live and at a sensible time. Good on them.
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I think this could damage V8s badly Ten are hopeless at covering motorsport they are numpites and I won’t be getting Foxtel to watch car racing I hardly watch Ten motorsport any more because the coverage is so bad I will miss Seven’s excellent coverage
In the UK Sky tv is killing F1 and viewer number continue to drop it will be worse for V8s a stupid decision made for the money with no care for what fans want 🙁
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Well Alex, it looks like the ratings will go down by one then. I can already feel the fear and trepidation running rampant through the halls of V8 Supercars.
Oh, hang on. Wasn’t V8 Supercar Television formed back in 2012 to produce the coverage themselves, which they then sold as a package to Seven and will now sell to Ten/Foxtel?
To use a motor racing analogy … engage brain before typing on keyboard.
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Really JG TEN are hopeless at covering motorsport, F1 is losing fans because of the pay deal in UK I wish V8 Supercars had engaged brain before doing the Foxtel deal as it will hurt the sport. I am sure the teams sponsors will be concerned by the drop in viewing numbers that will result. I am not the only one who will be switching off as many have commented that they won’t pay to watch. At least my girl friend will be happy that I have more time to spend with her on weekends rather than watching motorsport. With Ford and Holden leaving Australia V8s are dead as we knew it
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Alex, please explain how TEN are rubbish at F1 and V8s when they take the race organiser’s feed. Sure they may have their own studio-based intros and outros, but when it comes to the actual race they are merely broadcasting a third-party feed. And no, I don’t work at, and have never worked at TEN. Is it the ad-breaks that piss you off as that is about all they control. Or do you just like being a grumpy-guts who hates TEN and any pay TV services?
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Ten are rubbish at motorsport because Rusty and the others are numpties with no idea about motorsport TEN’s coverage of the Australian GP is the terrible because they spend most of their time doing ads for Quantas and cross promotions for TENs other shows they show no support races. I have given up on watching NASCAR because it gets pushed out to make way for football. I remember how bad TENs V8 coverage was and how much better SEVENs was. The ad breaks I understand but they are poorly placed with no concern for disrupting the race I was watching NASCAR qualifying for one race and when Ambrose came onto the track for his lap TEN went to an ad break and returned just as he finished his lap TEN just don’t care motorsport always comes off second best. This whole deal is about Foxtel trying to syphon off sport to force people to pay to watch, I don’t care that much about motorsport any more to pay to view. Very few of my friends have any interest in motorsport and none would pay for it. That is why I say it will be bad for V8s I just don’t care enough to pay
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Alex, it sounds like you need to suck it up and get Foxtel – NASCAR is never cut off for the football and in the event the race may run long, my bf books in the next 4 hours of programs on Speed just to make sure we don’t miss end – Foxtel has changed the way I watch live sport and being an AFL fan in QLD it’s a necessity lest I’d never see my precious Bulldogs play a game
for people that enjoy watching motorsport, regardless of the broadcaster this is a win since we will get full race weekend coverage on Foxtel – I’m all for it and more than willing to pay $100+ a month for premium coverage of a sport that will only grow – despite GM and Ford pulling out of manufacturing here, the V8 Supercars aren’t going anywhere
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V8 Supercars going to foxtel is the best thing for the sport, Speed’s coverage is fantastic.
WSBK in glorious HD if only MotoGP would go over as well.
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Zoe I can’t afford $100 a month for something I won’t use I had Foxtel but there was very little worth watching so I dropped it I just don’t watch that much tv any more I am online most of the time
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Oh and I did not mean the football cuts off NASCAR just that the NASCAR is shown the next day because of the football I don’t watch because I already know the result because its not live
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It amazes me the amount of people who are excitied that the coverage is going to Channel Ten and Foxtel. Firstly there will only be a hand full of races in 2015 shown on free to air TV thanks to v8supercars signing another lucrative deal. Personally I think its a slap in the face to any fan who has supported the series. They dont care that the adverage family in Australia can not afford Foxtel, let alone being avaliable to receive signal in ALL areas in Australia.Imagine if ALL NRL football games were only shown on Foxtel and just the State Of Origon games shown on free to air TV…would you be happy?? But thats what v8supercars are doing to motorsport in Australia for the fans of Australia by making it harder to view unless you fork out more money to watch it!! I bet you the ticket prices at track side go up too…and like the Gold Coast round you would notice more track sight viewing is being more restricted due to advertising boards…back in 1999 the viewing was way more better…they want more money at your expense of viewing and supporting…yet the comments are for the change…take a deeper look at the big picture…they are!!!
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To add to the comment I made above…ask youself why numbers have fallen in recent years at track side….getting more expensive to go…parking fees go up…viewing for small children getting harder unless you pay for grand stand seats (not every family can afford seating)…I beleive by 2016 viewing numbers in Australia for TV watching will be halved…yet the company who promotes the series says its the best sport Australia has to offer…have they ever thought why it is the best, maybe its got to do with the fans who have inriched the sport, thanks v8supercars for now taking it away from the fans UNLESS they pay for Foxtel, what a nice way to say thanks and support your fans!!!!!Love to hear what they have to say and how I wont miss out come 2015 and not have to pay any extra??? I’m all ears?????????
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bah humbug. Until Ten have either the NRL or AFL this is all just skating around the edges.
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