The Supercars Championship has agreed an extension to its broadcast deal with Sky in New Zealand.
Contract:
- Supercars will remain on Sky in New Zealand for the next four years
- Sky has held the exclusive broadcast rights for the championship since 2013
Context:
The Australia-based touring car championship has a strong contingent from neighbouring country New Zealand – five Kiwi drivers currently compete in the series and a number of former champions hail from the island, including Nascar’s emerging road course star Shane van Gisbergen and seven-time IndyCar race winner Scott McLaughlin.
New Zealand also hosts one event on the Supercars schedule at Taupo International Motorsport Park, and a second event in Christchurch is set to join from next season – all the more reason for Sky to lock down the next cycle of Supercars’ broadcast rights.
Before Sky moved to acquire the comprehensive live rights for the series in New Zealand, Supercars jumped around between TV3 and Prime – a free-to-air (FTA) channel in the country rather than the Amazon-owned streaming platform. The consistency of coverage also varied as not all races were shown live.
Sky now offers extensive motorsport coverage in New Zealand – fans can enjoy series like Formula One, IndyCar, and the World Superbike Championship alongside this deal with Supercars.
For Supercars, focus will now shift to securing its next domestic media rights partnership. The championship is targeting at least AUS$200 million (US$128 million) with Foxtel in the driving seat to renew its existing contract.
Comment:
“Supercars is a fan favourite, delivering edge-of-your-seat entertainment, fierce competition, and some of the best drivers in the sport. We’ve been proud to bring the championship to Kiwi audiences for over a decade, and this new deal locks in Supercars as a key part of our motorsport offering for years to come,” said Adam Crothers, Sky’s head of content partnerships.
“With the addition of a second New Zealand race from 2026 – a new Christchurch round will join the existing Taupō round – we’re thrilled to see the local connection to the championship grow even stronger. Two home races for Kiwi fans is a game-changer.”
Supercars chief executive James Warburton said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to extend our partnership with Sky, which has been a fantastic broadcast partner for over a decade.
“This new deal guarantees Kiwi fans can continue to watch every moment of Supercars action, wherever they are.
“With two events in New Zealand locked in until at least the end of 2028 and 20 per cent of our global fan base residing in New Zealand, this partnership is critically important to us.”
Coming next:
Supercars is coming to the end of the first portion of its new season format as Queensland Raceway hosts the final event of the Sprint Cup this weekend, the first Supercars race the circuit has held since 2019. This leads into the two-round Enduro Cup featuring the Bend 500 and the Bathurst 1000. The winner of each cup will gain automatic entry to the Finals Cup.
This Finals Cup is the first time that Supercars has trialled a championship structure similar to that seen in the Nascar Cup Series. A select number of drivers will be dropped after a certain number of rounds, before four finalists compete for a chance to be the 2025 champion.
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