BT Sport has acquired the rights to broadcast the new V10 R-League, a sim-racing esports competition created by Gfinity and Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management (ADMM).
As a result of the deal, the UK and Ireland broadcaster will air Season 1 of the global racing series live on BT Sport 2 with the full races being made available the following morning for free on its website and the BT Sport App.
Simon Green, Head of BT Sport, stated: “Lockdown has demonstrated a huge appetite for virtual motorsport, and we are delighted to expand our innovative work with Gfinity to bring this exciting new sim racing format to UK fans exclusively to BT Sport subscribers on Mondays and free to all online the next morning.”
Additionally, having also gained broadcast rights with ESPN, the sim-racing competition will be available across its networks and platforms in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania. STARZPLAY Arabia has also signed a multi-year agreement with the competition to broadcast across the MENA region.
Maaz Sheikh, Co-founder & CEO at STARZPLAY, commented: “As a Dubai based streaming service, we have continuously focused on delivering content that meets the viewing needs of regional audiences. For the first time, we are bringing the thrills and excitement of esport, which is gaining tremendous popularity across the Pan-Arab region.”
According to Gfinity, the sim-racing competition is set to ‘be one of the most widely syndicated esports competitions, with broadcast coverage in over 75 countries worldwide’ while also potentially reaching 150 million households. Moreover, the deal signifies the continued growth of eRacing despite live sport globally starting to resume.
John Clarke, CEO at Gfinity, added: “Growth is driven through innovation. The Global Racing Series and the V10 R-League did not exist three months ago. With a clear vision, a great partner in ADMM and a lot of hard work today we have a unique made for broadcast racing format, with a new virtual car that roars, which has captured the imagination of three of the world’s most forward-thinking broadcasters.
“Receiving commercial broadcast deals from these partners and the distribution scale that they provide will play a positive role in helping the company reach its target of moving into profitability in Q1 of the 2021 calendar year. The Gfinity and ADMM commercial teams are also in the process of negotiating sponsorship partnerships with leading brands.”
The V10 League, which boasts a £100,000 prize pool, recently announced its eight team line-up with the likes of BMW Motorsport SIM Racing Team, Red Bull Racing Esports and Williams Esports some of the organisations involved in its inaugural season starting September 7 .
Saif Al Noaimi, Acting CEO, ADMM, concluded: “To be achieving global broadcast scale, fantastic talent and some of the best teams in the esports racing world for Season 1 is testament to our formula. Working with great partners like Gfinity – and having the right people in place to deliver the programme will continue moving us towards our vision of continually advancing world class motorsport across esports platforms.”
