International sports broadcaster ESPN and Discovery-owned sports broadcaster Eurosport lead a cohort of broadcasters who will broadcast the first-ever virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
ESPN has acquired the rights in the US market, while Eurosport will broadcast the race in both Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The rights are platform-neutral and can be exploited across their various platforms.
The race takes place over June 13 and 14.
ESPN will broadcast 12 hours of the race on its ESPN2 linear channel, though the entire race will be available on the ESPN app and on ESPN.com.
Eurosport will broadcast a total of 10 hours across various stages of the race. The race will also be shown in its entirety via the broadcaster’s OTT platform, Eurosport Player.
In Asia, Eurosport will broadcast a total of 390 minutes of the race, including the opening and closing two-hour portions. A total of six hours will be broadcast in Australia, however. Across the Nordics, the race can be viewed in its entirety on the Nordic Entertainment Group’s Viaplay streaming service.
Sky New Zealand will broadcast the entire race in its domestic market, while the race will be shown on J Sports in Japan. Both will feature linear and OTT coverage of the race. In India, Sony Entertainment Group has acquired the platform-neutral rights to the event. SuperSport will broadcast Le Mans across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The decision to host a virtual race was taken earlier this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with rules that each team entering must include a minimum of two professional drivers and two sim racers. The grid will consist of a maximum of 50 cars.