US sports broadcaster ESPN has agreed a rights deal with the International Hot Rod Association that will grant the drag racing organisation exposure on a major network for the first time since 1999.
The initial one-year deal will cover two days of racing from events in the 2017 IHRA Summit Sportsman National Championship to stream live on ESPN3, ESPN’s digital service.
ESPN was the IHRA’s last significant rights partner 18 years ago and ESPN3 will stream as much as eight continuous hours from the track on both weekend days for 13 events, much of it live.
The first event will be on the weekend of February 4-5 from Immokalee Regional Raceway in Florida.
“This is a landmark opportunity for the IHRA to further advance its plans for all stakeholders in the Sportsman Racing Division,” Chris Lencheski, vice-chairman and chief executive of IRGSE, the parent company of the IHRA, said.
“This agreement highlights our sportsman racers and positions us to move into 2018 with a tremendous partner for our professional racing series with significant momentum behind the IHRA, its teams, tracks and sponsors.”