Pay-television broadcasters BSkyB and BT Sport are in talks to acquire the UK rights to Formula E, according to Alejandro Agag, chief executive of the motor racing championship’s promoter Formula E Holdings.
Formula E last week finalised the calendar for its debut season in 2014-15, with 10 city centre races across four continents concluding in London on June 27, 2015. Formula E Holdings has so far agreed two broadcast deals for the new series, with Japanese commercial and pay-television broadcaster TV Asahi agreeing a multi-year contract earlier this month.
In August, Fox International Channels, 21st Century Fox’s international multi-media business, agreed a multi-year, international rights deal across the Fox Sports suite of channels. As well as full US broadcast exclusivity across the Fox networks, including new pay-television sports channel Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports acquired exclusive and non-exclusive rights to Formula E in more than 80 territories. “Broadcasters kind of all got a bit excited after the TV Asahi announcement,” Agag said, according to the Telegraph newspaper. He added: “We are talking with BT Sport and with Sky.”
Agag said a deal is unlikely to be announced until drivers are revealed in early 2014 as this will increase the attention on the series. “The strategy in the UK and in Europe is to wait until the drivers are out in February or March then we go for it because we can get more value,” he said.
However, despite being in talks with BT Sport and Sky, Agag added his ultimate aim is “to do free-to-air even if we get less money. Free-to-air would be great: BBC or ITV.”