NBC Sports Group picks up Red Bull Air Race rights

The NBC Sports Group division of US media company NBCUniversal has acquired rights for the Red Bull Air Race World Championship.

The multi-year deal commences with the 2017 season, which got underway earlier today (Friday) with qualifying for the Abu Dhabi event.

NBC Sports Group will provide coverage across all platforms of each race, with NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app set to stream extensive live coverage of this year’s events and qualifying sessions.

The international competition spans eight races in seven countries, including two in the US. The first US race takes place in San Diego on April 16 before the season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 15.

NBC Sports Group’s coverage began at 7am ET today with streaming of the Abu Dhabi qualifying session.