Pay-television broadcaster Sky New Zealand has renewed its media rights for the Supercars motorsport series for five years, from 2021 to 2025.
Sky will show coverage of all races in the Australian series on its Sky Sport television and digital platforms.
Supercars restarted its 2020 season at the weekend after a three-and-a-half-month gap due to Covid-19. The first race was the Sydney SuperSprint, held behind closed doors at Sydney Motorsport Park. The season has been cut from 14 to 11 rounds due to the pandemic.
A race in New Zealand planned for next January has been cancelled due to Covid-19-related travel restrictions. The 2020 season was originally scheduled to finish in January 2021 with the New Zealand race and two Australian races, but will now end on 12-13 December this year with the SuperNight race at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Sky has shown Supercars since 2013, when it agreed a five-year deal with the series until the end of 2017. It later extended the rights for three years, until the end of 2020.
Welcoming the deal, Sky NZ CEO Martin Stewart said: “Supercars really pulls in the Sky Sport viewers who love the adrenaline, personalities, the skill and rivalry always on show in this competition.”
Sky’s other motorsport rights properties include MotoGP, Superbikes, the Dakar Rally, the Rally du Maroc, Indycar and Nascar. Formula One rights in New Zealand are currently held by rival Spark, the telco, in a three-year from 2019 to 2021.
Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said: “We’re delighted to have reached a new agreement with Sky Sport and look forward to continuing our fantastic and enduring partnership…
“The agreement delivers full coverage of all races across the season. This was particularly imperative for us when we began discussions for the future.
“Sky Sport plays a huge role in allowing us to showcase our sport to our ever-growing New Zealand fan base.”