Supercars is currently in the second-last year of its existing TV deal with Fox Sports and the Seven Network, and known to be well and truly underway with sorting its broadcast future.
It has been difficult to gauge interest outside of the incumbents, however a report on the Nine-owned AFR news site today has offered some insight into a potential rival bid.
According to the report, Nine Entertainment has held talks with Supercars regarding a broadcast deal – however is only interested if its pay streaming service Stan has exclusive content.
“Sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations said the body’s chief executive Shane Howard wants a deal by the end of the year and that Supercars has already met with Nine Entertainment as well as incumbents Seven and Foxtel,” reads the AFR report.
“Nine owns The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, a television and radio network, streaming service Stan, and holds a majority position in real estate listings platform Domain.
“It is one of the biggest sports rights holders in the country, broadcasting sports including rugby league, soccer, rugby union, cricket, tennis, and, more recently, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and horse racing.
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“[Supercars is] not a bad product for Nine, but sources familiar with the talks claim the network is only interested if it can put some exclusive content behind the paywall on its streaming service Stan. There is also the issue of scheduling. A lot of the key race meets clash with the footy season.”
Recent TV deals have been split across Fox Sports and a free-to-air partner, currently Network Seven.
In that time, Kayo has become a more prominent offering from News Limited, which casts serious doubt whether Nine could simply play the FTA role.
It would instead likely need full control to properly integrate Stan Sport.
The spends on the two are quite different, with Supercars fetching north of $200 million in total for its last deal, while the limited FTA deal runs – according to the AFR report – to around $4 million.
Stan Sport – which is an additional paid product on Stan – already has a motorsport offering with IndyCar, the World Endurance Championship, the World Rally Championship and Formula E all exclusive to the service.
It also had a much-maligned deal with Australian Racing Group to broadcast the SpeedSeries in 2022 and 2023.
The AFR also reports that Supercars has engaged global sports marketing business IMG in its hunt for the best possible broadcast deal from 2026 onwards.
IMG was a co-founder of the series and former promoter of the Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast events.
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