Supercars confirms reduced free-to-air TV schedule for 2026

The FTA partner will broadcast a total of five events live next year, starting with the season-opening Sydney 500 in February.

There is then a decent break in Seven’s live FTA coverage, the next being the NTI Townsville 500 in July.

That’s followed by the Repco Bathurst 1000, Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 and BP Adelaide Grand Final.

There is a sixth FTA round that falls outside of the Supercars broadcast agreement which is Network 10’s coverage of the Australian Grand Prix.

As expected, the total number of FTA rounds is down by one this year as part of the new agreement, the Betr Darwin Triple Crown the unlucky event missing out.

Back in June, amid forecasts that the Seven number would be cut under the new deal, Supercars CEO James Warburton explained the importance of delivering for the primary broadcast partner.

“It comes down to the streaming service needing exclusivity to drive subscriptions,” he explained.

“It’s a blend and I think we have got the best blend that we possibly can get, and we have the key races (on FTA).

“The only race on the anti-siphoning list [and therefore required to be available on FTA] is the Bathurst 1000.

“We do understand that issue with the fans, but we virtually didn’t have a sport in those early [pre-Foxtel] years until we got the broadcast rights and some of that signed away.”

Supercars’ own data suggests that, with 43 percent of FTA coverage throughout the season, the series still exceeds FTA offerings from the likes of the AFL and NRL.

Another quirk of the broadcast agreement means that any Friday races next season, likely to happen in Sydney, Townsville and Adelaide, will not be on Seven despite them being FTA rounds, thanks to Foxtel’s Friday exclusivity deal.

2026 free-to-air TV Supercars rounds

Sydney 500 (February 20-22) – Seven
Australian Grand Prix (March 5-8) – Ten
NTI Townsville 500 (July 10-12) – Seven
Repco Bathurst 1000 (October 8-11) – Seven
Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 (October 23-25) – Seven
BP Adelaide Grand Final (December 3-6) – Seven