The off-road racing series will be live and free-to-air for British viewers
Extreme E has agreed a multi-year deal with BBC Sport to show the sport on its digital channels.
First announced at the Broadcast Sport Content Summit on Thursday, the off-road racing series will be shown live and free-to-air to British viewers – from its start in January 2021.
The BBC joins FOX Sports (US, Canada, and Caribbean), FOX Sports Asia (Southeast Asia), Mediaset (Italy), Sony India (Indian subcontinent), TVNZ (New Zealand), RTM (Malaysia), Dubai Sports (Middle East) and BTRC (Belarus) in showing the competition.
Extreme E is a new racing series, associated with Formula E, that is starting in 2021. It will see electric SUVs taking part in races set in areas of the world affected by climate and environmental issues. This aims to highlight the damage being done to the environment, as well as promote electric vehicles.
Provisional Extreme E Season One Calendar
- 23-24 January 2021: Lac Rose, Dakar, Senegal
- 5-6 March: Al-‘Ula, Saudi Arabia
- 14-15 May: Kali Gandaki Valley, Mustang District, Nepal
- 28-29 August: Kangerlussuaq, Greenland
- 30-31 October: Santarém, Pará, Brazil
The race infrastructure and freight will travel to each event by boat, with the RMS St. Helena being modernised and refit to lower emissions as it travels around the world. It will also have an on-board laboratory to facilitate scientific research.
Chief marketing officer of Extreme E, Ali Russell, said of the news: “Our goal with Extreme E is to open this innovative new series up to as wide an audience as possible. Securing this deal with the BBC is a massive coup in what is a key market for us.
“It’s highly likely that there will be a number of home-grown drivers in the fold come January 2021 for the Brits to back, with the likes of Jamie Chadwick and Billy Monger signalling their intent to compete for a seat in the series by signing up to our Drivers’ Programme.”
“Of course, there’s also an exciting British entry in Veloce Racing – the Esports outfit turned motorsport team – with Adrian Newey on-board as its lead visionary. I’m looking forward to seeing what the British talent can do come ‘lights out’ in just under a year’s time.”