I suppose the question would be if Supercars has a good niche for advertisers, even with it overall being no where near the major sport it used to be.
I think nearly every second ad the last time I watched motorsport was for Shannon’s insurance, but lots of car-adjacent advertisers don’t have all that many non-sports programs to advertise in, and even then an AFL/NRL audience is a bit different to a motorsports one.
I do wonder what came of those discussions the last time I remember reading about the Supercars rights about shifting the season to be over the summer, rather than competing with the AFL/NRL seasons - which would put it in clearer air on an FTA broadcaster, though I imagine attendance would fall if you’re sweltering through 30+ degree days next to a race track.
With the Supercars CEO moving on, SpeedCafe’s full credit to the news podcasts has suggested the news is likely to mean next tv deal might be close to being finalised
Wish 9 and Stan picked up the rights and improved the broadcast. Nine has no sports between the NRL Grand Final and Tennis apart from those 4 days in the first week of November and some golf tournaments.
Industry sources say Nine is more open to bidding for rights without Stan alignment under the new leadership of Matt Stanton than what it was in the Mike Sneesby era.
This seems more likely:
Either way, Seven is certainly the favourite to stay on in what would complete a maintenance of the status quo.
They recently picked up the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, and unlike when Seven had it, they don’t have to broadcast it in between any other sport.
This would mean having to televise some Supercars events, specifically the Darwin and Townsville events (two of the marquee Supercars FTA events), on 9Gem in Sydney and Brisbane during the NRL season. Couldn’t see that happening.
I wouldn’t be shocked if Nine got it, considering all the other plays they’ve made since 2018, some mega like the tennis and olympics. Could freshen up the FTA offering and be beneficial for Supercars.
Seven’s product is terrible and hasn’t been the same since Foxtel’s controlling interest in recent times. Ten’s second foray was the last good one when Matt White was poached back and also became HoS (sadly that ended badly). Seven’s wasn’t good since the early 2010s, putting their motorsport legacy aside for a minute.
It’s hard to see happening though, as Seven almost need it, as they’ve lost everything else. It’d leave them with a further revenue and commercial hole and outside of summer cricket only really give them the AFL, which doesn’t have national appeal anyway.