The Australian V8 Superboats Championship will be broadcast free and ‘on demand’ in season 2022 in a new arrangement with the 7 Network to broadcast the seven-round schedule on 7mate, whilst for those people that cannot catch the scheduled broadcast times, 7+ will host every program (nine programs this season) for viewers to watch at a time that suits them on their favourite platform.
“Off the back of a successful debut on Fox Sports Australia and Kayo Sports in 2021, we’ve negotiated an arrangement with 7mate that will take us into every home in Australia,” Australian Formula Jet Sprint Association [AFJSA] President Justin Roylance confirmed.
“We can’t thank Fox Sports Australia enough for hosting us last season, a season that was very haphazard in the end with all the Covid setbacks, their support certainly helped propel us forward as a sport, however for the AFJSA committee, the big thing was reaching as many people as we can in order to bring more people into the sport, and the new arrangement with 7mate will allow us to do that.”
Aside from the new arrangement with 7mate, V8 Superboat’s media agency 321Ignition Media have also negotiated an extensive international program, that could see as many as three times the audience size of the 2021 season.
“We’re always looking for new distribution partners in an effort to take the sport to a wider audience,” 321Ignition’s Sean Henshelwood explained.
“We saw last season, that despite the ongoing Covid setbacks, a 1000% increase in the reach of our social media, and some of that is attributed to the [now] global reach of the Championship. At times we were in windows of lockdown here in Australia, yet our social media was abuzz with interaction from fans, some of which was coming internationally as television was reaching their screens. The beauty of much of that media, is that it is reproduced in the local language which educates them about the sport, another benefit of our media program.”
Aside from the media reach, the increase in profile is also having a big effect nationally.
“The 2021 season saw Covid – and mother nature – make a big impact on event attendances, with some venues limited to the number of people they could take through the gate, however on the occasions that we were able to open the gates to fans without restriction, we saw record attendances, whilst for the sport, we’ve seen a great influx of new and returning teams, people that want to be a part of our sport,” Roylance added.
After a broken schedule last season, the 2022 Australian V8 Superboats Championship begins at Cabarita Beach on the Tweed Coast with a two-day event on July 23-24. Fans can attend the event, and book tickets at https://www.ticketebo.com.au/v8superboats or catch the event LIVE online (visit facebook.com/V8Superboats for details) on Sunday, July 24. They should also keep an eye on TV Guides as the Cabarita round goes to air on 7mate roughly five weeks later.
For more information on the Australian V8 Superboat Championships, please visit https://www.v8superboats.com.au
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