Thursday 7 December 2023

Broadcast Sport: TNT Sports picks up Formula E live rights for UK and Ireland

Story from Broadcast Sport:

TNT Sports has won the live rights for Formula E in the UK and Ireland, and have confirmed Jermaine Jenas as the new TV host.

Formula E arrives on TNT Sports next month with live coverage of the race in Mexico City on Saturday, 13 January to kick-off Season 10.

TNT will offer what it describes as “uninterrupted coverage” of every race, which will be streamed live in the UK on discovery+ alongside coverage on TNTSports.co.uk to tell the stories of Formula E and its teams.

Presenting the coverage will be Jenas, who will be joined by Nicki Shields, Radzi Chinyanganya and a host of Formula E and motorsport experts.

Jeff Dodds, CEO, Formula E, said: “This is incredible news for sports fans in the UK who already watch premium live sports on TNT Sports. From next month they will get to enjoy the new thrill of Formula E racing, the most competitive motorsport on TV. For existing Formula E fans, we are excited to present TNT Sports as the new home of Formula E in the UK. With experienced professional sportsperson and broadcaster Jermaine Jenas leading our stellar line-up of expert presenters to provide his original perspective for viewers, we cannot wait to get to work in Mexico City.”

Trojan Paillot, SVP Sports Rights Acquisitions and Syndication, Warner Bros. Discovery Europe, adds: “We are pleased to agree a new supercharged partnership with Formula E that will deliver sports fans in the UK and Ireland with exclusive live coverage of every race throughout the season. Not only does this further expand our motorsport portfolio but integrates Formula E as part of the most varied premium sports offer in the UK alongside football, rugby, cricket, boxing and much more to further elevate the profile of the series and to help it to reach an even wider audience.”

Jermaine Jenas, Formula E television presenter, said: “Since retiring from football I never thought I would find a sport that I loved as much but Formula E is a sport like nothing else. I couldn’t be more excited to take on this incredible presenting role and travel the world with such amazing teams. To get in front of the camera and share that energy and action with viewers is a whole new challenge and adrenaline rush for me and I’m really looking forward to it.”

After the Season 10 opener in Mexico City, there are two races in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia on consecutive days (including a night race).

The next stop is Hyderabad, India, then the competition moves to São Paulo, Brazil.

On Saturday, 30 March 2024 it then becomes the first motorsport world championship to race on the streets of Tokyo.

There are then two races across a race weekend (13-14 April) on the track in Misano, Italy, on the northern Adriatic coast.

Next is Monaco, followed by four consecutive doubleheader race weekends in Berlin, Shanghai, Portland, Oregon, before the season finale in London on the weekend of Saturday, 20 July and Sunday, 21 July. This is the weekend between the UEFA EURO 2024 final and the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Friday, 26 July.

Copyright © 2023 Media Business Insight Limited.