Gfinity and Abu Dhabi Motorsport Management (ADMM) have announced distribution agreements for its new virtual racing competition – the V10 R-League.
Season 1 of the Global Racing Series will be available on BT Sport, ESPN networks and platforms and Starzplay Arabia, as well as across team and talent channels..
Organisers say this sets the V10 R-League up to be one of the most widely syndicated esports competitions, with broadcast coverage in over 75 countries worldwide, having a potential reach of 150m households.
BT Sport and Starzplay Arabia have signed a multi-year agreement for exclusive rights in the UK and Ireland, and across the MENA region, respectively, whilst ESPN will carry the V10 R-League for Seasons 1 and 2 in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania across its networks and platforms.
The Season 1 opener highlights will air live in a two-hour show on BT Sport 2 from 7pm GMT on Monday September 7th, with each of the seven rounds broadcast weekly at the same time.
“We are delighted to expand our innovative work with Gfinity to bring this exciting new sim racing format to UK fans exclusively to BT Sport subscribers on Mondays and free to all online the next morning.”
Simon Green, BT Sport
All of the racing will be made available for anyone to watch for free the following morning, after the highlights show on btsport.com and the BT Sport App.
The hosts of the V10 R-League broadcasts have been confirmed as Rachel Stringer, Nicolas Hamilton and Ben Daly, for the inaugural series.
Simon Green, Head of BT Sport, said: “Lockdown has demonstrated a huge appetite for virtual motorsport, and we are delighted to expand our innovative work with Gfinity to bring this exciting new sim racing format to UK fans exclusively to BT Sport subscribers on Mondays and free to all online the next morning.”
Nick Westwood, Creative Director at Gfinity, added: “The talent we have involved is a real coup – Nicolas Hamilton, through his own driving career successes and experience and having lived and worked alongside his brother Lewis, brings a completely unique perspective to our commentary team. Ben Daly is, we think, an example of the next generation of sports casters, crossing over seamlessly from online to broadcast, whilst Rachel Stringer has long been one of our favourite hosts to work with who will continue to grow in familiarity with audiences.
“Together they have been able to really give the V10 R-League a unique personality.”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
