Cash Converters, the second-hand retail chain with stores in the UK and other countries around the world, has got involved in esports sim racing.
Supercars has partnered with Gravity Media for the third year running to produce the Cash Converters Supercars Eseries, an esports competition that started back in 2020 during the first Covid lockdown.
The Eseries takes place on the iRacing platform, running over six weekly rounds through to Wednesday August 24th 2022.
Gravity Media’s Australian operation set up across its production centre in Sydney and Melbourne worked closely to fulfil Supercars’ requirements. The centre houses a control room for the Supercars production, which streams the action live across multiple platforms. Elsewhere, Gravity Media has integrated as many as 30 drivers via a remote video platform.
Two new Australian circuits and endurance races at some of Australia’s most historic tracks headline the return of Supercars’ Cash Converters Eseries in 2022, featuring two endurance events and one fans’ choice in the series that combines Supercars’ main game drivers and pro gamers. Those events are virtual races at the famous Mount Panorama circuit in Bathurst and for the first time, the historic Sandown circuit in Melbourne.
Also joining the competition in 2022 is Victoria’s Winton circuit, which has recently been added to the iRacing online platform.
The hybrid framework model consists of two championships within the series: The Pro Series – with elite gamers representing Supercars teams and major brands, competing for a share of $26,000 in prize money. The All Stars Series also returns and consists of main game Supercars and Dunlop Super2 drivers. For the first time, Supercars teams compete each week for a $1,000 cash donation for the charity of their choice.
The Eseries is broadcast live on primetime television and across social media platforms. Gravity Media’s Eseries package air through Fox Sports’s Foxtel channel, Kayo’s IP sports platform and Network 7’s IP service 7Plus. Gravity Media also encoded a live stream of the control room for feeds on Facebook, Twitch and YouTube.
Adam Dodman, studio engineering manager at Gravity Media Australia, said: “Since 2020 Gravity Media has been supporting Supercars to produce the Eseries for both OTT and Fox Sports. Leaning on our Melbourne and Sydney technical facilities, we were able to successfully deliver a turnkey operation for the weekly broadcast.”
“We are thrilled to be working with Gravity Media on this event. Gravity Media’s exceptional experience and expertise in delivering high-quality broadcast infrastructures ensure that we can produce a top-quality experience for our fans. Gravity Media’s ability to adapt and innovate with the evolution of our Eseries over the past three years has been a key factor to the success of this partnership,” added David Tunnicliffe, head of broadcast at Supercars Australia.
In other recent sim racing news, Newcastle-based sim racing esports platform Grid Finder raised six figures in investment, and British sim racer James Baldwin won the Alpine Esports Series Championship.
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.
