Fans of British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) rejoice: ITV has secured a deal to keep broadcasting it until the end of 2026. The five year deal, signed with race organiser TOCA, will start in 2022 and will mean ITV has championed the series for a total of 25 years by the end of the deal term.
It means fans can continue to watch BTCC for free, with a minimum of seven hours of live racing each Sunday on ITV4, as well as a highlights package on ITV and ITV4, and a live stream of Saturday qualifying at ITV’s dedicated BTCC webpage.
Alan Gow, BTCC chief executive, said: “I’m immensely proud of the great and close partnership that we have with ITV. Their commitment and enthusiasm to bring the BTCC to as wide an audience as possible is absolutely unrivalled.
“It was vital to me that the BTCC maintained its vast live free-to-air coverage. Simply, we want the maximum amount of people to be able to watch our great racing. It’s the bedrock of our enormous popularity. So hiding our championship away behind a paywall would only have the exact opposite effect.
“With the new hybrid regulations and our fantastic broadcasting coverage now locked into place right through to the end of 2026, it provides the solid foundation on which all our teams and partners can base, and build, their involvement.
“I’m not sure how many major motorsport championships in the world have an unbroken (and in fact increasing) free-to-air broadcasting relationship spanning nearly a quarter of a century with the same broadcaster, but by my reckoning, it’s probably only one… the iconic British Touring Car Championship.”
Keyword: ITV to broadcast BTCC until end of 2026