Formula E: LatAm, India deals
April 23, 2021
By Colin Mann
All-electric single-seater racing series Formula E has agreed two new media partnerships that will bring coverage of the 2020/21 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship to viewers in Latin America and the Indian subcontinent.
In Latin America, very race and qualifying session will be live across Claro Sport, Claro Video and marcaclaro.com, with three highlights shows in the week after a race, and all content, also on demand on Claro Video and marcaclaro.com, providing full 360-degree coverage of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
Claro Sports will provide localised Spanish-language commentary of the action to appeal to fans in each of the 17 territories, which Claro Sport covers, including coverage of both races at the inaugural Puebla E-Prix – a double-header at a brand new location for Formula E in Mexico.
The multi-year partnership will introduce new viewers to Formula E across the Latin American region, in countries throughout Central and South America, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
“We are pleased to welcome Claro Sport as the latest media partner joining us for Season 7 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship,” commented Aarti Dabas, Chief Media Officer of Formula E. “Claro Sport allows us to showcase Formula E across Central and South America across linear, OTT and digital channels, with a mix of live action and on-demand content. Local language coverage will help us to grow our audiences, who can join us this weekend, live from Valencia.”
“Claro Sport are looking to bring exciting, next generation sports action to fans across Latin America and our partnership with Formula E is certainly going to deliver that,” asserted Joe Aboumrad, Chief of Claro Sport. “If the opening rounds of Season 7 are anything to go by, our audiences are in for close-contact, all-action, wheel-to-wheel racing and it will be pure entertainment from this unpredictable electric racing series.”
Separately, Formula E has agreed a new multi-year media partnership with Star India to broadcast series live across the Indian subcontinent.
Star Sports will provide exclusive coverage of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives.
Following coverage of the Rome E-Prix earlier in April, each remaining qualifying and race will be shown on OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar, with live races, highlights, preview shows and other programming content also on Star Sports’ television channels.
Disney+ Hotstar will show all of this weekend’s DHL Valencia E-Prix qualifying and race sessions live, including a specific Indian race feed.
The partnership will see Formula E and Star Sports collaborate on bespoke content with a 30-minute live build up show ahead of each race. Star’s linear and digital channels will provide year-round editorial coverage and comprehensive scheduling of non-live programming, telling those stories from across the paddock which are most relevant to Formula E fans across the Indian subcontinent.
With a strong following in the region, the fortunes of India’s Mahindra Racing team will be a natural focus for Star India’s coverage, as the team looks to add to the four race wins and 15 podiums it has achieved since joining Formula E as one of the ten founding teams. It remains the only Indian manufacturer and team in the series.
“We are very excited that Formula E will be broadcast on Star Sports from this season onwards,” declared Dilbagh Gill, Chief Executive Officer and Team Principal of Mahindra Racing. “We know that sports fans across India love to get behind their national teams, and now we will be able to bring edge-of-the-seat, unpredictable electric street racing to many more homes across the sub-continent. We look forward to bringing viewers exclusive content from the very heart of the action and to delivering on track results across the season to make our fans proud.”
“Star, including Disney+ Hotstar, is the leading sports and entertainment platform across the Indian subcontinent, which has revolutionised the way sports are consumed in India across different genres of content,” added Dabas. “It is also a platform that delivers important messaging of inclusion and sustainability through its diverse programming.”
“I am confident that through its bespoke content approach focused on the Indian fans, this new partnership will engage more people in the most unpredictable racing series in the world, its world-class drivers and Formula E’s vision to accelerate sustainable human progress through the power of electric racing.”