Extreme E sets up MENA and Japan deals ahead of April launch

Ahead of its inaugural season, electric-powered off-road racing series Extreme E continues to bolster its broadcasting partnerships.

The latest territories to be covered are Japan and MENA, with the races broadcast by DAZN and MBC Action respectively.

Both broadcasters are set to show coverage of all five Extreme E X Pris, with the first taking place in Saudi Arabia on April 3-4, while also carrying to competition’s magazine programme.

The MBC Group deal will cover 23 Arabic-speaking countries, with coverage presented in English, Arabic and Farsi. 

These deals follow arrangements already in place with the BBC, SPTV in Croatia, RBTF in Belgium and a 50-territory deal with Discovery.

Ali Russell, chief marketing officer at Extreme E, said: “With our series making its debut in Saudi Arabia in just a matter of weeks, we are delighted to announce our broadcast agreement with MBC GROUP today. As home to the most widely watched TV networks across the Middle East and North Africa, MBC GROUP provides us with the tremendous opportunity to bring Extreme E’s innovative technology and its crucial conservation and equality message, to a vast audience of almost 300 million Arab speakers.

Of the deal with DAZN, Russell added that the sports streamer “is also the home of Formula One in Japan, so will allow us to target a huge Japanese motorsport audience with our innovative sport for purpose.”