ITV extends BTCC contract until 2026

ITV Sport has signed a new five-year contract with TOCA, organiser of the British Touring Car Championship, extending the current UK-wide free-to-air broadcasting arrangement through to the end of the 2026 season.

ITV has broadcast the UK’s elite motorsport series since 2002, with this latest agreement taking the relationship to a quarter of a Century, making this one of the longest British sporting TV partnerships on record.

The new contract commences from 2022 and will see the broadcaster continue to screen the championship live and exclusively on its free-to-air ITV4 and ITV4HD channels, with at least seven hours of coverage from each race day.

This agreement is by far the most extensive free-to-air broadcast arrangement in the history of the BTCC, providing at least 340 hours of coverage each season; 180hours of broadcast time across the ITV channels (live and highlights), plus another 160 hours of online streaming and highlights.

Highlights programmes will continue to be aired on ITV4 and ITV, whilst qualifying will be shown via ITV’s dedicated BTCC website – www.itv.com/btcc. All transmissions will also be streamed free ‘as live’ via the ITV Hub with all programmes being available to watch ‘on demand’ via the same service.  

The ITV network will also publish further videos online and ‘as live’ race clips will be made available via social media, ensuring that everyone can watch the BTCC via their preferredplatform free of charge through the UK’s largest commercial television network.

The much-loved and valued BTCC support series’ will also continue to enjoy their excellent live coverage and dedicated highlights programme on the ITV network.Whilst other forms of major motorsport are being lost behind a paywall, TOCA’s policy is to continually expand its mainstream free-to-air television coverage and is proud to confirm this latest agreement.

“We are delighted to extend our contract with the British Touring Car Championship," said ITV Director of Sport Niall Sloane.

"Fans throughout the UK can watch free-to-air some of the best racing in European motorsport through to the end of the 2026 season and we look forward to developing the coverage even further with our friends at TOCA.”

“I’m immensely proud of the great and close partnership that we have with ITV," added BTCC Chief Executive Alan Gow.

"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."