The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) will remain subscription-free for UK fans for at least three more seasons, thanks to a new broadcasting agreement between BTCC organisers TOCA and ITV. This deal extends their existing partnership, which has been in place since 2002, to an impressive 27 years.
BTCC Coverage on ITV
For the 2027 to 2029 BTCC seasons, ITV Sport will provide seven hours of live free-to-air coverage each race day. In total, the championship will boast over 400 hours of coverage per season across the ITV network and the BTCC’s YouTube channel.
The new contract means that every Saturday qualifying session will be shown live online via the ITV YouTube channel. Extensive highlights will remain on ITV4, and potentially ITV1, with the main race-day action and highlights available on-demand through ITVX.
Accessibility and Partnership
Niall Sloane, ITV’s director of sport, said: “This new deal continues our long-standing commitment to broadcast the very best British Touring Car Championship action, free-to-air, for the UK audience on ITV.” Alan Gow, chief executive of the BTCC, added that the new contract underlines his commitment to keep the BTCC freely accessible to as many people as possible.
The BTCC is the only UK motorsport that has live, free-to-air coverage of an entire championship on mainstream linear television. This is thanks to the partnership with ITV, which has been in place for nearly three decades.
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In practice, this deal means that fans of the BTCC will continue to have access to high-quality coverage without having to pay for a subscription.
Upcoming Seasons
The BTCC will be back in action this weekend after its summer break, with racing from Thruxton circuit in Hampshire. With the new deal in place, fans can look forward to extensive coverage of the championship across ITV, ITVX, and YouTube.
ITV Sport has been the UK broadcaster for the BTCC since 2002, and the new deal extends this partnership. Recent developments in ITV’s BTCC coverage saw the retirement of broadcasting legend Steve Rider, with Nicki Shields taking his place. ITV has also added punditry and insight from former BTCC driver Jade Edwards, alongside Paul O’Neill.
The BTCC’s online presence will also continue to play a key role in its coverage, with live race-day coverage available worldwide via the BTCC YouTube channel, excluding the UK and North America, which have separate live broadcast agreements.