The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) will remain subscription-free for UK fans for at least three more seasons.
BTCC organisers TOCA has made a new broadcasting agreement with ITV, which continues their existing partnership until the end of 2029.
The deal comes as Sky TV’s owner, Comcast, has announced a takeover of ITV’s broadcasting arm in the UK.
However, the agreement means the UK’s premier motorsport championship will be aired on ITV for the foreseeable future, without the risk of disappearing behind a Sky subscription barrier.
For the 2027 to 2029 BTCC seasons, seven hours of live free-to-air coverage will be provided each race day by ITV Sport.
Over 400 hours of coverage each season
ITV Sport has been the UK broadcaster for the BTCC since 2002. The new deal extends this partnership to an impressive 27 years.
Recent developments in ITV’s BTCC coverage saw the retirement of broadcasting legend Steve Rider last year, with Nicki Shields taking his place.
ITV has also added punditry and insight from former BTCC driver Jade Edwards, alongside Paul O’Neill.
In total, the championship will boast more than 400 hours of coverage per season across the ITV network, along with 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.
Introduced in 2025, the live race-day coverage will continue worldwide via the BTCC YouTube channel, excluding the UK and North America, which have separate live broadcast agreements.
Keeping the BTCC accessible for all
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.
“Our partnership with the BTCC spans nearly three decades and we look forward to the upcoming seasons delivering an extensive package of coverage for our viewers to enjoy across ITV, ITVX and YouTube.”
Alan Gow, chief executive of the BTCC, said: “I’m extremely pleased and proud to have finalised our new contract with the ITV Network, thus continuing our excellent and continually expansive broadcast partnership for the BTCC and its support championships into an incredible 27th year.
“This new contract underlines my unwavering commitment to continue to keep the BTCC as freely accessible to as many people as possible… rather than for it to be hidden behind a paywall.
“In fact, the BTCC is the only UK motorsport that has live, free-to-air coverage of an entire championship on mainstream linear television. Thanks to our great partners at ITV, long may that continue.”
The BTCC will be back in action this weekend after its summer break, with racing from Thruxton circuit in Hampshire.
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