DUBAI: KSA Sports, Saudi Arabia’s leading TV sports network, on Sunday confirmed that it has added the rights to the debut season of Extreme E, the electric-SUV-only rally which will launch in the Saudi Arabian desert next month.
The network will broadcast live all five of the new FIA-endorsed rallies as they take place around the world in places that have been impacted by climate conditions.
The first of those is the Desert X race in Saudi Arabia’s own AlUla, which will be Extreme E’s debut rally when it takes place from April 3 to 4.
Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, chairman of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, which is co-organizing next month’s debut race, said: “The support given by KSA Sports has been the driving force in allowing us to grow motorsports across the Kingdom to this point.
“It is to our immense delight that they have chosen to continue to back our events with the agreement to broadcast next month’s AlUla Extreme E X-Prix and the season thereafter, which itself marks a new dawn for motorsports on a global scale.”
Over the year, further races from Senegal, Greenland, Brazil, and Argentina will follow. They will host big name male and female drivers including former F1 drivers Jenson Button, Dakar Rally legend Carlos Sainz, W Series champion Jamie Chadwick, and Australian Rally champion Molly Taylor.
“We are very pleased to welcome KSA Sports, Saudi Arabia’s leading TV sports network, to the Extreme E family,” Ali Russell, chief marketing officer at Extreme E, said. “As we prepare to go racing for the first time in the stunning setting of AlUla, there is no better channel for us to reach our Saudi Arabian fans.
“Extreme E is a truly innovative and exciting new electric racing format, with world-class male and female drivers, which not only seeks to entertain but also educate its audience on important environmental stories at the same time.”
Extreme E becomes the latest motorsport event to be broadcast by KSA Sports, and follows in the footsteps of F1, the Dakar Rally and Formula E.
