BT Sport adds WRC rights to burgeoning portfolio

BT Sport has signed a deal to show exclusively live coverage of up to 26 stages of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), starting with the opening event of the 2014 season, the famous Rallye Monte Carlo, on Wednesday January 15.

The BT Sport WRC programming will run across BT Sport’s three channels, BT Sport 1 and 2, and ESPN. Coverage will include a preview and a review show for each rally and a daily highlights show.

The WRC series is widely regarded as the most challenging motorsport competition in the world. Established in its current format in 1973, the drivers and manufacturers will be battling it out in 2014 for the 42nd annual drivers’ and manufacturers’ championship trophies in rallies spread across 13 countries and three continents.

Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “We are thrilled to be able to show the World Rally Championship, possibly the most demanding motorsport contest in the world. BT Sport can now offer viewers two of the biggest motorsport properties in the world, WRC and MotoGP.  We will bring the viewers closer to the action, the drivers and the teams, with live and behind the scenes coverage.”