Extreme E partners with Huya to continue to reach Chinese audiences

Extreme E has confirmed its partnership with Chinese live streaming platform Huya.

The live electric off-roading series, which starts in early 2021, will be streamed across Huya, which boasts a community of over 250 million people.

Alongside the live action, the platform will also show a variety of highlights shows, which aim to not only display wheel-to-wheel race action but to also shine a light on the environmental message of the championship.

Ali Russell, chief marketing officer at Extreme E, commented: “We are looking to target a young audience at Extreme E, so partnerships with platforms like Huya are really important to reach this demographic. While Huya’s community are race fans, we also hope to engage them in the wider message of our series, making a change to reduce carbon footprint, and therefore protect our planet from climate change.

“Huya is a major platform in the esports space and it is this audience we feel we can really engage in Extreme E, through our range of exciting teams, and all-new race format. Extreme E is set to be like nothing the motorsport world has ever seen, and we are looking forward to bringing it to as many screens as possible around the world.”

Huya collaborates with esports event organisers, as well as major game developers and publishers, and has established esports live streaming as one of the most popular content genres on its platform. The company has created an engaged, interactive and immersive community for game enthusiasts of China’s young generation. Building on its success in game live streaming, Huya has expanded its offering to other entertainment content genres, including sports, movies and music.

Zhang Pingping, director of sports operations at Huya, added: “From Arctic area in Greenland, desert sands in Saudi Arabia to Amazon Rainforests in Brazil, Extreme E is about to bring these remote areas, which are under threat and already damaged, back into the public eye via a new electric-SUV racing series to commence in 2021. By delivering programmes of Extreme E, Huya is poised to make more Chinese audiences, companies and locations aware of climate damage, inspiring them to switch to a more positive and sustainable way.”

The agreement with Huya is the latest in a long line of broadcast partnerships already announced by Extreme E, including BBC (UK), Discovery (Europe and North America), FOX Sports (United States, Canada and the Caribbean), among many others.