Live TV coup 'puts our sport to a mass audience which is what it needs'

7plus will broadcast both nights of the 2024 Australian Sprintcar Championship on Friday, January 26 and Saturday, January 27.

Top-line drivers, such as current number one Jock Goodyer and past winners James McFadden and Jamie Veal, will get to showcase their talents to a wider audience.

Premier Speedway general manager Michael Parry said it was a positive step for the sport.

"It has multiple benefits - looking locally it's great for the town of Warrnambool to get one of our key venues broadcast to a national and potentially international audience," he told The Standard.

"It's great for the club and respect for what Premier Speedway club is and the trust the Sprintcar Control Council of Australia has to select Premier Speedway.

"Broader, it puts our sport to a mass audience which is what it needs, to bring new people and attract new people to our sport."

Speedway has been shown on live free-to-air and had rapid replays out of Perth Motorplex.

"That is probably where the opportunity has derived from," Parry said.

"It is great now as a sport we can evolve it."

Sprintcars are unpredictable with weather conditions, which can impact the clay track, and crashes making it challenging to keep to a set time-line TV networks require.

It's another reason why televising the Australian title live is a special result.

"There will be a limit. We have an event schedule, as we do for all of our events," Parry said.

"There will be more emphasis on it to make sure we run as sharply as we can and finish at the prescribed time. Obviously there will be some tolerance but as long as we don't have major hold ups we'll be fine."

Warrnambool City Council mayor Ben Blain said the coverage was a win for the region and would have flow-on effects.

"It's a big feather in the cap for the guys at Premier Speedway," he said.

"It's amazing they can showcase not just sprintcars but our amazing city, the special place we live in.

"I think it's incredibly exciting and I am sure it will be a driver for tourism and businesses."

Night Thunder will run the production for 7plus with cross-promotion during Channel 7's cricket coverage to help draw in a new audience.

"We're both grateful and excited to cover this event once again after last season's title coverage from Perth had rave reviews," Night Thunder's Dean Neal said.

"The team at 7Sport are very excited about this coverage and will wrap their arms around exposing it to new and old fans alike."