Telecoms company GO has secured for the first time ever the rights to broadcast live and exclusively Formula One (F1) coverage for a three-year period starting from next year.
GO’s contract with Formula One Administration (FOA) Limited covers the next season (2009), as well as the following two seasons (2010 and 2011).
As a result, GO Plus TV will be transmitting all the weekend coverage of all races held all around the world, starting from March 2009. The provisional F1 calendar for 2009 currently includes 19 races.
Commenting on the deal, GO Chief Executive David Kay said: “We are delighted and honoured to be able to offer our Sports+ customers the pinnacle of all motorsport, Formula One, throughout a whole season which spans between March and November of every year.”
GO said the F1 rights were the latest addition to a suite of GO’s other exclusive rights which include the Ryder Cup, the PGA European tour, the finals of the Davis Cup, Wimbledon tournament, the English FA Cup, the England national team World Cup qualifiers and friendlies, and a host of international rugby tournaments.
In December of this year, GO will be transmitting live and exclusively the FIFA Club World Cup.
Formula One Racing has been one of incumbent Melita Cable’s top sporting events for the past few years.
This announcement came a few weeks after Melita revealed that it had regained the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup for the next three seasons (2009-2011) after a tough bidding war between the two network providers.
