CART and ESPN International sign ARD to broadcast German 500 live

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

August September 1, 2001

DETROIT - Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (CART) and ESPN International, its worldwide television rights holder and partner, have made an agreement with Germany's dominant national television network, ARD, through its exclusive sports rights acquisitions arm, SportA GmbH, Munich. ARD is to provide extensive live coverage of the German 500 weekend, scheduled for Sept. 13-15, 2001, at EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany.

ARD will carry the live broadcast of the German 500 on Saturday, Sept. 15 beginning at 1:03 p.m. local time on its main channel. The network will also offer live coverage of Friday's qualifying session on its third channel, ORB, and Eurosport will provide tape-delayed coverage throughout Europe on the Sunday evening of September 16th.

"As the exclusive global television representative for CART, I am pleased that ESPN International was able to negotiate this agreement to bring the excitement of the CART FedEx Championship Series to German fans," said Mark Reilly, vice president and general manager of international sales for ESPN, Inc. "The involvement of a prominent television network such as ARD further validates the placement of the CART series among the premier motor sports events in the world."

"The addition of ARD to the CART broadcasting family is a huge win for the series," added CART Vice President of Broadcasting, Keith Allo. "This will allow us to not only cater to the thousands of CART fans that already exist, but it gives us the opportunity to introduce our exciting brand of racing to millions and millions of sports fans in Germany that are not already familiar with our series."

Said Steffen Simon, Head of Sports of ARD / ORB, "We are proud and enthusiastic about having the chance to further develop this exclusive brand of motor sport in Europe by broadcasting the German 500."

The German 500 and the Rockingham 500 at Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby, England on the following weekend (Sept. 20-22) mark CART's first foray into Europe. Both events will be held on newly constructed oval tracks, exposing most European race fans to the high speed and close competition of the FedEx Championship Series for the first time.

The 2001 FedEx Championship Series visits seven countries and four continents during the season and climaxes with the season-ending Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota on Sunday, Nov. 4 at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Thanks to a partnership between Marlboro, Toyota, CART and California Speedway, the winner of the season finale will collect $1 million, one of the largest paydays in all of motorsports. An additional $1 million, as well as the prestigious Vanderbilt Cup will be awarded to the driver who wins the FedEx Championship Series championship.

Text provided by Ron Richards

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