MBC on the grid for Extreme E
Details
Joseph O'Halloran
| 15 March 2021
As the off-road electric race championship draws ever closer to its grand green light, the Middle East’s leading extreme sports and adventure satellite channel, MBC ACTION has confirmed that it will televise all five of the series’ X Prixs across its territories in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Extreme E 15 March 2021
The series will feature electric SUVs competing in extreme environments around the world – in Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Greenland, Brazil and Patagonia, places which have all been affected by the climate crisis - and is geared towards highlighting the impact of climate change and human interference in some of the most remote parts of the world. As well as highlighting a variety of environmental issues including, desertification, rising sea levels, glacier retreat, deforestation and ice melt, the series hopes to raise awareness of the climate emergency by mixing sport with purpose to inspire change.

Extreme E aims to leave behind a long-lasting positive impact through its legacy programmes and showcase the performance of all-electric vehicles in extreme conditions, promoting their adoption of electric vehicles in the quest for a lower carbon future for the planet.

Some of the biggest names in motorsport have founded teams including Formula One World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg with teams X44 and Rosberg X Racing respectively. Fellow Formula One star Jenson Button has not only founded a team – JBXE – but will also be behind the wheel.

Nine teams are confirmed to compete at Extreme E’s opening round in the deserts of AlUla, Saudi Arabia on 3 April. The region is described as a place of incredible landscapes and deep history but has suffered the detrimental effects of climate change resulting in longer hotter summers and increased desertification impacting its already vulnerable biodiversity. Extreme E’s mission to ‘race without a trace’ and minimise local impact, means the evert will not be open to spectators, with fans instead invited to follow the action through the live TV broadcast and on social media.

MBC ACTION is a free-to-air channel that launched in 2007. It targets the region’s young adventure enthusiasts, delivering the latest sports news, action-packed movies, dramas, and thrillers. Delivering a focused and dynamic 360 experience, MBC ACTION extends out of TV, into on-ground, online and social media. In this latest of a number of key broadcast deals, people from 23 Arabic-speaking countries will now be able to tune in to the live action of the which will be aired in English, Arabic and Farsi. In addition, race highlights, the review and magazine shows will be available on MBC ACTION, as well as its digital platforms.

“With a few weeks to go until the Desert X Prix takes place in stunning AlUla, our partnership with Extreme E couldn’t have come at a better time,” remarked Ashraf Younis, Director of MBC ACTION. “We cannot wait to showcase the events of this off-road racing series in the world’s largest continuous sand desert to audiences across Saudi Arabia and the rest of the MENA region. This series is definitely one to watch.”

“With our series making its debut in Saudi Arabia in just a matter of weeks, we are delighted to announce our broadcast agreement with MBC Group,” added Ali Russell, chief marketing officer at Extreme E.

“As home to the most widely watched TV networks across the Middle East and North Africa, MBC Groip provides us with the tremendous opportunity to bring Extreme E’s innovative technology and its crucial conservation and equality message, to a vast audience of almost 300 million Arab speakers. I am confident that Extreme E’s incredible menu of motorsport firsts including a thrilling fully electric format, male and female driver pairings and the environmental stories behind the series, will delight MBC’s discerning and wide-spread audience and we can’t wait to bring the action to them in April.”