J SPORTS signs up for Extreme E series
Details
Joseph O'Halloran
| 26 April 2021
Japan’s largest sports broadcaster, J SPORTS has confirmed that it is televising the Extreme E electric car racing championship on its linear and streaming channels.
Extreme E saudi group action 26 April 2021
After showing the debut event from Saudi Arabia on the core linear channels and the J SPORTS On Demand digital platform, all the remaining X Prix in this year’s championship will be aired with Japanese subtitles.

The Extreme E season began with the inaugural race in Saudi Arabia on 3 April, and will go on to visit Senegal (29-30 May), Greenland (28-29 August), Brazil (23-24 October) and Patagonia (11-12 December).

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.

The series also boasts a unique viewing format, as races will be held without spectators as part of reducing the championship’s carbon footprint. In addition, the series is transporting equipment for each X Prix by sea on its floating centrepiece, the St. Helena.

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.

Teams will be gender balanced and the Desert X Prix final was won by Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor driving for Nico Rosberg’s RXR Team with Andretti United’s Catie Munnings and Timmy Hansen coming in second. Sebastián Loeb and Christina Gutierrez in Lewis Hamilton’s X44 Team car finished third.

J SPORTS is the second Japanese outlet for the series after DAZN. Commenting on the new contract, J SPORTS Yoshinori Konno, vice president and director said: “We are celebrating the amazing debut of this innovating electric SUV racing series. It is our great pleasure that J SPORTS is partnering with Extreme E and will deliver all the races during its inaugural season. As the leading sport-dedicated broadcaster in Japan, we also feel esteemed about supporting this promising project with the mission of enlightening public awareness of issues including climate change as well as gender equality.”

Extreme E chief marketing officer Ali Russell, added: “Our broadcast agreement with J Sports allows Extreme E to reach a huge Japanese audience with our sport for purpose series. J Sports is well-known for its exceptional coverage of major sport including our sister championship, Formula E – and I am confident that last weekend’s incredible Extreme E season opener from Saudi Arabia delighted its discerning audiences in Japan as well as everyone else who saw it from around the world.”
In addition to J SPORTS, Extreme E is available from over 40 global broadcasters such as beIN MEDIA, Tencent, SABC ITV, FOX Sports, Insight TV, Eurosport and ESPN, covering regions including North America, Asia and Europe. The series is also on TikTok and the platform pulled in 18.5 million organic views for the inaugural X Prix of the Extreme E electric off-road racing series.