The Entire World Endurance Championship Season Is Coming To American TV
Good news for endurance fans: we can finally watch the entire WEC season this year on television in the good ol' U-S-of-A and Canada. Not only will we get our usual 24 Hours of Le Mans coverage, but Fox Sports inked a deal to show the whole season. That's multiple hours of motorsport deliciousness at a time.
According to Sportscar365, the races will be split between Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, bringing us over 70 hours of live coverage in total.
All Six Hours of Silverstone will be broadcast next weekend, and a minimum of three hours will be broadcast for each race thereafter. That's hours of racing to veg out to at a time, and it's perhaps my favorite series on the planet right now because of all the crazy ideas and increased competition among top-level manufacturer teams.
The WEC hopes that it will actually let North America know the championship exists.
"This is a significant agreement for the brand awareness of the World Endurance Championship in North America, which is very important market for our partners and manufacturers," WEC CEO Gérard Neveu said to Sportscar365.
We're kind of a big deal, I guess. Also, we have our own round of it, and it's connected to an entire year-long schedule, not just Le Mans.
"This will also increase the visibility and interest for spectators at our US round, the Lone Star Le Mans weekend, in September, where the event will be one of the sporting highlights at the Circuit of the Americas," said Neveu to Sportscar365.
Lone Star Le Mans may be my favorite local event of the year (for reasons), but it's had a bit of an uphill battle when it comes to attendance. The venue may be the United States' only Grade 1 circuit, but it lacks the history that places like Watkins Glen or Sebring do. It's new. There isn't a crazy camping scene. It hasn't really found a place yet. WEC hopes that by being on our TVs, they'll get better attendance at our round of the championship.
Either way, I can't complain unless Fox cuts away to D-3 football or something. Then I'll complain pretty loudly.
Also, I may be less productive on WEC weekends when it comes to other stuff besides watching racing. Fair warning.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Contact the author at stef.schrader@jalopnik.com.