The all-electric raceboat championship expands its TV distribution to more than 20 million households across seven countries

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The all-electric raceboat championship E1, which held its first event in February, has agreed a deal to bring live and exclusive content from the 2024 season to the Balkans with TV Arena, reaching more than 20 million households across seven territories. 

Free-to-air coverage of the forthcoming E1 races will be available in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia.

Didier Drogba, four-time Grammy winner Marc Anthony, Marcelo Claure and Steve Aoki were all involved in backing the first E1 event in Jeddah in February, with more owners expected o attend the coming events including Venice and Monaco.

The expansion of broadcast distribution to the Balkans adds to the existing E1 global audience of more than 180 million people, with coverage throughout North and South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and throughout Asia. 

Harkiran Chima, head of media and new business at E1, said: “We are incredibly proud to bring sports fans from the Balkans on the E1 journey and offer them unprecedented access to our celebrity team owners and pilots. The decision to offer free-to-air coverage with our partners at TV Arena is to make the E1 Championship as accessible as possible as we plan to bring future events to the region.”

Nebojša Žugić, CEO TV Arena sport, added: “Our partnership with E1 is clear evidence of the scale of our ambition to bring the finest, fastest, and most exciting sport content to the regional market and establish Arena Sport brand as the top content provider in this part of Europe”

About the UIM E1 World Championship:  

E1 is the world’s first and only all-electric raceboat championship sanctioned by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), which is the international governing body for all powerboating activities.

The championship will see up to 10 teams and 20 mixed gender pilots racing on the water in iconic cities around the world, with the US due to host a race in Season 2. The E1 pilots will navigate tight and technical circuits behind the wheel of the electric E1 raceboats.