L'Equipe: a new broadcaster for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA WEC
With the ninth season of the FIA WEC due to kick off on 1 May at Spa-Francorchamps, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and L’Equipe are delighted to announce a new three-year free-to-air broadcast agreement for the WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Motorsport fans can enjoy maximum coverage of the World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for the next three seasons (2021-23) thanks to this new agreement. With the introduction of the Hypercar class this season and the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota, Audi, Glickenhaus and Peugeot set to enter the fray by 2023, the track action promises to be even more thrilling than ever.
As the official broadcaster of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, L’Equipe will be boosted by the exposure the world’s greatest endurance race offers, with 100 million TV viewers and over 250,000 spectators at the track for the 87th staging of the event in 2019.
Meanwhile, the ACO will benefit from all the might of France’s leading sports media group with its TV channel, newspaper and magazine, plus its website that draws 3 million single visitors a day.
Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest: “This new agreement between the ACO and L’Equipe is wonderful news for our sport. Teaming up with the prestigious group means a great boost all round for Endurance racing. The channel will partner our discipline at a key time, with the arrival of the Hypercars and the 24 Hours of Le Mans centenary just around the corner. These are events that will go down in the motor racing history. I’m delighted that the World Endurance Championship will get the high-quality media coverage it deserves in France.”
Laurent Prud’homme, CEO of the L’Equipe media group: “The L’Equipe brand is a benchmark in the world of sport and is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. L’Equipe is now a newspaper, a magazine, a website, an application, a TV channel and social media. Its top-notch content and the expertise of its journalists and consultants have established it as one of France’s favourite brands. We want everyone to find what they want with L’Equipe, to be kept up-to-date by our journalists, and to be entertained by our free or paid written, video and audio content. Take the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for example – you will be able to watch the race on our channel but also keep up with the iconic race across all our media. From now on, L’Equipe aims to be a global, go-to brand with multiple entry points reaching as wide an audience as possible.”
Jean Todt, FIA President: “This year marks the dawn of the new era of the FIA World Endurance Championship with the debut of the Hypercar category. I’m pleased that the 24 Hours of Le Mans and also the whole FIA WEC season will be broadcast free to air by L’Equipe TV. This new partnership will help to enlarge the audience of one of the most prestigious races in the world and this racing series.”
Frédéric Lequien, CEO of the WEC: "It is fantastic news that the FIA World Endurance Championship and Le Mans will be televised on L’Equipe. With growing interest in the WEC following the news that several global manufacturers will join for the new Hypercar era, it is incredibly important that we have as many eyeballs watching as possible. L’Equipe’s impressive household reach can certainly help us achieve this goal in France. I sincerely want to thank the Amaury group for their strong commitment with us."
