FIA Believes it Finally Has a 2012 TV Deal for WRC. Should We Care?

The FIA thinks that it is finally close to an international television deal for the WRC for 2012. Granted, it is a little late, given that the WRC already has two rounds under its belt for this season. 

A deal seems imminent, although with whom is still unknown. The FIA has told the individual rallies to stop negotiating individual television contracts.

"The television should be okay. I can't go to details, but we are working to the plans to have central distribution - we should come out with these plans in the next few days. Our aim is to plan and find a system very quickly for the central distribution of footage," said Jarmo Mahonen. 

The WRC was still lacking television promotion for this season because Vladimir Antonov was arrested on fraud charges linked to a failed Lithuanian bank. Antonov operated Convers Sports Initiatives that had the promotion deal for the WRC. After Antonov's arrest his company went into receivership, and its WRC promotion contract was not fulfilled. The FIA had then looked for a television deal from Eurosport, but it fell through as well. For the Monte Carlo and Sweden rallies, the FIA has made the individual events find their own promotion. 

For the time being, if you are interested following the WRC via video, check out Best of Rally Live on Youtube. It is owned by Michelin, and although there is some delay, it is the most reliable way to view WRC footage for right now. 

The real question that should be considered is if there should even be a WRC season this year. The season is already two events in, and there is still no real TV deal. Also there are just three factory teams in the WRC this season. Would it be better to cancel the rest of the season to allow the WRC to find a quality television deal and give Volkswagen time to enter the series next season? 

Source: Autosport