Start your engines: Stuff, Toyota NZ and NextGen partner to broadcast live and free summer of motorsport

Stuff Group is partnering with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, Toyota New Zealand and the NextGen New Zealand Championship to bring Kiwis live, free and multichannel coverage of motorsport’s Premier New Zealand Motorsport Championship starting on November 22.

A bespoke motorsport hub on stuff.co.nz - SpeedHub - will provide Kiwis live racing, on-demand race replays, highlight packages as well as interviews and profiles of the Championship’s key personalities. Warner Bros. Discovery’s CRC Motorsport programme will also air the highlights of the events on Three and ThreeNow.

It comes off the back of Stuff Group and Toyota NZ’s highly successful America’s Cup media partnership with WBD and Team New Zealand where, as an official broadcaster, Stuff delivered more than 12.4 million minutes of video views on the country’s number one news site stuff.co.nz.

Stuff Digital Managing Director Nadia Tolich says the partnership will make motorsport entertainment more accessible to more Kiwis than ever before.

“The SpeedHub on Stuff will be a live, free and multichannel motorsport experience that Kiwis can’t get anywhere else. No matter when, where or on what device people want to watch, they’ll get rich and comprehensive coverage of the action both on and off the track.

“Kiwis love our live and lively approach to covering the sport they love. We’ve proven ourselves to be market leaders in innovative sport broadcasting, delivering huge audiences for the Fifa Women’s World Cup, the Rugby World Cup and most recently all the excitement from the America’s Cup in Barcelona. We’ll be taking all that experience to deliver exceptional coverage of the NextGen Championship.”

NextGen NZ Championship Chief Executive Josie Spillane says the partnership and Championship are setting the stage for building the next generation of champions, and passionate motorsport fans.

“Our vision for NextGen is to be sustainable, innovative and surprising. We know that motorsport can captivate and engage New Zealanders, and to realise this potential we must transform our broadcast from not only delivering great racing action, but also storytelling.

“Our partnership with Stuff, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing and Toyota New Zealand to create SpeedHub is pivotal, making motorsport more accessible and bringing the excitement directly into the digital realm where the majority of New Zealanders consume their content. The team at Stuff is at the forefront of adapting to the dynamic media landscape, delivering precisely what consumers are increasingly demanding.”

Andrew Davis, Vice President - Mobility Group at Toyota New Zealand says: “We are always on the lookout for the next World Champion and the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Championships (Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Championship and Bridgestone GR86 Championship) are the perfect platforms to do that. Liam Lawson is our most recent example of this - being picked up by Red Bull F1 Team when racing in the Toyota Racing Series just a few years ago.

Davis says partnering with Stuff to make the Motorsport Series more accessible to Kiwis is another way of Toyota NZ showing the importance of supporting sport and communities.

“We brought the America’s Cup to more New Zealanders through our Stuff experience hub, and now we’re doing the same for motorsport. Toyota NZ wants to make it easier for Kiwis to support fellow Kiwis perform on the world stage - this is one way we can do that,” he says.

Jaana Collins, Stuff Director of Agency Markets, says the advertising packages available for SpeedHub offer an unrivalled opportunity for brands to connect with passionate Kiwi car lovers.

“Research shows there are around 1.4 million Kiwis who are passionate motorsport fans, and across the Stuff ecosystem we already reach 78% of them*. Unlike traditional linear sport broadcasting, racing on Stuff won’t be ‘one and done’. With on-demand replays, highlights videos and multimedia off-track content, our commercial partners will have more opportunities to connect with more Kiwis in more ways.”

Stuff Motoring Editor Matthew Hansen will lead editorial coverage on the SpeedHub.

“NextGen could be where the next Liam Lawson gets their start, so it’s awesome to be leading Stuff’s coverage,” says Hansen. “I’ll be breaking down the sport for first-time viewers and sharing up-to-the-minute news and insights for the diehards. I can’t wait to see those starting lights go green!”

Round 1 of the NextGen NZ Championship begins on Friday November 22, with racing continuing through January and February, and culminating in the Dayle ITM Grand Finale in late-March 2025.

*Source: Nielsen CMI Q3 23 - Q2 24 Aug 24 fused