Supercars has announced an exclusive partnership with Gfinity Esports Australia for the virtural Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.
Online racing simulation service iRacing will join the partnership for the second Supercars Eseries as the competition platform.
Supercars CEO Sean Seamer says the series will be an opportunity "to embrace and engage" with Supercars fan base and the esports community.
"The partnership with Gfinity will help engage a new generation of fans and offer a pathway for sim drivers to showcase their skills in our cars against our best teams and drivers,” Seamer says.
The e-series will be broadcast live and free across supercars.com and both Supercars and Gfinity AU social media channels, including live streaming platform Twitch.
The 2019 competition will see 12 teams compete including Supercars race teams and other teams representing "high-profile" consumer brands.
Gamers will be able to make the eseries grid by being selected to join one of the participating teams at the Gfinity Supercars Eseries open qualifiers.
Both Gfinity AU and Supercars plan to use the eseries to broaden their audience bases and diversify revenue across a non-traditional esports space.
Gfinity Esports Australia CEO Dominic Remond says the series will take its strategy to a "new level".
"Racing titles are exciting and easy to comprehend, with a significant crossover into real world motorsport," Remond says.
"It’s a unique opportunity for brands to engage both the massive existing audience in Supercars and rapidly growing esports community."
The 2019 Gfinity Supercars Eseries will consist of eight competition rounds commencing in August and running to the end of the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship season.
In 2018, Esports rapidly increased its presence in the Australian market, with two of the major radio networks, both Nova Entertainment and Australian Radio Network (ARN), stamping their place in the sector.
Last year, Nova entered into an exclusive strategic partnership with ESL, the world’s largest eSports company, while ARN continued its work with Gfinity Esports Australia.
Despite the growth, not all have been sold on the future of the sport, with Southern Cross Austereo CEO Grant Blackley previously labelling the Esports industry in Australia 'the wild west' in terms of securing rights and profitable deals.
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