The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) is delighted to announce that it will be partnering with Nine’s multi-platform media network as the new home to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race (RSHYR) for the first time in its 79-year history.
The multi-year deal will include live telecast of the Boxing Day Race Start on the Nine Network’s free-to-air television channel as well as building a dedicated presence on 9Now’s live stream and video on demand service – as a repository for the Race’s archival materials, pre-race interviews, Live Update shows, live streams, in-race content and race highlights packages.
The relationship was announced at ‘Nine Upfront 2025’ industry launch at Carriageworks in Sydney.
Michael Stephenson, Nine’s Chief Sales Officer and Managing Director – Local Markets, noted: “The Rolex Sydney Hobart is Australia’s summer sporting icon and we couldn’t be more excited to chart a new era for the race and its competitors through Nine’s huge storytelling ecosystem. It aligns perfectly with our portfolio of world class sporting events and we look forward to partnering with the CYCA, their team and sponsors to grow the footprint of this extraordinary event across Australia.”
After the unprecedented success of Nine’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and Paralympics, and its expertise in covering sporting events within Australia, the CYCA is excited at the prospect of partnering with Nine to share the many facets of the race and its competitors with audiences in new and innovative ways – across a broad stable of television, digital, press, magazine, radio and podcast assets.
Gordon Bray AM, who has covered the race as a commentator across a 50-plus-year time period, looks forward to returning to the role with Nine Network alongside “the voice of the Sydney Hobart”, CYCA Life Member Peter Shipway.
“My job is to support [Peter] and keep the excitement going and make sure everyone gets a real feel for what’s happening,” Bray said. “If we can put [the viewers] out on the water then we will have achieved what we set out to do.”
Listen to Gordon Bray and Peter Shipway tell the story of the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart, starting with the Boxing Day broadcast, live at 1230 hours AEDT on Channel Nine!
