BBC Brings Live WRC Coverage Back to the UK from 2027
The BBC has secured a three year agreement to show live stages from every WRC round in the United Kingdom from 2027 to 2029, including the Wolf Power Stage, one hour highlights programmes and extensive Rally Scotland coverage.
Photograph: WRC / Red Bull Content Pool- Agreement
- Three seasons · 2027 to 2029
- Coverage
- Selected live stages and the Wolf Power Stage from every round
- Highlights
- A 60 minute programme from every rally
- Platform
- BBC iPlayer plus digital clips across BBC platforms
- Rally Scotland
- Extensive live coverage across all four days
- Last BBC WRC coverage
- 2001
The World Rally Championship is returning to the BBC. A new three year agreement will bring live WRC stages to UK audiences from 2027 through to 2029, with the BBC’s Nations teams sharing the coverage across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The package is larger than a highlights return. The official WRC announcement confirms selected live stages, the Wolf Power Stage from every round, a 60 minute programme after each rally and digital clips across BBC platforms. BBC iPlayer will carry the coverage, giving rally fans a single free to view home for the live moments and the shape of each weekend.
A full championship, told through the Nations
The partnership will be delivered by BBC Scotland, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. That structure gives the deal a clear editorial identity. Rallying can move from snow and ice to gravel, asphalt and heat in one season, while the Nations teams bring local knowledge and a shared production operation to a championship that has often been scattered across subscription services and specialist platforms.
For viewers, the useful part is the rhythm. Every round will have a live stage to follow, a Power Stage to settle the final points and a highlights programme that can explain what happened across the longer days. The digital clips create another entry point for people who find the sport through a phone before they sit down for a full rally.
Rally Scotland gives the deal a home event
The agreement arrives as Rally Scotland prepares to join the WRC calendar in 2027. The Aberdeenshire based event will receive extensive live coverage across all four days, which gives the BBC a home rally with a distinct national identity and a large first season story to tell.
That home round can also help the wider championship. A British audience will have a direct reason to watch the opening ceremony, the stages and the final classification, while the rest of the calendar can show why the WRC travels. The sport’s variety becomes easier to understand when the coverage keeps the people, cars and roads in the same frame.
A return after more than two decades
The BBC last carried WRC coverage in 2001, the year Richard Burns became Britain’s most recent world champion. The new agreement therefore connects a historical memory with a modern media plan. iPlayer, digital clips and shared Nations production sit alongside the familiar appeal of a car disappearing into a forest at speed.
Éric Boullier, chief executive of WRC Promoter, described the partnership as part of a strategy to grow the championship’s reach and visibility in the United Kingdom. Rhuanedd Richards, Director of BBC Nations, called the series a natural fit for the broadcaster’s sports portfolio. The practical test will begin when the first live stage arrives in 2027.
ViPeople will keep the current 2026 WRC season on its existing official sources, including the Sardinia finale. The BBC agreement begins next year, though it changes the conversation now because it gives the championship a clear free to view route back into British living rooms.
