2020 Summer Lovin'

The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship confirmed its looking into a summer calendar move that could be adopted as early as 2020. We look at the pros and cons of the radical proposal.

A Supercars move from a winter to summer schedule has been discussed for some time, but it’s only recently that the category itself has acknowledged it could be a possibility.

With the current television deal expiring at the end of 2020, a change to a September to May schedule could be on the cards. These are the pros and cons of a summer move:

PROS

ADELAIDE FINALE

Inverting the calendar will still give Supercars a marquee street circuit event in the Adelaide 500. The Adelaide street circuit hosted the Formula 1 season finale from 1985 to 1995 and would be a worthy place for the championship decider. A move from its current early March date into April or May would also move the event away from Adelaide’s arts festivals, which have increasingly encroached on the Adelaide 500 in recent years.

MOVE AWAY FROM AFL/NRL

The biggest motivator for a switch to summer is getting Supercars away from the dominant football codes, the AFL and NRL, who dominate the headlines and sporting fans’ interests in winter. Codes such as the A-League and NBL have had success in summer and Supercars could do the same.

CONDENSE CALENDAR