Race fans from coast-to-coast with DIRECTV or DISH Network will find the races broadcast on Comcast Sports Net West (CSN West) and MASN (Mid Atlantic Sports Net), both a part of their sports paks. In addition to national coverage, the races will be broadcast regionally on Time Warner Sports Net, LoneStar Sports Net, Comcast 900 Sports, MavTV, AmericaOne Network, and AMGTV. Each race will have multiple broadcasts. Additional channels may be added as the season progresses.

In what is believed to be a first for a professional series the races will also be available online via a dedicated youtube.com channel -- search for “MX-5 Cup”. Each race will be available on demand.

The broadcast team will be led by veteran Rick Benjamin. The analyst will be Hall of Fame racer Elliott Forbes-Robinson, aka “EFR”. EFR is still very much hands-on and lapped with the MX-5 racers in a Road Atlanta practice session. Pit reporters will be a rotation of Derek Pernesiglio, Todd Lewis, and Rod Albright. Joe Ligon & Tom Gee will produce the shows. All have extensive motorsports backgrounds and know their way around a racetrack.

Quotes:

Jim Jordan, Alternative Marketing Manager, Mazda North American Operations: “In just two years, the MX-5 Cup has established a reputation for great racing, extremely close action, with a minimum of yellow flag time. To better showcase the races, and allow for more feature stories we have stepped up our TV package to a full one-hour program per race. Airtimes will vary by region but will reach over 53 million households when the first race airs this week. When we asked our racers, and our fans what they most wanted to see changed for 2008, the number one answer was show the complete race, and the 60 minute format will allow for that. We are also pleased to have new partners like Playboy and LifeLock joining Mazda and Kumho for the broadcasts.”

Rick Benjamin, Carolinas Production Group/Visioncast: "I'm excited our company has the opportunity to take this outstanding motorsports series and add major elements of creativity and production value to its broadcast coverage. We've been able to work with a terrific platform created by Mazda and its partners in the MX-5 Cup series and create coverage for this series that I think will help it become an even bigger factor in professional racing. EFR is an old friend whom I had the pleasure of working with on Trans Am and World Challenge coverage on ESPN a few years ago and it's a treat to be able to bring a world-class driver like Elliott to this project for his valuable insights. Our pit reporters are all strong pros who know the sport and are bringing fans inside the paddock like never before with the MX-5 Cup. We've been able to put together a network-level broadcast crew to cover the series, and I think fans and stakeholders in the championship will be pleased with what they'll see this season and beyond."

Elliott Forbes-Robinson: “I had never driven an MX-5 Miata before and was impressed with the brakes and handling of the car, when I took a few laps at Road Atlanta. It really is a ball to drive and considering that it is almost stock it really performs great. After watching the first race of the year at the Mitty weekend I could tell that the series has quite a few drivers that do a really good job of racing. The qualifying and the racing is very close and the drivers were not making crazy moves and raced well together. The race was fantastic and I am looking forward to working with Rick Benjamin on the rest of the races in 2008.”-Ford