ESPN+ Getting Into Live Car Auctions With Mecum

Mecum Auctions is driving to a new home. 

The live automobile auction platform is moving from Warner Bros. Discovery’s Motor Trend network to ESPN+, the company confirmed to Front Office Sports. 

The multiyear deal kicks off Thursday for three days of auctions in Glendale, Ariz., and will encompass all 11 of Mecum’s annual live events and more than 180 hours of content. 

Mecum has been televised since 2008, starting on Discovery HD Theater, which later rebranded as Velocity. In 2014, the auctions landed on NBC Sports Network.

“The thought was we needed to expose the collector car hobby and Mecum Auctions to more than just the traditional hardcore car enthusiasts, to bring new eyeballs to what we do,” Mecum CEO Dave Magers told FOS. 

“That worked very well for us until NBC Sports no longer existed, and we went to Motor Trend, back to the traditional car audience, always thinking that we would relish the idea to go back to a more broadened sports network. Of course, when you start talking about sports, the No. 1 name that comes up is the ESPN family. The other thing we’re very excited about is providing our auctions on what we think is the future of broadcasting—streaming.” 

Magers expects about $800 million in car sales at Mecum’s auctions this year. The biggest annual event is in January in Kissimmee, Fla., a 13-day event with $250 million in sales with more than 5,000 cars.

The auctions have a cult audience, and classic cars are starting to encompass the 1990s and 2000s, as millennials come into money and are interested in purchasing symbols of their youth.

One high-profile example came last year when Mecum held an auction in Indianapolis. Live on his ESPN show, Pat McAfee bought a 2002 Cadillac Escalade for $21,000, and he gifted it to one of his producers. 

“About three years ago, we started to see a younger demographic showing up at our auctions—the 25-to-35 group,” Magers said. “We believe that the demographic on ESPN+ will broaden the base, so it won’t just be the older traditional car collectors. What’s interesting about that younger demo is of course we’re all interested in the cars we grew up with, and the cars from 1990 to 2010 or so also interest them, but the younger generation is also very interested in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s American muscle cars.”

ESPN+ has about 25 million subscribers, many of whom have the platform in a bundle with Disney+ and Hulu.