NASCAR signs historic $7.7 billion media rights deal with four broadcasting giants

NASCAR’s new contract will be enforced from 2025 and will last till the end of the 2031 season.

NASCAR signs historic $7.7 billion media rights deal with four broadcasting giants

Daytona International Speedway (Via IMAGO)

The NASCAR Cup series has signed a seven-year media rights deal with four media giants as part of the new broadcasting structure of the sport for the next seven years. Along with current partners Fox and NBC, from the 2025 season Amazon Prime and Warner Bros. Discovery will be part of the coverage.

As reported by SBJ, adding the $1.1 billion deal NASCAR, owned by the France family,  has signed with CW for the broadcast of the second division championship Xfinity Series, the current deal is worth $7.7 billion, which is $1.1 billion a year. In the last 10 years, NASCAR had a deal with Fox and NBC that saw the broadcasting the all three series in a $8.2 billion deal. The annual value of the new deal is 40% more than before.

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Fox Sports will telecast the first 14 races of the season, which includes the Clash at the Colosseum and the Daytona 500.  The next five races will be streamed by Amazon Prime, which is the first exclusive streaming partner of NASCAR. No cable services will be broadcasting NASCAR events during the time period.

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The first five races of the second half of the season will be streamed live by Warner Bros. Discovery via simulcast on TNT and streaming on the Max service. Then NBC will take over the last 14 races of the season, which includes the playoffs and Championship-4 race. Fox and NBC coverage will be done via the main channels as well as FS1 and USA Sports.

Amazon Prime and Warner Bros. Discovery have also struck another deal, that will see them broadcasting all the Cup Practice and Qualifying exclusively. Prime will cover the from the start of the season, other than Daytona 500 weekend, till the end of their five-race exclusive coverage. TNT will take over for the last 19 races. FS1 remains the exclusive broadcaster of the Truck Series.

NASCAR believes they have achieved long-term stability with the new deal

NASCAR President Steve Phelps has detailed the vision behind the new four media parties deal. He pointed out that, with the new deal they could grow the sport by delivering the product to fans wherever they are. They see this “optimized” mix of partners as a path to achieve long-term stability.

2023 Chicago Street Race (Via IMAGO)
2023 Chicago Street Race (Via IMAGO)
Our goal was to secure long-term stability with an optimized mix of distribution platforms and innovative partners that would allow us to grow the sport while delivering our product to fans wherever they are — and we‘ve achieved that today.
Phelps said, as reported by NASCAR.com.

While on first look, the new deal does seem a bit cluttered and too diversified for a regular fan, in the modern era, it is navigatable. After all, there was a time in the 80s and 90s for ASCAR when there were six media partners broadcasting different races. Streaming is the future and with the new deal, NASCAR seems to have found a balance between cable and streaming.

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