NASCAR credits the Chicago Street Race for the massive streaming deal with Amazon and Warner Bros
The NASCAR Chicago Street Race was one of the most viewed events in the 2023 season.
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2023 Chicago Street Race (Via IMAGO)
Ahead of the 2023 NASCAR Awards, it was announced that the sanctioning body has signed a new media rights deal with partners. Along with the current broadcasters NBC and Fox they also signed a streaming deal with Amazon and a similar deal with Warner Bros. The deal is worth $7.7 billion and is spread over seven years.
NASCAR President Steve Phelps sees the inaugural Chicago Street Race as one of the primary reasons why the new deal was made possible, where the streaming partners will broadcast five races each in the mid-season and will share steaming of all the qualifying and practice sessions. Phelps revealed that he was told the streaming partners joined them seeing the right direction the sport has done, such as the street race.
I honestly believe two of our new partners (Amazon and Warner Bros.) are on board because of the direction the sport is gone, and one of those things is the Chicago Street Race. I know that because I was told that.Phelps told The Athletic.
Chicago was a successful event in terms of views and the media limelight it had. It also marked the rise of a new international NASCAR star Shane van Gisbergen. The three-time Australian Supercars champion won the street race while racing for Trackhouse’s Project 91 and is set to join NASCAR in the 2024 season.
NASCAR sees the Chicago Street Race’s success as a testament to their commitment
Phelps before discussing the race while giving the streaming right verdict, pointed out that the sanctioning body had to overcome a lot of difficulties during the race weekend. The unforeseen rain and the delay it caused demanded a lot of effort from NASCAR to have a successful event, and in terms of racing, they were able to deliver it.
At the end of the Chicago Street Race, based on all the adversity we had faced that weekend and really the importance of that race, to have people think differently about our sport and continued commitment to the kind of surprise and delight of fans, non-fans, the business community, and everybody.
Going to the 2024 season hosting a successful street race will be a challenge for NASCAR. It no longer has the surprise factor and fans will have certain expectations on the back of what they saw in the 2023 race. Hence facilitating an entertaining race weekend will be a priority for the sport.
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Justin P Joy
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