Why did Amazon Prime sign a five-race streaming deal with NASCAR?

New NASCAR media rights deal is worth $1.1 billion a year.

Why did Amazon Prime sign a five-race streaming deal with NASCAR?

2023 Daytona 500 (Via IMAGO)

The premier stock car racing organization NASCAR has announced a new media rights deal worth $7.7 billion. Amazon Prime is one of the four media partners in the deal.  Current race broadcasters NBC and Fox will remain the main partners, while Prime and Warner Bros Discovery will join them as exclusive partners.

The deal combined with FS1’s exclusive NASCAR Truck Series deal and Xfinity Series’s CW deal will be worth $1.1 billion a year. It will be enforced after the 2024 NASCAR season and will last till the 2031 NASCAR season, marking seven years. With this deal prime goes down in history as the first-ever exclusive streaming partner of NASCAR, owned by the France family.

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They have the exclusive rights to stream, five races in the mid-season. Their tenure will start once Fox Sport completes the exclusive coverages of the first 14 races of the season. Once Prime is done Warner Bros Discovery will take over for five more races before NBC takeover over the last 14 races. Prime also has the exclusive broadcasting rights to the Practice and Qualifying session of the first 19 races.

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While talking about the NASCAR deal, Jay Marine, vice president and global head of sports at Prime Video pointed out that they are excited to be part of the streaming of the most popular motorsport in the US and their goal is to make fans closer to racing than ever before. He added that Prime is proud to be part of the sport’s growth. They see it as a premium tier-one sport that could help them move the needle. They see it as a valuable and innovative project for the platform and have plans for a new deal beyond 2031. 

Whar we really look for is premier tier-one sport that can move the needle for prime and NASCAR fits that. A sport taht has passionate fan base, large fan base, whrere the sport is a must watch for them. That is extremly valuble.
Marine said via NASCAR.com.

The streaming service deal is part of NASCAR’s initiatives to get the sport to new levels and get to fans who might not consume racing content via traditional sources such as cable TV. Many premier sporting series, such as the NFL, MLB, and more already have small streaming packages. It is expected to be the future of broadcasting and NASCAR is joining the party.

Warner Bros Discovery has huge plans for NASCAR

TNT Sport under the leadership of Warner Bros, has some big plans for NASCAR that are making a return after 10 years. They share a strong history, that lasted over 32 years before it came to an end in 2014. The new five-race deal will mark NASCAR’s return to the platform. They will telecast five races along with the Practice and Qualifying sessions of the last 19 races via Max and truTV.

2023 Chicago Street Race (Via IMAGO)
2023 Chicago Street Race (Via IMAGO)

Bleacher Report will also play a significant role in the scene as they will share NASCAR content via their platform and social media. Luis Silberwasser, Chairman and CEO, of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, while detailing their broadcasting plans, pointed out that they will utilize their vast resources to give fans a great experience with strong storytelling.

This agreement expands our portfolio of premium sports content throughout the summer and further elevates Max and our leading linear networks. We look forward to utilizing all of our resources to create new opportunities for compelling storytelling that connects with our fans, as we present the thrilling action and excitement on the track in innovative ways…

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