NASCAR Renews Rights Deals With FOX, NBC; Embraces Streaming With New Prime Video, TNT Sports Agreements The four deals, covering 2025-31 Cup Series races, total $7.7 billion By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. Thursday, November 30, 2023 - 3:24 pm
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NASCAR is set to drop the green flag on a new era in 2025, after inking seven-year media-rights deals for the NASCAR Cup Series with FOX Sports, NBC Sports, Amazon's Prime Video, and TNT Sports (a division of Warner Bros. Discovery). The quartet of deals, covering all 38 NASCAR Cup Series races per year from 2025 through the 2031 season, are worth a total of $7.7 billion, according to Sports Business Journal. When it's combined with the previously announced CW agreement, NASCAR will reap $1.1 billion per year - up 40% from NASCAR's current deals.
FOX Sports and NBC Sports will continue to carry the majority of NASCAR Cup Series races with 14 events each. The FOX Sports portion of the Cup Series schedule - which kicks off the season with the Busch Light Clash followed by The Great American Race, the Daytona 500 - will also include live events for the entire NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. NBC Sports' coverage of the Cup Series will encompass the final 14 events of the season, including the Playoffs and Championship race. Both partners will feature a mix of broadcast and cable events, with five Cup events airing on FOX and four on NBC annually. The remaining events will air on FS1 and USA Network, respectively.
The NASCAR Cup Series will also welcome two new broadcast partners in 2025: Prime Video and TNT Sports will evenly split a series of 10 midseason races. Both have also obtained exclusive rights to practice and qualifying sessions for the entire Cup Series schedule through 2031. NASCAR's first fully direct-to-consumer partner, Prime Video will stream practice and qualifying live for the first half of the season through the last race of the midseason series, except the Busch Light Clash, Daytona 500, and NASCAR All-Star Race, which will remain with FOX Sports. TNT Sports will initiate its coverage with the next five midseason races simultaneously broadcast live on TNT and streaming on the B/R Sports Add-On on Max. Practice and qualifying for the remainder of the season will stream on Max and air on truTV.
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, says NASCAR President Steve Phelps. NASCAR has been a cornerstone property for both new and established platforms for several decades. These agreements demonstrate the staying power of our sport and the consistent, large-scale audience it delivers. This landmark deal underscores our collective growth opportunity to drive engagement across this diverse collection of platforms - whether broadcast, cable, or direct-to-consumer. With the talented young drivers, exciting new teams, and record-breaking racing that we've seen since the Next Gen car was introduced in 2022, we're looking forward to working with each of these partners to bring some of the best racing in the world to fans everywhere.
Says NASCAR SVP, Media and Productions, Brian Herbst, These agreements show not only NASCAR's importance to the sports and entertainment ecosystem but also the willingness of some of the world's largest and most respected media companies to make significant investments in America's leading motorsport. The media landscape is rapidly evolving, with new distribution platforms providing more options to the consumer than ever before. This is the right mix of media partners to promote and deliver content around our sport, positioning NASCAR for growth across different mediums and giving our fans uninterrupted access on the established platforms that they are already using. We are excited to work with this best-in-class group of media companies to deliver the best of NASCAR racing and the excitement of live sports to our fans.
FOX Sports: Clash, Daytona 500, and the First 14 Races Building on a successful relationship of more than two decades, FOX Sports and NASCAR have extended their multi-series agreement covering 14 NASCAR Cup Series races - including practice and qualifying for the Busch Light Clash, Daytona 500, and NASCAR All-Star Race - and exclusive rights for the entire 23-race NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule from 2025 through 2031. As in previous years, NASCAR Cup Series races will appear on both FOX and FS1 with all NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races on FS1.
We are proud to begin the next chapter of what will soon be a three-decade relationship with our friends at NASCAR, says FOX Sports CEO/Executive Producer Eric Shanks. As the continued home of the Daytona 500, we look forward to getting every season off to a roaring start.
Of the 14 races to be aired by FOX Sports, five will be on the FOX broadcast channel and the rest on FS1.
NBC Sports: Cup Series Championship Race and the Last 14 Races Continuing coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for an additional seven years, NBC Sports will air the final 14 races of the season, culminating with the Cup Series Championship Race. This multi-platform agreement will feature a mix of races and content on NBC, USA Network, and Peacock in 2025-31. NBC Sports digital platforms will live-stream all television coverage via authentication. Of the 14 races to be aired by NBC Sports, four will be on the NBC broadcast channel, and the rest will be on USA Network.
We are thrilled that the NASCAR champion will continue to be crowned on our platforms for years to come, says NBC Sports President Rick Cordella. Whether it's the unpredict
