NASCAR is about to get bigger. This week, the organization announced it has reached a new seven-year media rights contract for the NASCAR Cup Series with four broadcast partners. NASCAR will continue its relationship with Fox Sports and NBC Sports but has also added TNT Sports and Amazon’s Prime Video. According to the Sports Business Journal, the new media rights deal is worth a total of $7.7 billion. The deal starts in 2025 and will run through 2031.
Fox Sports will carry 14 NASCAR Cup Series races including the Daytona 500 and All-Star Race. NBC Sports will also air 14 races on its networks, including the Cup Series Championship Race. TNT Sports and Prime Video will evenly split 10 midseason races and will also air practice and qualifying sessions. For TNT sports, the races will be shown on TNT, Bleacher Report and Max.
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“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,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said in a statement. “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 on broadcast, cable or direct-to-consumer. With the talented young drivers, exciting new teams and record-breaking racing 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.”
“These agreements not only show 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,” Brian Herbst, NASCAR’s senior vice president, media and productions, said in a statement. “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.” NASCAR just finished its 2023 season, and Ryan Blaney won the Cup Series championship for the first time in his career.
