NASCAR to include streaming in new 7-year media rights deal that welcomes Amazon, TNT and Max
Ryan Blaney, center right, receives the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Cup from NASCAR president Steve Phelps, center left, after winning it at Phoenix Raceway, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023, in Avondale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
NASHVILLE, Tenn, (AP) — NASCAR has added two new partners and streaming elements to a seven-year media rights deal announced Wednesday that will run from 2025 through the 2031 season.
The new media rights deal is worth $7.7 billion when the previously announced $1.1 billion agreement with CW is included, according to Sports Business Journal. NASCAR did not reveal monetary figures at the news conference held at the Music City Center one day before its season-ending awards ceremony.
The Cup Series will include existing partners Fox Sports and NBC, which will feature a mix of broadcast and cable events. Five races will be on Fox and four on NBC, with the remaining races for those two partners to air on FS1 and USA Network.
Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon have also joined the new package. SBJ said the value of the new deal is a 40% increase over the 10-year, $8.2 billion deal NASCAR has with Fox and NBC that expires at the end of the 2024 season.
“We are super excited about what 2025 is going to bring to us because of where the distribution that we now have across air, which is a combination of obviously broadcast, cable and streaming,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said. “We want to meet race fans where they are or potentially where they are. We think this group does exactly that for us.”
The announcement ends a prolonged negotiating period for NASCAR as it tried to lock down a new media deal before the start of the 2024 season, the final year of the existing package.
“Our industry comes together better than any other sports property when there’s a mountain to climb,” Phelps said.
As part of the deals, Fox will get 14 Cup Series races annually in the first portion of the season, including the Daytona 500. Fox also retained the entire Truck Series schedule.
After the Fox portion of the Cup Series, the next five Cup races will be on Amazon Prime Video. It marks the first time in NASCAR history its top series will be exclusively streamed.
Warner Bros. Discovery will take over after Amazon’s races and carry the next five races. Those will be simulcast on TNT and streamed on the Max service.
“This agreement expands our portfolio of premium sports content throughout the summer and further elevates Max and our leading linear networks,” said Luis Silberwasser, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports.
NBC Sports will complete the season with the final 14 races.
Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon also both obtained exclusive rights to practice and qualifying sessions for the entire Cup Series schedule through 2031. Prime Video will stream practice and qualifying live for the first half of the season through their last race of the midseason series — except for the exhibition Busch Light Clash, the Daytona 500 and NASCAR All-Star Race, which will be aired by FOX Sports.
TNT Sports’ portion will stream the remainder of the season’s practice and qualifying sessions on Max while they also air on truTV. NASCAR in July announced a deal to move the second-tier Xfinity Series to CW, which will air 33 live races from 2025 through 2031. The CW also will televise practice and qualifying events each weekend.
NASCAR’s previous media rights package gave the first 18 races to Fox while NBC aired 20 races.
“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,” Phelps said. “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. We’re looking forward to working with each of these partners to bring some of the best racing in the world to fans everywhere.”
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