NASCAR reaches groundbreaking media rights deal that includes first-ever streaming-only races

NASCAR announced a massive $7.7 billion media rights deal that includes Fox Sports, NBC, Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon. 

The new media rights deal, which was announced on Wednesday, will begin in 2025 and run through the end of the 2031 NASCAR season. 

“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.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXBUSINESS.COM

“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.”

Sports Business Journal reports that the media rights deal will be worth $1.1 billion per year, which is up from the $820 million per year media rights deal NASCAR previously had in place. That will be expiring at the end of the 2024 season. 

ICONIC NASCAR ANNOUNCER KEN SQUIER DEAD AT 88

The Amazon Prime Video portion of the media rights deal is particularly fascinating because it will mark the first time NASCAR had a Cup Series event exclusively streamed. 

Prime Video has obviously been involved in live sports, with its most popular being the home of the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football.” The first-ever NFL Black Friday game was also just streamed exclusively on Prime Video this past week. 

The breakdown of the media rights deal begins with Fox Sports carrying the opening 14 races of the Cup Series each year, which includes the Daytona 500 in February. Then, Prime Video will take over five events on its platform, followed by TNT Sports getting five of its own. Finally, NBC Sports will carry the final 14 races of each season. 

“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,” senior vice president, media and productions, NASCAR, Brian Herbst, said in a statement. 

As for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, that will be carried exclusively on CW beginning in 2025.