After months and months of negotiations, NASCAR has buttoned up its media rights agreement for 2025 and beyond, joining forces with Fox Sports, NBC, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Amazon to solidify a seven-year package from 2025 to 2031
Per Sports Business Journal, the agreement is valued at $7.7 billion, which leaves the average annual value of the deals – including the NASCAR Xfinity Series deal with The CW – at $1.1 billion per year, a 40% increase from NASCAR’s current agreement.
“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,” said 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 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.”
Fox Sports and NBC Sports – who currently hold the entirety of NASCAR’s media rights agreement that expires after 2024 – will return from 2025 to 2031, but in a slightly diminished capacity, with each network shrinking their share from 18 races to only 14.
“We are proud to begin the next chapter of what will soon be a three-decade relationship with our friends at NASCAR,” said FOX Sports CEO and Executive Producer Eric Shanks. “As the continued home of the DAYTONA 500, we look forward to getting every season off to a roaring start.”
After Fox Sports concludes its 14-race schedule, the NASCAR Cup Series will move into uncharted territory for the five weeks immediately after, with events being streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime.
“NASCAR is the most popular motorsport in the country, and we can’t wait to deliver Cup Series racing to Prime members in the U.S. for the first time,” said Jay Marine, vice president and global head of sports at Prime Video. “We are excited to find ways to get NASCAR fans closer to the racing than ever before, and we are proud to contribute to the growth of the sport in the years ahead.”
Then, before NBC Sports returns to broadcast the final 14 NASCAR Cup Series events of the year, the series will have five races simulcast on TNT, as well as the Bleacher Report Sports tier on (HBO) Max.
“We are thrilled to welcome NASCAR back to TNT Sports, and build on our rich, shared history of providing immersive fan experiences that only our world-class team can deliver,” said Luis Silberwasser, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports. “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 throughout the entire NASCAR season.”
Of the 14 races to be shown on Fox Sports, only five will be shown on the network’s broadcast channel, FOX, with the remaining nine events being shown on FS1. Similarly, only four of NBC Sports’ 14 events will be shown on NBC, with the other 10 being broadcast on USA Network.
However, one unique aspect to this upcoming media rights agreement, is that the sanctioning body managed to carve out a package of practice and qualifying sessions for the NASCAR Cup Series between Amazon Prime and Max.
Amazon Prime will be the home for practice and qualifying throughout the opening 19 events of the season (excluding the Busch Light Clash, Daytona 500, and All-Star Race, which will all remain with FOX), while Max will take the final 19 practice and qualifying sessions of the year.
“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,” said Senior Vice President, Media and Productions, NASCAR, Brian Herbst. “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 to 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.”
Starting in 2025, all practice, qualifying, and race events for the NASCAR Xfinity Series will be shown on The CW, meanwhile Fox Sports will retain its full-season coverage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as it has since 2015.
