NASCAR and FOX Sports announced Thursday an extension of the multi-platform, multi-series media rights agreement that had been originally announced last October. The deal, which had previously been slated to run through 2022, will now start in 2015 and last until 2024.
In addition, FOX Sports picked up three additional NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events and the first 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series events of each season. FOX Sports secured exclusive rights to the entire NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season through 2022 last fall and that part of the agreement also has been extended through 2024.
Thursday’s announcement comes a week after NASCAR and NBC announced a 10-year deal that gave NBC Sports rights to broadcast the final 20 races of each NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the final 19 NASCAR Nationwide races through 2024.
According to the Associated Press, FOX and NBC combined will pay $8.2 billion for NASCAR TV rights from 2015 through 2024.
“FOX Sports has been an outstanding partner for NASCAR and we could not be more pleased with the additional commitment they are making to our sport and the fans,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France. “FOX Sports has delivered for our fans a number of innovations that have changed how our sport is presented, and our entire industry has now come to expect excellence from NASCAR on FOX. We believe this new agreement underscores our shared commitment to the fans over the next decade.”
NASCAR’s media rights package for 2015 and beyond is now complete with FOX Sports holding rights to the first 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, first 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series races and entire NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. NBC, which last broadcast NASCAR events in 2006, will televise the final 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, final 19 NASCAR Nationwide Series races and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events beginning in 2015.
In total, NASCAR will have the same number of NASCAR Sprint Cup races on network television — 16 — as it does in the current television package. FOX Sports will broadcast nine races and NBC will show seven.
“FOX Sports is now the exclusive home of NASCAR, the most popular racing series in America, for the first five months of every season through 2024,” said FOX Sports Co-Presidents and COOs Randy Freer and Eric Shanks. “The NASCAR Nationwide Series is second only to NASCAR Sprint Cup as the most-watched form of auto racing in the country. FOX Sports now owns the sport every weekend from Speedweeks and the Daytona 500 through June, and we expect these events to provide significant viewership for FOX Sports 1. The addition of Nationwide to the 1,100 hours of original motorsports programming already scheduled clearly puts FOX Sports at the front of the race to serve motorsports fans in the U.S.”
“We obviously are excited to extend our relationship with FOX Sports with a good balance of racing on the FOX Network,” said NASCAR VP of Broadcasting and Productions Steve Herbst. “NASCAR on FOX has been very popular with NASCAR fans everywhere and we believe its expanded schedule will strengthen its relationship with the fans and provide the sport with many opportunities to cross-promote and grow our combined audiences.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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