The motorsport season is officially back and fans can rejoice. Not counting the IMSA Series, NASCAR was among the first series to kick off. Of course, every motorsport needs an official broadcaster to bring it to the fans who cannot be there at the tracks, physically. For NASCAR, it has inked a media rights deal with multiple platforms, and one of them is FOX Sports.

Apparently, the American media giant is aiming to be the new home of Motorsports in America. Aside from NASCAR, IndyCar is also part of this umbrella, and according to the latest news, they just signed a deal with MotoGP too! Initially, there were advanced discussions between the two parties about licensing its U.S. media rights from 2025 onwards. This bodes well for new owners Liberty Media to help grow the sport in the U.S.

Ahead of the season-opening race weekend in Thailand, they nearly left it to the 11th hour to make the announcement. Last year, MotoGP broadcast switched from NBC Sports to TNT Sports in order to air races live on American TV. Back when NBC had the rights, they would show the races on tape delay, so the TNT switch was a godsend.

Although MotoGP is owned by Dorna, Liberty Media planned to buy a controlling 86% stake in the company. The price of the stake was reportedly set at $4.5 billion, though European antitrust regulators are evaluating the situation. So for the moment, Dorna still owns MotoGP, heading into the new season.

Apparently, Liberty Media had to stave off still competition from the likes of TKO Group Holdings. The American company clearly saw potential in the premier motorcycle racing series. Just like how Liberty Media has helped F1 grow in popularity, they felt that they could do the same to MotoGP.

In the meantime, FOX Sports wanted the honor of being able to broadcast the races to American audiences. What will be the lucrative factor is the presence of American team, Trackhouse Racing, who field Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura. This will be the team’s second season in the sport, since making its debut last year in MotoGP, with Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira.

MotoGP and NASCAR have a major connection

Speaking of Trackhouse Racing, they also field a team in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team already runs three full-time cars with Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Shane van Gisbergen. Additionally, the organization runs two part-time cars with Connor Zilisch and Helio Castroneves behind the wheel.

What’s actually interesting is that FOX Sports wanted Formula One as part of its umbrella. Unfortunately the bid fell flat and ESPN bagged the rights to broadcast in the United States. Now, the Fox and MotoGP deal will see all 22 MotoGP races and sprint races broadcast live on FS1 and FS2. Even better, the races will also be broadcast on the FOX Sports app.

Admittedly, one slight drawback is that there has been no mention of the support classes, Moto2, Moto3 or MotoE. Frankly, all four of them are supposed to be a package deal, but there has been no indication that this is the case with FOX. Now, the season is expected to kick off this weekend at Thailand, as the battle begins afresh. Sadly, reigning champion Jorge Martin will be absent for the first couple of races, due to injury. However, the big draw has to be Marc Marque, who will be on the factory Ducati for the first time in his career.