The NASCAR authority finally let the cat out of the bag. With the teams and the drivers indulging themselves in the pre-awards ceremony in the Music city of Nashville, the authorities trumpeted their broadcasting plans for the next seven years, which will come into effect from the 2025 season onwards. The broadcasting deal amounts to a whopping $7.7 billion.

Moreover, the newly-inked deal is the perfect concoction of traditional and contemporary broadcasting services. For the first time, NASCAR races will be broadcast solely on online streaming platforms for 10 weeks mid-season. Let’s look at the intricacies of the new contract, dive deeper into the end-of-year banquet announcement, and find out how can one watch NASCAR races in 2025. 

NASCAR unveils its broadcasting schedule for the 2025 season

FOX has been a long-standing broadcasting partner of NASCAR and has televised races on its channel since 2001. Media giant NBC entered into the foray in 2014, and since then, the two media houses have split the broadcasting rights for the races between themselves. However, striving to march along with changing times, NASCAR is set to leap into the future without losing its traditional essence. This was apparent in the latest media deal, unveiled in Nashville, ahead of NASCAR’s annual Award Banquet. Here is what the new contract looks like and how NASCAR enthusiasts can watch the races.

Apart from FOX and NBC, NASCAR signed a 7-year agreement with Turner Sports and Amazon. FOX retains the broadcasting rights for telecasting 14 initial races of the season, including the Clash and the All-Stars-Race. This, in effect, means that it will broadcast 12 points-paying races, compared to the usual 16. NBC will broadcast the last 14 races, including the playoffs and the finale on its platforms. 

However, the 10 mid-season races would be divided between Amazon Prime and TNT. Jeff Bezos’s streaming platform would take over from FOX and showcase the next five races, following which, Warner Bros. Discovery would take up the baton and stream five races on TNT and B/R through HBO Max streaming service.

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Furthermore, as per the reports published in the Sports Business Journal, this 7-year agreement hinges on a whopping amount of $7.7 billion, which amounts to $1.1 billion per year. This marks a nearly 40% increase in NASCAR’s profits from the current $800 million/year deal. The profit would trickle down to the teams, in the form of prize money. 

The recent announcement has created a furor among NASCAR enthusiasts, as the sport tries to cater to the younger baseline audience and also pull out the teams from the ongoing sponsorship crisis.

NASCAR insiders gamble their hopes on the newly inked deal

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Speaking about the newly inked partnership, NASCAR’s president Steve Phelps expressed in the press interview, “If you think about the opportunity to really have broadcast, cable, and streaming, we think it’s an important thing for the next seven years. It signifies to the sports world, to the sponsors, to everyone, that NASCAR is clearly a Tier 1 property and a must-have property, and that’s what I think will be the over-arching message that will be signaled here.”

Echoing the same ideals, NASCAR’s SVP of Media and Production, Brian Herbst, iterated, “When we did this the last time in 2013, the media landscape was more stable and consistent. What was important for us now … is that we wanted some broadcast windows, and then also to be represented on the digital and streaming side. … It was important for us to be in front of a new fanbase that may skew a little bit younger.”

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With streaming giants making their entrance into the world of stock car racing, it will be a unique spectacle to witness what lies ahead for the sport. Will it be able to reclaim its glory and increase its viewership or will the deal blow up on its face?