With the Changing NASCAR Broadcast Landscape, Xfinity Series Could Enter a New Era Led by Its Sponsors

In the aftermath of NASCAR’s billion-dollar media rights deal that shook the racing community, there are more developments in the stock car racing world. One of the organization’s premier partners is nearing its contract with NASCAR and has shared its indecisiveness. But does this point out something massive in the making?

Well, as of now, we can’t be certain about anything. But, Comcast’s Xfinity telecommunications brand is in discussions with NASCAR over a new sponsorship deal that would start next year. On the contrary, it’s still possible that this could be the last year of the Xfinity Series entitlement as the official contract ends in 2024.

Comcast VP shares indecisiveness as the Xfinity Series plot thickens

Xfinity communications parent company, Comcast, announced a 10-year deal in 2014 to rebrand the then Nationwide Series to the Xfinity Series (mimicking the name of its traditional TV, internet, and phone business), for roughly $200M in total. During the same time, NBC Sports had just signed a contract with NASCAR for a whopping $4.4B media rights agreement that was also set to expire in 2024.

Now, as the contract reaches its final year, Comcast VP/Branded Partnerships & Activation Matt Lederer said that the company is actually looking to extend its program with NASCAR but it’s too early to confirm anything as negotiations are still in the process. According to Sports Business Journal, the executive said, “It’s a little too early for us to give a really good answer on that, but I would say that as we’ve learned the sport over the last 10 years, we’ve learned the ecosystem of NASCAR has a lot of tentacles and there’s a lot of ways to engage with the fanbase,” when asked if the Xfinity Series asset will be a necessity for a renewal.

He further added, “The Xfinity Series for us has been the gold star across all those areas, but it’s a little too early to say what a new deal would look like.” Even while Lederer says Xfinity’s key performance indicators like brand awareness and brand favorability have grown and have “never stopped growing” over the first nine years of the partnership, starting in 2025 NBC won’t air the Xfinity Series anymore, as the organization has signed a deal with Nexstar Media Group to have The CW air the entire secondary series season paying $115M a year. That means the synergy that is there now between NBC airing Xfinity Series races and Xfinity title sponsoring the series won’t be the same next year.

During his exclusive with SBJ, Lederer shared his optimism about the organization taking steps in the positive direction given the changing times and the developments in the racing industry.

Lederer “confident and optimistic” about NASCAR’s future

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Talking about NASCAR and Xfinity communications and its collaboration, the VP shared his thoughts about the stock car giant’s future and what the near future looks like for them. He said, “We’ve both had a strong relationship over the last 10 years and I’ve said it many times, it’s been an extremely beneficial partnership to our brand and business and a very valuable partnership for the business and brand of NASCAR.”

“We’re really confident and optimistic that NASCAR is doing all the right things to capitalize on all the changes going on within the racing industry as a whole, and we appreciate the changes that have been made over the last few years and the direction of the team and (NASCAR President) Steve (Phelps) to further engage fans, find new fans – that’s fantastic and we share that optimistic view,” said the Lederer.

READ MORE: Despite an Average Daytona 500 Turnout, NASCAR President Foresees a Promising Future for the Sport

With Xfinity executives showing so much confidence in the NASCAR management, could we see a deal happen soon?