NASCAR To Exclusively Stream Some Races In 2025

There was a time when the only way a NASCAR fan could follow a race when not at the track, was listening to an AM radio.

That ended in the 1980s as all the top-tier Cup series NASCAR races found homes first on various TV broadcast networks then on mix of broadcast and cable.

The next evolution of race broadcasts will happen starting in 2025 when 10 races of the 38-race season will be streamed on the internet, five of those exclusively. The move should come as no surprise as streaming content made up of primarily original programming along with live content has transformed the industry by allowing consumers to create their own entrainment experience. NASCAR will now provide its own live content to the space and join other professional sports leagues in the streaming space.

The streaming deals are part of the new media rights package for NASCAR’s Cup series that was finally announced Wednesday in Nashville where NASCAR is holding its season championship celebration.

The new package will see the return of both Fox Sports and NBC but adds Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon
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. The reported $7.7 billion deal is a 40% increase over the previous one which expires at the end of next season.

“NASCAR has been a cornerstone property for both new and established platforms for several decades,” NASCAR president Steve Phelps said. “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.”

Fox will air the first 14 NASCAR Cup series races of the season including the season opening Daytona 500. Amazon will then stream five races on its Prime Video platform with Warner Bros. Discovery streaming the next five as a simulcast on both TNT and the B/R Sports tier on the Max streaming service. NBC will then broadcast the final 14 races.

“The media landscape is rapidly evolving, with new distribution platforms providing more options to the consumer than ever before,” said NASCAR SVP/media & productions Brian Herbst. “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 on 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.”

For the Fox Sports part of the season five races will be broadcast on Fox with the remainder airing on cable on FS1. Of the 14 races carried by NBC Sports, four will be on NBC while the rest will be on that network’s cable channel the USA Network.

The biggest change to the first part of the season will be with practice and qualifying sessions in the Cup series. Except for the Clash exhibition, Daytona 500 and NASCAR All-Star Race exhibition, practice and qualifying sessions will be on Amazon Prime. In the second half of the season practice and qualifying sessions in Cup will stream on Warner Bros. Discovery Max but also air on cable on the company owned truTV network.

“We’re going to invest and put the resources of the company behind it to help grow the sport,” said Jay Marine, Amazon’s global head of sports. “If you look at what we’ve done with ‘Thursday Night Football’ in terms of delivering an audience that’s seven years younger, the unique reach we provide is going to be really helpful.”

The media rights deal for the Xfinity series was announced in July. The races in that series will be carried on the CW network starting in 2025. As for the Truck series, that deal keeps it on the Fox network until the end of the 2024 season.

In total five races will only be available on a streaming service, Amazon Prime.

“We’re going to invest and put the resources of the company behind it to help grow the sport,” said Jay Marine, Amazon’s global head of sports. “If you look at what we’ve done with ‘Thursday Night Football’ in terms of delivering an audience that’s seven years younger, the unique reach we provide is going to be really helpful.”

As part of the new deal NASCAR said it will work with each of the new entities to cross promote the sport on each network so fans will always know where to find the action.

While most older fans will be appalled at the move, for many, especially younger fans, streaming is a way of life and most know no other way to even watch TV.

In many ways it will be a brave new world for the sanctioning body. While some pre, and post-race coverage has been exclusive to the streaming space in recent years, the 10 races that will be streamed in 2025, five of those exclusively, will mark a first for NASCAR. And while those viewers who have “cut the cord” most likely already have subscriptions to the services that will broadcast the races, some of the older fans might be forced to pay a subscription fee to watch.

How many that will be is the question.

When the NASCAR TV rights were last negotiated in 2012 streaming technology was still in its relative infancy. By 2015 only 52% of households had at least one subscription service. Had NASCAR tried to exclusively stream even one race back then it most likely would have been met with quite the uproar. Currently, however, an estimate 83% of consumers have subscription services, and with another full year to go before the new deal kicks in, that percentage should only increase.

“This agreement expands our portfolio of premium sports content throughout the summer and further elevates Max and our leading linear networks,” said WBD Sports chair & CEO Luis Silberwasser. “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.”

All this means that 2025 should be the right time for NASCAR to try exclusively streaming some races. Whether there will be an uproar, or a mere whisper of discontent from some older fans remains to be seen. Either way it will be a far cry from listening to a race on AM radio, though that will still be available.

“For our fans, what they can expect moving forward is world-class production, distribution that is going to be the same in many cases, and new and others,” Phelps said. ”It is our job at NASCAR collectively as the stakeholders to bring more and more people into this great sport, and I think what we have just announced today is going to do exactly that.”