NBC Sports is back in the NASCAR business — and for the long haul.
The NBC Sports Group has reached a ten-year deal with NASCAR to carry 20 Sprint Cup and 19 Nationwide Series races per season, the parties announced Tuesday. The deal starts after next season and will run through 2024.
NBC has acquired the rights to the full ESPN Sprint Cup package and half of TNT’s “Summer Series” schedule. The remaining half of the TNT package will remain up for bid, according to Sports Business Daily.
Under the new deal, the NBC broadcast network will televise seven of the 20 races, with the remaining 13 on NBC Sports Network. NBC will also carry four of the 19 Nationwide Series races. Even with most of the races on cable, NBC will still televise over twice-as-many Sprint Cup races as ABC (3).
Among the NBC telecasts will be the final race of the season (currently the Ford 400). The season finale has aired on ESPN the past three years.
The addition of Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series coverage is a boon to the NBC Sports Network, which other than the NHL is short on live sports programming. It may be less of a boon for NASCAR, as NBCSN is currently in over 20 million fewer TV homes than ESPN.
The new deal marks the first time since 2006 that NBC has televised NASCAR coverage. It will also mark the first time since 2006 that ESPN has been shut out of NASCAR TV — barring an extremely unlikely bid on the remaining inventory. In a statement Tuesday, ESPN president John Skipper said the company “will continue to serve NASCAR fans through SportsCenter and our other news platforms” (ESPN, 7/23).
This Sunday marks the start of two straight lame duck seasons for NASCAR on ESPN. Skipper said that ESPN “will continue” its “deep commitment to the highest quality coverage.”
(Tue. news from NBC Sports Group, NASCAR, ESPN Media Zone; Nielsen cable distribution from Sports Business Daily)
