Dale Earnhardt Jr. is reportedly leaving NBC after five years and heading to NASCAR’s two new broadcast partners, Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Athletic reported Thursday that Earnhardt Jr. has informed NBC of his decision to leave the network and move to new NASCAR broadcasters Amazon and WBD when they begin airing the sport next year. Earnhardt, who joined NBC in 2018, plans to take this season off.
Earnhardt had been public about his contract, which expired prior to this season, and his desire to return to NBC.
Amazon and WBD have rights to a combined ten Cup Series races per year — five each — starting next season. Amazon races will stream on Prime Video and WBD races will air on TNT and the streaming service Max. The entities also own rights to nearly all of the NASCAR practice and qualifying sessions.
For WBD in particular, the arrival of Earnhardt Jr. marks the addition of yet another all-time great to join the ranks of Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Pedro Martinez and Wayne Gretzky.
For NBC, the end of the Dale Jr. era leaves the company without by far its best-known NASCAR broadcaster. As is common for NBC analysts, Earnhardt was not just used on his primary sport but also plugged into NBC’s various other events, from the Olympics to the Super Bowl to the Kentucky Derby.
There are few possible replacements with anything close to Earnhardt’s high profile, as the recently retired Kevin Harvick joined Fox in the offseason.
