NASCAR and NBC Sports Group announced Tuesday that they have reached agreement to have broadcasts of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series return to the network and its affiliates beginning in 2015.
The deal also gives NBC Sports exclusive broadcast rights to NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events from 2015 through 2024.
Financial terms of the agreement were not revealed.
It means NBC and Fox will share broadcast rights to the Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2015 and ESPN and TNT will no longer be part of televising NASCAR events.
NBC will have rights to broadcast the final 20 Sprint Cup events annually over the duration of the agreement. That includes the Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship, NASCAR’s pseudo-postseason involving the final 10 Sprint Cup events each year.
Thirteen of the 20 events will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network and seven will be carried on NBC.
NBC will also air 19 Nationwide Series events annually, with 15 airing on NBC Sports Network and four on NBC.
“NBC is known for being an exceptional partner and delivering outstanding production quality and presentation of live sports, as well as its broad portfolio of broadcast and digital properties so we are thrilled with the commitment they have made to NASCAR and its future,” NASCAR Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brian France said in a release. “We know this partnership will yield great value to our entire industry, provide a premium experience to our most important stakeholders, the fans, and help us achieve a number of strategic growth objectives. Our new partnership with NBC and the recent extension by FOX validate the strength of our fan base and the many bold steps we have taken the last several years to provide fans with better, more accessible racing.”
The deal also gives NBC exclusive broadcast rights to not only the Whelen Modified Tour, but also the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, the Mexican based NASCAR Toyota Series and also NASCAR’s Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and postseason banquets.
“Acquiring the rights and bringing NASCAR back to NBC comes at an important point in time for NBC Sports Network, NBC, and all of our distributors and affiliates,” NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus said. “We look forward to working with Brian and his management team, who have brought a renewed focus to NASCAR’s intersection of sports and technology.”
Fox Sports announced a contract extension with NASCAR last fall that runs from 2015-2022 and includes the broadcast of 13 Sprint Cup events annually among other things. ESPN officials confirmed Tuesday that they will no longer be in the mix of NASCAR broadcasts following the 2014 season.
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Hopin to see some Modified races on tv!
Whoa…
Many have noted that just because a network has rights to a series (Modified), doesn’t mean that they utilize those rights. I can’t recall what the figure was several years ago; however, every time a network decided to utilize their “rights” to broadcast a modified race, they then had to shell out many thousands to NASCAR— even though they already had the ‘rights’…