Well, I guess NASCAR decided before next season they wanted to go ahead and get the TV deal squared away for the seasons that will follow the 2024 season. The decision is already grabbing tons of backlash from fans. Both good and bad backlash though. So, let’s talk about it a bit and discuss everything to know.
The Announcement
Yesterday NASCAR announced in Nashville before the championship week celebration started that they have secured a new TV deal starting in 2025. Which I found a bit surprising considering we had heard some rumblings that the Teams wanted more of a cut just last season. So I thought it might drag into this season a bit. Anyway, let’s cover the basics before we get into them too much detail-wise.
I’ll break it down a bit more simpler though so you don’t have to read as much. The first fourteen races will be broadcast on Fox. Then the next five races will be broadcast live on Prime. After that TNT/Max will have five races of their own to broadcast. Then to round out the season with the playoffs and crown a champion NBC will have the final fourteen races. Simple enough right? That’s not everything to know though.
Not So Fast
If you’re a die-hard fan like my dad for instance. Then I’m sure you tend to follow practice and qualifying as well. This is where the simplification gets lost a bit. If you want to watch those events. You will need to go ahead and get that Prime subscription early because the first half of the season’s practice and qualifying will be on Prime’s platforms. With the exceptions being the Clash, Daytona 500, and All-Star race which will still be broadcast on Fox.
So if you read that you’re probably thinking well what about the second half of the season’s qualifying and practice broadcasts? Well, those sessions will be aired on TNT’s Tru-Tv and simulcasted on the Max platform. So instead of having two companies covering everything each weekend. We will now have a total of two platforms each week to cover everything from start to finish except for the ten-race stretch in the middle of the season.
What About Xfinity and Truck Series Races?
Well, unfortunately, the Truck series will be staying with Fox for all of their races. I find this unfortunate because I don’t feel like the series gets a serious broadcast. That’s nothing against the Fox analyst I’m sure they are all nice people. Plus they do the best they can with the conditions they are provided. The race broadcasters should be on site for the race because then they can see everything.
As for the Xfinity Series, they are going to be moving to the CW Network. It was announced a few months back officially. I like this idea, not so sure I’m sold on CW Network as the best option but we shall see. I think the racing in the Xfinity Series over recent years has been some of the best in the world of motorsports. So for them to have their own channel will be kind of neat.
Is Everything to Know Good or Bad?
I think the answer to that question honestly is going to depend on who you ask. Mainly because opinions differ from person to person. The majority of opinions I’ve seen on social media have been more negative than positive. Now I have seen a few people who are for this deal moving the sport forward. I can play devil’s advocate for both opinions and that could be fun but no one wants to read that much back-and-forth word vomit.
Yes, the use of multiple streaming platforms to follow the different weeks is a bit annoying. Why not make it easier for new and old fans alike to find the sports weekly events? I hope that NASCAR itself may devote some resources toward its version of an NFL+ platform for NASCAR. While working through this deal.
either way though everything to know about this TV deal is a lot more basic though once you get the new schedule down. It all comes down to one thing. We have another eight guaranteed years of broadcasted NASCAR racing. When not too long ago there was speculation that it wasn’t long before the sport would die. So, something is still working whether some of the fans like it or not. What do you think though? Drop me a comment below!
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