The clock has started ticking on NASCAR’s new media rights deal, as the racing circuit started talks to renew its deals with Fox and NBC.
The two incumbent broadcasters are at the start of an exclusive negotiating window that runs through April, according to several sources. The most optimistic timeline has NASCAR completing its deals by the fall.
Though negotiations are in the early days, they appear to be progressing smoothly. Fox and NBC executives have expressed their desire to keep NASCAR rights. And NASCAR executives are keen to remain on broadcast television with their two partners.
Even with that as a backdrop, several sources expect the exclusive negotiating window to end without a deal. That’s because NASCAR also is looking into the possibility of creating a third package that it could sell to one of the deep-pocketed streaming companies.
Sources say Amazon is likely to be the most aggressive streamer to pursue NASCAR rights. It appears unlikely that NASCAR would carve out a package of Cup Series races for a streaming company, given the need to provide the broadest reach for sponsors aligned with those races and the teams that compete in them.
Other media companies, including Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, are likely to kick the tires on potential deals with NASCAR. But sources describe them as unlikely to get into serious negotiations for NASCAR rights this time around.
Fox and NBC signed deals in 2013 worth an average of $820 million per year combined. Those deals run through 2024.
Given the importance traditional TV networks place on live sports rights, NASCAR executives are hoping for a significant increase in that annual fee. Last year, the NHL signed new deals with ESPN and Turner that doubled its rights fees. That came after Fox and NBC doubled the amount they paid the NFL.
The sport’s TV performance, however, could hurt NASCAR’s leverage. Viewership for Cup Series races is down more than 40% since NASCAR’s new deals with Fox and NBC started in 2015. Those figures have stabilized over the last two years.
Look for Fox and NBC to try to keep their rights fee flat or at a slight increase. Look for NASCAR to try to secure a long-term deal — as much as 10 years — as a way to make that average annual payout bigger.
