Fox Sports Media Group and NASCAR agreed to a new eight-year multiplatform rights agreement on Monday. Their current television contract has two full seasons left.
The new deal will keep NASCAR on Fox through 2022.
Per the terms of the new agreement, FSMG significantly increases its digital rights to include "TV Everywhere" live race streaming of its portion of the season beginning in 2013. The new agreement takes effect in full beginning 2015.
Fox retains the TV rights to 13 consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points races including the Daytona 500. In addition, FSMG retains the rights to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, the Daytona Shootout, the Duel at Daytona, the entire NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season and practice and qualifying for both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races that FSMG broadcasts.
This story was first reported by the Sports Business Journal.
"We're extremely happy to have worked closely with Brian and his team at NASCAR over the last few months to expand and extend our relationship for what is without question the most popular motorsport in the country," said FSMG copresidents and CEOs Eric Shanks and Randy Freer. "NASCAR has been a staple at Fox for more than a decade and we consider it one of the signature sports we cover. With our commitment renewed, we look forward to presenting NASCAR thoroughly, professionally and creatively for many years to come."
The deal also affords FSMG the rights to encore the races on a video-on-demand platforforms, plus a Fox network for 24 hours. Moreover, there are ancillary rights to NASCAR programming including, but not limited to, a nightly news and information show, as well as weekend at-track shows.
These are important elements should Fox elect to push forward with Fox Sports 1, a national cable sports network that will potentially lay its foundation from Fox's Speed service. Such a launch/conversion could come in the fall of 2013.
In addition, FSMG could be involved for the bidding for its second-half of-the-season TV packages currently held by Turner Sports and ESPN. Those negotiations are not expected to take place until next summer.
Today’s announcement comes less than two months after NASCAR and Fox announced they are teaming up to provide the sport’s most expansive Spanish-language broadcast offering ever with Fox Deportes’ coverage of 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, starting in 2013. Of the 15 race broadcasts, Fox Deportes will televise six races live, including, for the first time ever, a Spanish-language broadcast of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 24.
