By Rick Horrow and Karla Swatek
October 19, 2012
Fox and NASCAR agreed to an eight-year extension of their TV deal, giving the network rights to air the Daytona 500 and 12 other Sprint Cup Series races each year through 2022. The deal also includes streaming rights. SportsBusiness Journal estimates the value of the deal at $2.4 billion, up from Fox’ current eight-year, $1.76 billion deal. It’s also the first time in more than a decade that Fox has seen an increase to its annual NASCAR rights fee.
The extension comes as Fox prepares to switch its motorsports channel, Speed, to the all-sports cable network, Fox Sports 1. NASCAR rights figure to be an integral part of the new network’s programming, which will also has live rights for Major League Baseball games, UFC, and some college football. No formal announcement has been made about the channel or it’s anticipated launch date.