Prime and TNT ‘want’ they made different NASCAR TV – Sports News
NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell believes Prime Video and TNT Sports ‘wishes’ they had purchased more Cup Series races.
NASCAR entered a new seven-year media rights cycle in 2025 that runs by means of the tip of the 2031 season, with 4 broadcasters sharing protection of the Cup Series and a fifth, The CW, carrying the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Discussions over the subsequent rights package deal usually are not anticipated to start till 2029 O’Donnell mentioned in a current telephone interview, giving the game a number of years to strengthen its place earlier than its present $1.1 billion annual media valuation comes beneath review.
Much of the optimism surrounding the new settlement has been pushed by Prime Video and TNT Sports, which every broadcast 5 Cup Series races per season beneath the present deal. Both networks have received reward from followers for introducing recent manufacturing concepts, revolutionary options and a different presentation fashion.
An X ballot carried out by The Athletic reporter Jeff Gluck highlighted the constructive reception to Prime’s NASCAR protection this summer season. Of those that responded, 83 p.c mentioned they “loved” the broadcasts, whereas a additional 13 p.c mentioned they “liked” them. Fewer than 4 p.c of voters reported that they both disliked or hated the protection.
According to O’Donnell, the early success of these broadcasts has left each broadcasters wishing they had secured a bigger share of NASCAR’s stock when the agreements have been initially negotiated.
“We’ve got contractual obligations obviously, but what I can say — I don’t think I’m giving away any trade secrets — is if you talk to Prime, they wish they would have bought more,” O’Donnell informed Sports Business Journal. “If you talk to Turner, they wish they would have bought more. That’s a good thing — that’s great for us.
“I’ve talked to Eric Shanks at Fox, I’ve talked with folks at Amazon, I’ve talked with Turner, and all of them are really happy with what’s going on right now and feel the momentum in the sport. Our job now is to really show that growth.”
Among NASCAR’s present broadcast companions, Fox Sports has confronted probably the most criticism from followers during the present media-rights cycle, with viewers frequently taking to social media to argue that the community’s protection doesn’t deal with the game with the seriousness they anticipate.
When requested whether or not he had mentioned these considerations with Fox, O’Donnell mentioned: “If you look at last year, any time you have a new broadcast partner come into the sport, there’s changes or they potentially up the game or do something different — and everyone takes a little bit of that and says, ‘What can I do?’
“So you look at Amazon, and what they did, and Turner, and I thought going into the beginning of this year, Fox took a lot of that energy and delivered for us on the 500.”
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