How about this for an unexpected development.
Starting in 2025, all 33 NASCAR Xfinity Series races, alongside most qualifying and practice sessions will air exclusively on the CW Network (and its various free, ad-supported streaming platforms) as part of a seven-year, $800 million broadcast rights agreement.
According to the Sports Business Journal, the terms of the agreement calls for annual payments of $115 million.
There is so much to unpack from the surprise announcement but chief amongst them is how much money NASCAR received for its second-tier division while having the visibility that comes with having most every session air on broadcast television.
It’s the first time that every race from a NASCAR national touring division will be available over-the-air and it’s also the first time that the Sanctioning Body has decoupled a companion series from the larger Cup Series broadcast package.
Next season is the last of a 10-year, $8.2 billion broadcast rights agreement with FOX and NBC that incorporated Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series races that aired on broadcast and cable channels like Fox Sports 1 and the USA Network.
An agreement beyond 2024 has not been finalized but a small number of summertime Cup Series races could move exclusively to a streaming platform like Amazon Prime. FOX and NBC are still expected to return in some capacity.
As part of the agreement with the CW Network, not to mention parent company, Nexstar Media Group, NASCAR Media Group will also oversee broadcast production and staffing for the entire Xfinity Series schedule.
That’s a significant development by itself. NASCAR currently produces the handful of standalone Xfinity Series broadcasts for FOX Sports and NBC Sports. It also produces the second half of the Truck Series schedule for FOX Sports once NBC’s half of the schedule begins in June.
During a Friday morning press conference, NASCAR senior vice president of media and productions Brian Herbst touted the ability to air races on broadcast television on the CW while also being able to engage more directly with Nexstar, which operates numerous FOX and NBC affiliates around the country.
“I think the differentiating factor for us when we were thinking about the CW and Nexstar, you really get to work with two different companies within the context of one partnership,” Herbst said. “One is the CW free-to-air broadcast network available in 125 million homes, then you also get the benefit of working with Nexstar, which is the largest television group in the United States.
“When you think about our footprint in terms of the tracks that we run on week in and week out, when you think about Nexstar as the TV station group, within our track footprint, 84 percent of our tracks also have a Nexstar station, free-to-air distribution that will only benefit viewership for the Xfinity Series of up-and-coming drivers.
“Then the second piece is on-site activation, local marketing, local coverage, ticketing, contesting, the full kind of event experience and local experience we think will only be benefited by having Nexstar as our partner.”
Earlier in the month, CW inked a deal with the Atlantic Coast Conference and network president Dennis Miller says NASCAR was the perfect complement to the NCAA when considering the number of NASCAR events that air on Nexstar affiliates.
“We knew, since we had a lot of NASCAR events already on Nexstar stations, that live sports were the key to growing an audience (and) how loyal these fans were looked across the kind of rights landscape and saw how Xfinity did versus NHL and UFC and Premier League,” Miller said. “We felt like this was the best package that would help drive the asset value of The CW and provide great local programming.
“When combined with Inside the NFL, the ACC, obviously we wanted to establish 48 out of 52 weeks having a sports programming for our affiliates.”
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Xfinity teams benefit from NASCAR deal
First and foremost, NASCAR has now created a $800 million baseline revenue stream for the Xfinity Series even if the sanctioning body does not have a formal revenue sharing agreement with teams on that tour the way it does in the Cup Series.
That’s money that will ultimately go into the purse in some shape or form.
On the other hand, unlike in Cup, which currently airs a majority of races on cable, every track session will air on broadcast television starting in 2025. That’s a major victory for race teams who can take that to potential sponsors.
The Xfinity Series will objectively be available in more homes than the Cup Series more often than not once this agreement takes effect. Teams in the Xfinity Series are more dependent on sponsorship revenue than their Cup Series counterparts because Cup teams receive 25 percent of TV revenue under an agreement with the sanctioning body.
NASCAR is not expected to engage with Xfinity teams on a similar model.
“It’s not a part of this conversation frankly,” Herbst said. “I can’t comment on the rev share between NASCAR, the teams and the tracks.”
NASCAR benefits
Similar to how every Truck Series race airs on FS1, having every Xfinity Series race air on CW should create consumer habits that lead to growth for NASCAR’s second-tier tour.
“The Truck Series has grown in viewership,” Herbst said. “It’s about 15 percent over the last four or five years on FS1, which kind of flies in the face of most cable viewership, frankly.
“But I think we wanted to develop a compelling proposition for The CW and Nexstar. I think they provided that in terms of their distribution footprint as well as kind of the station footprint. It happened to work out that a full season of February-to-November coverage on the Xfinity Series side, it worked well.”
In the CW, NASCAR now has a television partner that will treat the Xfinity Series like a standalone priority instead of a secondary property. That’s not to say FOX and NBC treated the series poorly. It was just the second fiddle to the Cup Series.
Nexstar and the CW is wholly invested in growing the Xfinity Series with no consideration for the Cup Series.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.