NASCAR has secured a seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights agreement (2025–31) with FOX, NBC, Amazon Prime, and Warner Bros. Discovery, a record $1.1 billion per year – roughly a 40% jump from its previous deal. President Steve Phelps hailed it as “a landmark deal” that underscores NASCAR’s growth opportunity across “broadcast, cable or direct-to-consumer” platforms.
The influx of cash is already financing a strategic shift: starting in 2025, five Cup races (including events like Dover and Bristol) will be exclusive to streaming (Prime Video and Max) rather than broadcast TV. Phelps said he expects those races to draw audiences “at least as good as what we’d see on cable,” arguing that partnering with Amazon will bring “a slightly younger audience” to NASCAR.
Viewership Trends and Broadcast Changes
Early ratings indicate NASCAR’s viewership is holding steady. For example, Fox’s broadcast of a spring Cup race at Atlanta in 2025 averaged 4.586 million viewers – roughly 1% above last year’s comparable race. The 2025 Daytona 500 also drew a big audience: about 6.76 million viewers on FOX (peaking near 8.0M), up from roughly 5.96M in last year’s rain-delayed edition.
The Xfinity Series is similarly strong on its new TV home: NASCAR on The CW has averaged about 1.19 million viewers through the first 10 races (every event has topped 1.0M), including roughly 1.8M for the Daytona Xfinity race. However, only nine of 36 Cup races will air on broadcast network TV in 2025 (down from 20 in 2024), raising concerns about audience fragmentation. And rising series like F1 and IndyCar continue to capture U.S. fans, adding to NASCAR’s competitive challenges.
Sponsorship Slide and Charter Disputes
Despite the TV windfall, NASCAR’s sponsorship revenues have sagged. Industry reports indicate 2024 sponsorship income fell on the order of 13–16% from the prior year, as some sponsors pause or cut back amid uncertain returns. Team owners largely blame stalled charter negotiations and revenue-sharing terms for the shortfall.
Representatives of the chartered teams have publicly pushed NASCAR for a larger slice of the media dollars; Curtis Polk of 23XI Racing warned that NASCAR’s tentative proposal offered only a “minimal increase in revenue” and would force “massive layoffs” on the teams. The tug-of-war has even attracted interest from outside investors, who view NASCAR charters as buyable franchises under the surface conflict.
Daytona 500 Purse and Team Demands
NASCAR is also sweetening purses at its marquee race. The 2025 Daytona 500 carries a record $30.3 million total purse, with an estimated $2.4–$3.0 million going to the winner – the largest payday in NASCAR history. But teams note that even this bump doesn’t solve their long-term funding gap.
With sponsor dollars down, owners argue they need a greater share of NASCAR’s escalating media pie. As Phelps has emphasized, the new TV deal and streaming partners give NASCAR flexibility, but Polk’s warning underscores the teams’ stance: without significantly more media revenue, they face real financial strain.
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