Motorsports

NASCAR in huge deal with networks

By wire services
Published December 8, 2005

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - NASCAR agreed to an eight-year, $4.48-billion television deal Wednesday that will split its schedule among the networks beginning in 2007. The 36 events will be aired on Fox, ABC/ESPN and TNT, and the annual all-star race will be on Speed Channel.

Although the actual races will have scheduling continuity, the remainder of the weekend programming - qualifying, practices and the Busch Series - will be spread out all over the dial in deals that run through the 2014 season.

"This is a major accomplishment for the NASCAR drivers, teams and track operators that have made this sport what it is today," chairman Brian France said. "The new broadcast partnership is also good for the fans, because they will have so much more NASCAR content from a variety of media and new media sources."

Under the new deal, Fox gets the opening Daytona 500 and the 12 races that follow, TNT gets a six-event stretch over the summer, and ABC/ESPN closes out the schedule with 17 races - including all 10 Chase for the Championship events.

The deal marks a return to the sport for ABC/ESPN. They had been shut out of the last TV contract, a six-year, $2.8-billion deal that began in 2001 and split the schedule among Fox, NBC and the network's sister stations. When NBC declined to extend its contract, it opened the door for the networks, owned by The Walt Disney Co., to negotiate.

Disney agreed to pay about $270-million a year to split the final 17 races on the schedule between ESPN and ABC.

ESPN's networks also will be home to the Busch Series, although the deal calls for no less than three events to air on ABC.

ABC confirmedWednesday that Jerry Punch will be part of the broadcast team.

Speed Channel will air the Craftsman Truck Series except for two races on Fox.

The NFL's contracts with NBC, Fox, CBS and ESPN from 2006- 11 are worth $3-billion per year; the National Basketball Association's contract with ABC, ESPN and TNT is worth $766.5-million a year through 2007-08; and Major League Baseball's new agreement with ESPN is for $296-million a year through 2013.

FLORIDA PLATES: The state House overwhelmingly passed a bill that would offer a NASCAR license plate, with the proceeds going to help pay for a stock car racing hall of fame in Daytona Beach. A similar bill is under consideration in the Senate. Daytona Beach is one of five cities around the country trying to win the right to build the hall.

FORMULA ONE: The Williams team became the fourth to sign on with the racing organization through 2012, making a move to protect the sport from a "divisive split" over how revenues are divided among teams. It joins Midland F1, Red Bull Racing and Ferrari. The current agreement ends after the 2007 season.

[Last modified December 8, 2005, 00:50:19]