The first stone in what is expected to be a crazy broadcasting future for the sport of NASCAR has landed in the pond.
A new media deal has been announced for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, as The CW Network will become the exclusive home for the series beginning in 2025, and that deal will run all the way until 2031. NASCAR's official Twitter account made the announcement on on Friday, July 28.
Every @NASCAR_Xfinity Series race in one place.
Are you ready, @TheCW? pic.twitter.com/wC7OXWUxwX
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 28, 2023
For the first time in series history every NASCAR Xfinity race will be available on free, over-the-air broadcast television. That means that all 33 Xfinity races, practices and qualifying could get the biggest viewership it has had in some time.
This has been the dream scenario for some time for NASCAR, as the TV Ratings have always been the center of attention for executives in the sport. This has been the type of change sports have been going for, switching from cable broadcasts to an all-broadcast television style, pushing for the widest reach for fan bases and the industries themselves.
NASCAR, The CW Announce Partnership
Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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The President of The CW Dennis Miller is ecstatic about this new venture and Sports have become a much more common property on the Network.
"Landing the NASCAR Xfinity Series is a game changer for THE CW and our CW Sports division and represents another important building block in our programming strategy," Miller said. "Live sports are the most watched television content and with The CW's national reach, moving NASCAR Xfinity Series to The CW will transform and elevate the viewing experience for the series and its fans. Beginning in 2025, The CW will have 48 weekends per year of live sports programming."
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will have an exclusive new home on The CW starting in 2025! #CWSports pic.twitter.com/euzZABMD77
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) July 28, 2023
In a statement to NASCAR.com, NASCAR's Senior VP of Media and Productions Brian Herbst, shared Miller's sentiments about what this new TV deal means.
"CW's leadership shared a compelling vision for cultivating the next generation of NASCAR talent by bringing the NASCAR Xfinity Series exclusively to broadcast television and we are thrilled for the opportunity to partner with them," Herbst said. "With more than 1 million viewers tuning in each week to see NASCAR's future stars battle some of its biggest names at our most legendary tracks, the NASCAR Xfinity Series consistently delivers the moments that excite current fans and create new fans of our great sport."
NASCAR has a chance to keep on pushing the needle in terms of TV viewership. This is the first stone in a big lake. What does the outlook look like for the Truck Series, and most importantly the Cup Series is the biggest question that remains.
