WILLMETTE, Ill. — The sports media landscape continues to evolve, and the rapid change is causing entities to transform their strategies. How does motorsports fit into this unique puzzle?
Sports leagues have traditionally relied on bulk deals with centralized media platforms to maximize the value of their media rights. Most recently, technology entities are entering the fray to bid for those rights.
Distributing content across a combination of broadcast and digital platforms allows properties to maximize reach while catering to developing consumption habits.
With the rise and acceptance of streaming technology and the increasing demand for more personalized experiences, properties are incorporating a more Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) approach.
Leagues are launching DTC offerings, a collection of games that can be streamed live. In each case, these are subject to overreaching media deals with the media “platforms” that often involve exclusive rights to broadcast games.
Motorsports has experience in the DTC offerings. In general, it has resulted in mixed outcomes due to a combination of lackluster marketing and confusion over availability.
Formula 1 offers F1TV covering its various series and different pricing tiers. Its content includes both races and historical archives. The in-house F-1 broadcast operations offer in-depth viewing options.
The World Rally Championship has moved exclusively to a DTC service. The Rally.TV platform will offer live, practice, highlights, documentaries and historical content. They had to combine multiple global media rights deals in order to shift to a single platform.
NASCAR announced its new media rights package on Nov. 29. The seven-year agreement will run from 2025 through 2031. The deal is valued at about $8.8 billion. This is a sizable increase over the existing contract.
The Cup Series will keep it existing partners FOX Sports and NBC, while Warner Brothers Discovery and Amazon have joined the package. The CW picked up the Xfinity Series and the Craftsman Truck Series will remain on FOX.
The streaming portion of the Cup Series deal will be in the middle of the schedule. Amazon Prime will get the first part, followed by TNT.
Figuring out which broadcast platform or streaming service carries motorsports will be a challenge. The ever-increasing number of options for fans will be similar to picking the winner during the last lap of a superspeedway race.
This story appeared in the Dec 6, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
