After losing IndyCar rights to Fox, NBC has retained another motorsports property.
On Friday, the company announced a new multi-year deal with IMSA (the International Motor Sports Association), increasing coverage on the NBC broadcast network by nearly 50%.
The deal will bring 17 hours of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship programming to broadcast yearly, with all coverage also streaming on Peacock.
“Our partnership with NBC Sports has produced viewership increases for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship every year from our first year in 2019 through last season,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “We also have managed to deliver impressive audience growth on Peacock, which is an especially valuable platform for delivering live, flag-to-flag coverage of endurance races to our domestic race fans. We are thrilled to confirm not only an extension of our relationship with NBC Sports, but nearly a 50 percent increase in the number of hours on the NBC broadcast network beginning next year.”
“We’re proud to continue our partnership with IMSA as the home of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and its support series,” said Justin Byczek, SVP, Programming and Rights Management, NBC Sports. “From the Rolex 24 At Daytona to Petit Le Mans, fans will be able to enjoy every moment of IMSA’s high-quality, competitive racing across NBC Sports’ linear and digital platforms for years to come.”
IndyCar bolting to Fox left a motorsports hole on NBC’s platforms, though the company also has a new deal with NASCAR that begins next year. NBC also lost MotoGP to TNT Sports earlier this year.
Retaining IMSA will not replace all the hours of content lost, but it will at least stem some of the bleeding.
