“Everybody Is Going to Fight”: Tony Stewart Predicts Market Unrest Post NASCAR’s Record Deal

The end of 2023 has been quite a period in NASCAR from a financial standpoint. Besides featuring the highest bid ever for a charter purchased by Spire Motorsports, the new media deal was also confirmed which suggested a 40 percent increase over NASCAR’s current package. Speaking of which, SHR co-owner Tony Stewart explained how this media deal would have other racing series fighting for a piece of the cake.

The 7-year agreement starts with FOX Sports, Amazon Prime, Warner Bros. Discovery, and NBC Sports carrying the live coverage of all NASCAR Cup Series races from 2025 through 2031. Stewart said that now that this deal with NASCAR is confirmed, the non-NASCAR racing series will flock in to get a part of the action.

“NASCAR domino is the first one in line. Everybody is gonna fight to get that NASCAR coverage. Once that deal is done, then everybody else that didn’t get a piece of that action are going to be thriving and bidding hard to get that same kind of action in different series,” said Smoke.

“NHRA is in a good sport to fight for that right now. FOX does a great job. I had the honor to work with NASCAR doing the FOX broadcast and also do some of the NHRA broadcasting too,” he added.

The new deal is worth a whopping total of $7.7 billion, with an average annual value of $1.1 billion. Fox Sports and NBC Sports will cover 14 races each, Fox at the beginning of the season and NBC at the end.

Two new broadcast partners; Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports will hold the exclusive rights to broadcast the practice and the qualifying, except for the Busch Light Clash, Daytona 500, and the All-Star Race sessions, in addition to covering 5 mid-season races each. FOX Sports will air the practice and qualifying laps of the aforementioned races.

Tony Stewart on the difference between a NASCAR race and an NHRA event as a viewer

According to Tony Stewart, watching a NASCAR race on the television is way better than watching it directly from the grandstands. He explained, “You get all the telemetry, you get to see all the behind-the-scene actions as it’s going on during the three, three and a half-hour period.”

However, watching drag racing is entirely different from watching a NASCAR race unfurl. Stewart called NHRA drag racing the polar opposite of NASCAR racing as far as viewership is concerned.

“Unless you’re camping and going for the entire weekend and enjoying the whole weekend… it is 10 times better to be there versus watching it just on TV. What TV can’t show you is the concussion, the smells, the feel,” he added.

Besides being a drag racer himself, Stewart is a racing fan first. He emphasized that one could never connect with the true essence of drag racing unless they are watching it directly from the grandstands.