Yet, despite improved ratings, Fox admitted it had lost millions on its current deal. And NBC will no longer be covering NASCAR after next season.
ABC and ESPN, part of the Disney group, will pay about $270million a year for the final 17 Nextel Cup races, up from the $200million that an NBC/TNT joint venture now pays for 20 races.
All NASCAR Busch Series races will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN or ESPN 2. In addition, ESPN will deliver coverage to its full suite of media including its cable TV networks, ESPN360, Mobile ESPN, ESPN.com and affiliated international networks.
Fox, meanwhile, will pay about $208million a year for 13 races in the first half of NASCAR's season, down from the 17 that it - and cable channel FX - now pay $200million a year for.
But Fox will get the Daytona 500, which it now alternates with NBC, every year. This season's Daytona 500 managed to equal the all-time ratings high for the race that NBC produced in 2002.
The deal also includes a brand-new comprehensive multi-media distribution programme which includes Internet, wireless and broadband platforms.
Cable broadcaster TNT, which has been with NASCAR for more than 20 years, has a package of six races, starring the Pepsi 400, which is staged at Daytona over the July 4 weekend. It will pay at least $80million annually.
Speed Channel, the Fox-owned cable channel, which doesn't now have NASCAR races, will get the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (with the execption of two events broadcast by Fox) and the All-Star Challenge.
USA TODAY reports that of the national TV money, which will total at least $4.4 billion over eight years, about 65 per cent will go to tracks, with teams splitting about 25 per cent and NASCAR itself getting 10 per cent.
“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,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France.
