IMSA announced Friday morning (June 21) that it has signed a multi-year extension of its media rights agreement with NBC Sports. As a result, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge and one-make championships will remain in the NBC Sports family of networks and on Peacock.
“Our partnership with NBC Sports has resulted in an increase in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship viewership every year from our first year in 2019 through last season,” IMSA President John Doonan said in a press release. controlled to generate impressive audience expansion on Peacock, which is a particularly valuable platform for delivering live, flag-to-flag, and staying power racing policies to our domestic racing fans. We’re excited to verify not only the expansion of our NBC Sports appointments, but also an approximately 50% increase in the number of hours on the NBC broadcast network starting next year.
“We are proud to continue our partnership with IMSA as the host of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and its series,” said Justin Byczek, senior vice president of programming and rights management for NBC Sports. “From the Rolex 24 At Daytona to Petit Le Fans will be able to enjoy any and all moments of IMSA’s high-quality competitive racing on NBC Sports’ linear and virtual platforms for years to come. “
For IMSA, the new deal will mean an increase in the number of races at NBC itself. There will be 17 hours a year of live WeatherTech politics on television, up from nine in the existing agreement.
UPDATE 06/26: IMSA has announced how the show’s 17 hours of programming will be used on NBC in 2025. In terms of racing, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will be the sprint race on NBC on May 11. There will also be 3 hours of politics from the Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 25 and 26, the Six Hours of Sahlen at Glen on June 22, the TireRack. com Battle at the Bricks in Indianapolis on September 21 and the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road America on September 21. 11.
In addition, there will be two one-hour specials on NBC. One of them will be a preview of the season in January. It will be a preparation program for the championship weekend. Transmission dates for those systems will be announced at a later date.
Like the existing agreement, all WeatherTech events will air on Peacock, as well as NBC, USA Network, or CNBC.
The deal comes as NBC Sports will make big adjustments to its 2025 race schedule. They retained the rights to the NASCAR Cup Series, but will broadcast the most races. In addition, they lost INDYCAR to FOX Sports starting in 2025.
As a result, more space is available for IMSA programming. Plus, there probably aren’t as many conditions in which entire WeatherTech races end as Peacock exclusives or tape delay.
In addition, the deal comes at just the right time for IMSA as a whole, as the number of vehicles is high and interest in the GTP’s elegance is substantial. Sports car racing is in a very smart position and NBC Sports has decided to develop. IMSA visibility.
Phil Allaway has three main roles in Frontstretch. Es the manager of the site’s FREE e-newsletter, which is published Monday through Friday and on weekends. It helps keep TV broadcasters fair with the weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and is the site’s sports car. Race editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, New York. It covers all the action on the steeply sloping dirt track, from regular DIRTcar Modified races to occasional, touring series like the Super DIRTcar Series.