IMSA announced Friday morning (June 21) that they have signed a multi-year extension of their media rights deal with NBC Sports. As a result, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, along with IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge and the one-make championships will remain on the NBC Sports family of networks and 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 in a press release. “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, NBC Sports’ senior vice president of programming and rights management. “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.”
For IMSA, the new deal will see an increased amount of racing on NBC itself. There will be 17 hours a year of live WeatherTech coverage on broadcast television, up from nine in the current deal.
UPDATE 6/26: IMSA has announced how the series’ 17 hours of programming on NBC will be used in 2025. Race-wise, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will be the sole sprint race on NBC on May 11. There will also be three hours of coverage from the Rolex 24 at Daytona Jan. 25-26, the Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen on June 22, the TireRack.com Battle at the Bricks in Indianapolis Sept. 21 and the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road America on Oct. 11.
In addition, there will be two one-hour specials on NBC. One will be a season preview in January. The other will be a championship weekend setup show. Airdates for those shows will be announced at a later date.
Like the current deal, all WeatherTech events will stream live on Peacock in addition to the broadcast on either NBC, USA Network or CNBC.
The deal comes as NBC Sports will have big changes in their racing lineup for 2025. They have retained rights to the NASCAR Cup Series, but won’t air as many races. In addition, they lost INDYCAR to FOX Sports starting in 2025.
As a result, there is more space available for IMSA programming to fill in. In addition, there won’t be as many situations where entire WeatherTech races would end up as Peacock exclusives or air via tape-delay.
In addition, the deal comes in an excellent time for IMSA in general as car count is high and interest in the GTP class is substantial. Sports car racing is in a very good position today and NBC Sports has chosen to increase IMSA’s visibility.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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