NASCAR Rides $7.7 Billion Media Deals Toward Streaming-First Growth

NASCAR is collecting an estimated $7.7 billion under seven-year media rights agreements that put its races across Fox, Comcast's NBC, Versant's USA Network, Warner Bros. Discovery's TNT Sports and Amazon Prime Video — and CEO Steve O'Donnell calls that sprawl a feature, not a bug.

In an interview with CNBC's Brian Sullivan, O'Donnell said the company has seen "a lot of momentum" after a challenging few years. He credited NASCAR's growing popularity among younger fans, in part, to its ability to connect with them online.

"The media partners are just the foundation of the sport [that] help us grow," he told CNBC.

The deals cover streaming, cable and digital distribution. The CW holds exclusive rights to the NASCAR Xfinity Series over the same seven-year timeframe under an earlier agreement.

When asked whether the patchwork of exclusive streaming rights would confuse viewers, O'Donnell argued the breadth works in NASCAR's favor.

"For us [it's] how many front doors can we give to a fan to come through and experience NASCAR, and we used to just be maybe on one or two networks," he said. "And as you look at where media is going long-term, we realized to get younger we needed to try some different things, go where some of the younger fans are maybe watching or just tuning in for a couple minutes."

Hollywood is the next front door

NASCAR is also counting on "Days of Thunder 2," the sequel to the 1990 hit, to bring in new audiences. Tom Cruise will reprise his role as NASCAR driver Cole Trickle, with Anne Hathaway set to co-star. The Paramount film is slated to premiere in summer 2028, Cruise announced on social media.

Cruise recently visited NASCAR headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida. O'Donnell said the visit left no doubt about the actor's commitment.

"He could not have been more enthusiastic," O'Donnell told CNBC. "Tom's No. 1 message to us: He's like, 'You got to be ready because I'm going to put people [on], and they're going to know what NASCAR'S about.'"

The strategy has a proven template. Formula 1 has notched success in recent years garnering new fans via streaming and film, including Netflix's "Drive to Survive" docuseries and Apple's "F1" movie, which premiered in 2025. The Brad Pitt blockbuster became Apple's highest-grossing film.

Similarly, "Ford v Ferrari," a biopic about a legendary team of British and American race-car drivers, became one of the highest-grossing original movies of 2019.

International expansion — but on NASCAR's terms

While NASCAR seeks to grow its domestic reach, O'Donnell said he is "absolutely" open to international expansion. The league currently races only in the U.S. and Mexico but is weighing options for additional international locations.

He set one condition: brand awareness must be established internationally before plans for future race locations can be solidified.

"I don't want to just export a race and plop it somewhere," O'Donnell said. "We want to build the culture so that when you go to a race, if we're in Europe, you know, hey, that's the NASCAR experience."

O'Donnell was named CEO in April, replacing Jim France and becoming the league's first CEO outside the founding family. His first year in the job pairs a five-platform media footprint, a Tom Cruise tentpole due in summer 2028 and a deliberate, culture-first approach to going global — a playbook modeled explicitly on Formula 1's streaming-and-cinema turnaround.