Tyler Reddick pulled off one of the biggest wins of his NASCAR career Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, edging out Ryan Blaney by eight-tenths of a second to take the NASCAR Cup Series Freeway Insurance 500. The wild race filled with tire blowouts, crashes and rapid-fire lead changes was definitely a spectacle for fans watching at home on USA Network.
But this was the last time they’ll watch a race on USA this year.
NASCAR’s Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix is the last Cup race of 2026 on USA Network. NBC takes over from here, NASCAR announced.
For the final three weekends, the Cup Series moves to the NBC broadcast network. But why does a $7.7 billion TV package leave so few races on its flagship network?
The answer starts with the contract. NASCAR’s current media rights agreements run from 2025 through 2031, and NBC Sports owns the final 14 Cup Series races every season, playoffs and championship included, according to NBC Sports reporter Dustin Long.
That package is a hybrid. Four of the 14 races air on the NBC broadcast network, while the other 10 land on cable’s NBC-owned USA Network, according to Sports Video Group.
When the Final Three NASCAR Cup Races Will Air on NBC
All three remaining races air on NBC and stream on Peacock, according to Motorsport.com. Talladega Superspeedway hosts the first on Oct. 25, with a 2 p.m. ET start. Martinsville Speedway follows on Nov. 1 at the same time.
The Cup Series Championship Race closes the season Nov. 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Airtime is 3 p.m. ET.
So has NBC aired any Cup races yet this year? Yes, but only one. The Aug. 29 regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway was the first of the network’s four, according to Motorsport.com.
Every other race in NBC Sports’ 14-race window, starting with Iowa Speedway on Aug. 9, went to USA Network. Phoenix is the tenth and last of those.
Practice and qualifying sessions follow a separate track. Those stay on truTV and stream on Max for the rest of the Cup schedule, according to Motorsport.com.
NASCAR TV Contract Value and Why NBC Has Four Races
The seven-year deal carries a reported value of $7.7 billion, an average of $1.1 billion a year once the CW’s package for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is counted, according to SportsPro reporter Cian Brittle.
That’s roughly 40 percent more annually than the previous arrangement, a 10-year agreement worth a reported $8.2 billion, or $820 million a year, according to Newsweek.
NASCAR unveiled the new structure Nov. 29, 2023, in Nashville. Fox and NBC kept 14 races apiece, down from 18 and 20 under the old deal, while Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports each took five midseason races, according to SportsPro.
“We want to meet race fans where they are, or potential race fans where they are,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said, as quoted by NBC Sports’ Dustin Long. Streaming and cable now share the schedule with broadcast television.
Phelps framed the strategy in a statement, too. “Our goal was to secure long-term stability with an optimized mix of distribution platforms and innovative partners,” Phelps said, as quoted by CBS Sports.
Fox sits at the other end of the calendar, with the first 14 races of the season, including the Daytona 500. Only five of those air on the Fox broadcast network, and the rest go to FS1, according to Sports Video Group. All told, four partners share 38 Cup dates a year, so no single network holds a majority of the schedule.
For NBC, that mix means a 14-race slate divided between the network and USA Network. The four broadcast dates are fixed by the contract, according to Sports Video Group. They cover the biggest events: Daytona, Talladega, Martinsville and the title race at Homestead-Miami.
NBC’s history with the sport is long. The network aired Cup races from 2001 through 2006 and returned in 2015.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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