NASCAR, ESPN and Turner Sports today announced plans to air nine of the 10 Chase for the Sprint Cup races online this year. The deal is the result of an agreement that will allow ESPN to begin streaming live NASCAR coverage on WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app from August through November in '12, '13 and '14. The agreement also allows Turner to offer its RaceBuddy product, which provides live broadcast coverage from a mix of in-car and stationary cameras positioned around the track, for those Cup races on NASCAR.com. If it opts to do so, Turner can offer RaceBuddy for Nationwide races, as well. ESPN VP/Programming & Acquisitions Julie Sobieski said, "This is a sea change in how we're able to deliver NASCAR content." The ESPN and Turner offerings signal a major breakthrough for NASCAR and was the result of nearly two years of discussions between the two nets. The issue ESPN and Turner needed to resolve can be traced back to '05 when NASCAR sold its broadcast rights to Fox, ESPN and Turner, which held the rights to operate NASCAR's website, NASCAR.com. Under terms of the broadcast rights agreement ESPN signed with NASCAR that year, the net could stream its race broadcast online, but if it did, Turner also could stream the races on NASCAR.com. Because it couldn't stream races online exclusively on an ESPN platform, ESPN opted not to stream races altogether. ESPN and Turner searched for a solution to that stalemate for two years but didn't begin to make headway until June. Sobieski said Turner's success with RaceBuddy helped pave the way to an agreement because it allowed Turner to provide an online offering that supplemented but didn't duplicate ESPN's race telecast. The resulting deal that allows Turner to offer special camera views on RaceBuddy and ESPN offer entire live races on WatchESPN is expected to help NASCAR attract young viewers. Sobieski said, "We're all looking to drive the younger viewers and we know this a big part of how they consume content. It's important for NASCAR as a sport to be in this space" (Tripp Mickle, SportsBusiness Journal).
DRIVING TRAFFIC: The AP's Jenna Fryer wrote the agreement is a "huge breakthrough for NASCAR, which has been unable to establish an online viewing presence because of its multiple broadcasting contracts." The "only time race coverage is available online is during the six races TNT broadcasts during the summer" (AP, 9/13). YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg wrote, "Hallelujah. ... It's another step in a very fan-friendly direction for NASCAR and its TV deals" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com , 9/13).
