NASCAR: Could more races be moving from FS1 to FOX?

With big news in the last week about Disney’s purchase of 21st Century Fox, could NASCAR be impacted by the creation of a “new Fox” company?

The media world was turned on its ear last week, with the news that the majority of the assets of 21st Century Fox would be purchased by the Walt Disney Company. Among the parts being taken by Disney include the 20th Century Fox studio, the Fox Sports Net regional networks, and cable networks FX and National Geographic. However, the company that remains after Disney’s purchase, colloquially being called “new Fox”, will still hold onto the FOX broadcast network, Fox News Channel, sports networks FS1 and FS2, and all of their sports rights.

Those sports right for the “new Fox” company includes rights to NASCAR, which run through the 2024 season. In recent years, some Cup Series races have begun to shift from FOX to cable network FS1, but perhaps this latest change in the direction of the company could reverse that. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the FOX broadcast network may now be forced to rely more heavily on sports than scripted programming.

The sale of 20th Century Fox to Disney is huge for FOX because they will no longer own the means of production for their television shows. The company that brought The Simpsons and Family Guy into the lives of millions will now be owned by someone other than the station it airs on. It is an interesting change considering the changing viewing habits of Americans, with more people switching to streaming services. This could provide an opening for sports rights, including NASCAR.

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With less scripted programming readily available to FOX at a cheaper price, then why wouldn’t the network incentivize sports deals that they paid millions to billions of dollars to get their hands on? SportsBusinessDaily reports that a key part of the deal with Disney was done so Fox Sports can keep pace with the rising costs of agreements with groups like NASCAR and the NFL. And at the end of the day, they serve to benefit the most.

If a Saturday night race at Kansas Speedway for the Cup Series airs on FS1, what will FOX air in its place now? It will cost stations a lot more to find alternative programming rather than air something Fox Sports already owns the rights to. This could lead to a migration of many of the NASCAR Cup Series races that are now on FS1 back to FOX. Of course, this will lead to a gap in FS1’s schedule, but perhaps the leaner “new Fox” will be able to spend more on additional sports rights going forward.

Of course, all of this remains to be determined as the deal between the Walt Disney Company and 21st Century Fox is no sure thing. The merger of the two companies will still need to be approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). And that is a seriously questionable prospect, considering that AT&T’s purchase of the Turner networks is still being held up.

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Do you think NASCAR can benefit from the merger of 21st Century Fox and the Walt Disney Company? Will more races shift over to the FOX broadcast network in the coming years?

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