The third network switch of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, this one from TNT Sports to NBC, took place ahead of last weekend's NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway, but the Iowa Corn 350 wasn't actually shown live on NBC.
Likewise, this coming Sunday afternoon's Go Bowling at The Glen won't be shown live on NBC either.
NBC's portion of the broadcast schedule dropped from 20 races to 14 ahead of the 2025 season, as 2025 marks the first year of a new seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights agreement which features not only NBC and fellow existing longtime broadcast partner Fox but also newcomer Amazon Prime Video and former longtime partner TNT Sports.
Prime and TNT were given five races each, between Fox's portion and NBC's portion of the schedule, necessitating the reduction in race count for both Fox (18 to 14, 16 to 12 points races) and NBC.
Most NBC races not actually shown on NBC
But just like how a majority of Fox's races were on Fox Sports 1 rather than Fox itself, nine of 14 to be exact, a majority of NBC's races are on USA Network rather than NBC itself.
USA Network has served as the alternate NBCUniversal-owned channel during NBC's portion of the schedule since 2022. NBC Sports Network had served in that role before shutting down at the end of 2021.
In total, 10 of NBC's 14 races are set for USA Network, with the first of those 10 having taken place last week. The first race of the year actually set to be shown live on NBC is the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 23.
After that, the first seven races of the four-round, 10-race playoffs are set to be shown live on USA Network, and then NBC is set to cover the rest of the year, including the final two round of 8 (semifinal) races at Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway, as well as the Championship 4 title decider at Phoenix Raceway.
Leigh Diffey is the lead announcer for all NBC races, whether they are shown on NBC or USA Network, after replacing Rick Allen during last year's NBC portion of the schedule. He is joined by color commentators Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte.
Tune in to USA Network at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, August 10 for the live broadcast of the Go Bowling at The Glen from Watkins Glen International. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!