IndyCar: Possible new announcer named after Fox TV deal confirmed

IndyCar and Fox have agreed on a multi-year broadcast deal starting in 2025, one which sees the entire 17-race NTT IndyCar schedule, plus two days of Indy 500 qualifying, move to network TV on the main Fox channel.

The blockbuster deal eliminates the current split between network and cable that has been a part of the sport's recent TV deals with NBC. In 2023 and 2024, NBC has also put select races behind the Peacock paywall.

From 2025, practice and qualifying sessions are all set to be shown on either Fox Sports 1 or Fox Sports 2 as opposed to Fox, but with NBC's current deal, these sessions are only available with a paid subscription to the Peacock app.

NBC has held the rights to IndyCar since 2009, and it became the exclusive home of the series in 2019 after winning the rights to the Indy 500 that had been held by ABC since 1965.

Though the 2025 schedule itself left a bit to be desired, this new contract is great news for IndyCar as a whole.

Now the big question, which Fox and IndyCar confirmed would be answered at a later date, is who is set to be a part of the broadcast booth next year.

Leigh Diffey is NBC's current lead announcer for IndyCar, but after the Summer Olympics in Paris, he is set to replace Rick Allen during NASCAR Cup Series races for the rest of the year. Former IndyCar drivers Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe are the driver analysts/color commentators.

According to RACER.com's Marshall Pruett, Adam Alexander "has been mentioned as a possible leader in the booth", and the link makes almost too much sense.

Alexander is currently Fox Sports' play-by-play announcer for NASCAR Xfinity Series coverage and a host of NASCAR Race Hub. But with NASCAR's new media rights deal set to go into effect in 2025, the Xfinity Series is set to move to the CW Network exclusively for the next seven years, and Race Hub just aired its final episode this past week.

Alexander is an Indianapolis, Indiana native and was a part of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network as a pit reporter and turn announcer for the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" for a number of years.

Now he has ample play-by-play experience, and given the timing of IndyCar's Fox announcement, coupled with everything that has been happening on the NASCAR side, the network and the series could do much worse than putting him into the booth to open up a new era of IndyCar on television.

It is also worth noting that, thanks to the introduction of Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports to NASCAR's new media deal, Fox's portion of the Cup Series broadcast schedule is set to wrap up four races earlier than it has over the last decade, meaning that it will have wrapped up before the annual Indy 500.

That, in turn, could free up additional talent, if Fox wishes to assemble a team involving other individuals from the NASCAR side. That is something NBC never shied away from, specifically during the month of May.

The 2025 IndyCar season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, March 2 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. The 2024 season is set to continue on Sunday, June 23, with live coverage from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca set to be provided by USA Network beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!