NASCAR: NBC announcer officially out for the 2024 season

A few weeks ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed that his contract with NBC had expired and that he did not have a broadcasting job lined up for the 2024 season after spending the last six seasons in the booth alongside Rick Allen, Steve Letarte, and Jeff Burton, all of whom have served in their respective roles since 2015.

Earnhardt joined the team in 2018 after retiring from Cup Series competition in 2017, making his debut in July once Fox's coverage concluded and NBC took over at Chicagoland Speedway.

After the 15-time Most Popular Driver revealed that he was trying to figure out what would come next, it emerged that Amazon could make an effort to lure him to their team for the 2025 season and beyond.

NASCAR's new media deal brings Amazon into the picture

This past offseason, NASCAR reached a seven-year media rights deal with current broadcast partners Fox and NBC, plus Amazon and TNT Sports. Beginning next year, Fox Sports is only set to carry the season's first 14 races instead of 18.

Amazon Prime Video is then set to carry the next five in a streaming-only deal, and TNT Sports is set to cover the following five, with those events set to be shown live on both TNT and the B/R Sports tier on the Max Streaming Service. NBC Sports is set to cover the final 14 events, down from its current 20.

The total comes out to 38 races due to the inclusion of the preseason Busch Light Clash exhibition race and the All-Star Race.

Now NBC have confirmed that Earnhardt will not be back for what would have been a seventh season in 2024. He is indeed said to be finalizing a deal to join Amazon Prime Video and Warner Brothers Discovery Sports and is not expected to serve as an announcer in any capacity this year.

NBC's portion of this year's broadcast schedule, which includes 10 races on NBC and 10 on USA Network, is scheduled to begin on Sunday, June 16 with the Cup Series' first ever race at Iowa Speedway. In NASCAR's new media rights deal, only four races are actually set to be shown on NBC itself starting next year, with the other 10 set to remain on USA Network.

While Earnhardt's next landing spot has yet to be officially announced, the confirmation of his departure from NBC opens up the door for speculation regarding who might replace him for 2024 and beyond.