Fox Reportedly Adding IndyCar Rights; What Are All the Major Sports to Be Available on Venu Sports?
Fox Reportedly Adding IndyCar Rights; What Are All the Major Sports to Be Available on Venu Sports?
NASCAR and IndyCar racing will unite on the same channel once Fox finalizes its deal with its new racing partner.
Fox is revving up its auto racing slate. A new report from Sports Business Journal indicates that the network is finalizing a deal with NTT IndyCar to acquire that racing league’s broadcast in the United States which will take hold once the current season ends in September. Current rightsholder NBC is set to lose out on the races, but their move to Fox means they’ll also be available on the Venu Sports joint venture streaming platform.
Key Details:
- IndyCar specifically wanted to stick with just one partner for its media rights.
- Fox and NBC will both continue as NASCAR partners after 2025.
- Venu Sports has an impressive and growing collection of top sports coming to its airwaves.
Financial terms of the deal are still forthcoming, but it appears IndyCar races will be zooming over to Fox starting with the 2025 season next spring. The famed Indianapolis 500 and the rest of the open-wheel racing league’s events will no longer be available to stream on Peacock after this September.
While the exact value of the deal is unknown, it’s believed that it will be higher than the $20 million per year NBC pays to hold the rights now. NBC split the rights to IndyCar races with Disney-owned ABC and ESPN before 2019, but in that year it took over the rights to all races.
The loss of IndyCar racing by NBC doesn’t mean that channel will be devoid of auto racing going forward. It still owns the rights to a package of NASCAR Cup Series races, which it will split with Fox, TNT Sports and Prime Video starting in 2025 when that league’s new media deal takes effect.
What Major Sports Are Headed to Venu?
The addition of IndyCar racing to the Fox lineup means that the Venu Sports joint venture platform which Fox is creating with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery will have yet another series of live sports to add to its schedule. Venu is especially important for Fox because it does not have an on-demand streaming service of its own that streams its live sports content; Fox Nation is dedicated to news and lifestyle programming, but does not carry any sports.
I’ve assembled lists of all the top sports each provider is bringing to Venu when it launches in 2024. Check them out below!
ESPN, ABC, ESPN+
| Sport | Inventory |
|---|---|
| Pro Football | “Monday Night Football”, Wild Card and Divisional playoff games, Pro Bowl Games |
| Pro Basketball | Around 100 regular season games, playoffs including NBA Finals |
| Pro Hockey | Regular season package and playoff package, All out-of-market regular season games (ESPN+) |
| Pro Baseball | “Sunday Night Baseball,” Opening night games, Wild Card Series |
| College Sports | College Football Playoff games, Bowl games, Regular season games from the SEC, Big 12, ACC, and more |
| Auto Racing | Formula 1 |
| Soccer | EFL, FA Cup, Bundesliga, La Liga, Dutch and Belgian Pro Leagues, more |
| Combat Sports | UFC Pay-Per-Views, Professional Fighters League |
| Tennis | Australian Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open |
| Golf | PGA Tour, Masters, PGA Championship, PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ |
Fox, FS1
| Sport | Inventory |
|---|---|
| Pro Football | Sunday afternoon games, every round of playoffs including NFC Championship and Super Bowl LIX |
| Pro Basketball | N/A |
| Pro Hockey | N/A |
| Pro Baseball | Regular season games, 2 Division Series, 1 League Championship, World Series |
| College Sports | Big 12, Big Ten, Mountain West football, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, and Mountain West basketball |
| Auto Racing | NASCAR Cup Series, NTT IndyCar (starting in 2025), NHRA Drag Racing |
| Soccer | FIFA World Cup and Women’s World Cup, some MLS games, Liga MX, UEFA Nations League, UEFA European Championship, Copa America |
| Combat Sports | N/A |
| Tennis | N/A |
| Golf | N/A |
Max, TNT, TBS, truTV
| Sport | Inventory |
|---|---|
| Pro Football | N/A |
| Pro Basketball | Around 65 regular season games, In-Season Tournament games, playoff series including Conference Finals |
| Pro Hockey | Up to 72 regular season games, Winter Classic, playoffs including Stanley Cup Finals in 2024-25 |
| Pro Baseball | Tuesday night regular season games, American League Division and Championship series. |
| College Sports | College Football Playoff games licensed from ESPN, NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games, HBCU Classic, Hall of Fame series |
| Auto Racing | NASCAR Cup Series (starting in 2025) |
| Soccer | US Men’s and Women’s National Team matches, US Open Cup, SheBelieves Cup |
| Combat Sports | N/A |
| Tennis | French Open (starting in 2025) |
| Golf | The Match |
Venu Sports
Venu Sports was the planned live TV streaming service that would offer sports from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, and truTV. Programming from ESPN+ and on-demand content would also be available, as would broadcasts of NFL, NBA, MLB, and NCAA games. However, in January 2025, after Fubo and Hulu + Live TV officially merged, Venu’s launch was put on hold thanks to a preliminary injunction. It was only a few days later that the joint venture was officially shut down for good.