NBC, FOX join forces to promote NASCAR

At the Sports Business Journal Motorsports Marketing Forum in Las Vegas, NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus and FOX Sports President, COO and Executive Producer Eric Shanks made the announcement jointly.

The intention of the project is to promote the upcoming season on the heels of a dramatic conclusion to 2014, which saw Kevin Harvick win his first championship in the brand-new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format.

"It's no secret that we compete rather fiercely in most other areas of our business, but given all of the excitement surrounding the sport, we felt the time was right to come together and celebrate our new broadcast partnership," NBC Sports Group's CMO John Miller said. "Our collective competitive spirit yielded a piece that turned out extremely well, and we're looking forward to future collaborations as we build on NASCAR's momentum."

"This approach simply makes sense," added Robert Gottlieb, EVP of Marketing, FOX Sports. "The new distribution of NASCAR programming across FOX and NBC lends itself to a co-branded effort. We're excited to tell NASCAR Nation about how great the 2015 season is going to be."

The new 10-year broadcasting partnership that begins next year has FOX Sports and FOX Sports 1 providing coverage for the first half of the season, with NBC picking up for the second half.

"As we crown a first-time champion and celebrate what has been an exciting year for NASCAR in 2014, it's great to see that NBC and FOX have already created a spirit of collaboration and synergy that will propel the sport forward," said Brent Dewar, NASCAR's chief operating officer. "Two of the world's largest media companies collaborating on NASCAR-themed creative months before a new season begins demonstrates the level of commitment the industry and our fans can expect from NASCAR and our television broadcast partners in 2015 and beyond."

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