[Road & Track, via Insty] - NBC Sports Network Is Shutting Down
The de facto home of televised American racing is coming to an end after 2021.
NBC Sports Network, the cable sports channel that airs NASCAR, IMSA, and IndyCar, will shut down at the end of this year, according to an internal memo shared with Road & Track. The end of the network, which has also been the home of scripted automotive shows and televised auctions, will mark the end of one of the American automotive world's most significant media partners.
NBC's current contract to broadcast IndyCar ends after the 2021 season, but its contracts with NASCAR and IMSA both stretch into 2024. NASCAR broadcasts will begin moving to the NBC-owned USA Network this year as part of a plan to use the demise of NBC Sports Network to bolster its other cable offerings.
"At the conclusion of 2021, we have decided that the best strategic next step for our Sports Group and the entire Company is to wind down NBCSN completely, with key elements of NBCSN’s programming moving to USA Network and, in some cases, Peacock for 2022 and beyond," NBC Sports chairman Pete Bevacqua said in a memo to staff Friday. "This will make USA Network an extraordinarily powerful platform in the media marketplace, and gives our sports programming a significant audience boost. We believe that the power of this offering is the best long-term strategy for our Sports Group, our partners, and our Company."
They've been moving lots of shit off NBC SN for the past year, and NASCAR just plain sucks at this point. They're taking it in the pooper ever since because no one's gonna pay for nonexistent product. Just fucking brilliant.