DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR announced today that it's adding a "first-of-its-kind" in-season tournament for the Cup Series in 2025.
The seeding for the bracket-style head-to-head event across TNT Sports’ full five-race schedule will be set by results from the final three races that will air on Prime Video. The winner will received a $1 million cash prize.
“With the launch of our new media rights partnerships in 2025, we were excited to partner with Prime Video and TNT Sports to collaborate on fan engagement concepts that drive storylines in our sport and innovation from a production perspective,” said Brian Herbst, NASCAR SVP, Media and Productions. “The idea of an in-season tournament has been discussed within the NASCAR industry and as we started to focus on adding promotional elements that drive interest throughout the season, we were excited by the opportunity to leverage the marketing weight of Amazon and TNT Sports to bring this concept to life.
“Having head-to-head driver matchups for each one of TNT’s NASCAR Cup Series races will add a compelling fan engagement element across media platforms like TNT, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights, and NASCAR digital platforms.”
All drivers are eligible for the seeding races, which will take place during the final three races of Prime Video’s coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series. The top 32 drivers, based on the seeding events, will become eligible for the in-season tournament competition. Bracket seeding will be established by the best finish in each race over the three races, with the tiebreakers determined by the next-best finish, followed by season points position.
The tournament kicks off with the first event in the TNT Sports portion of the NASCAR Cup Series season. Drivers will compete head-to-head, with the higher-finishing driver of each race advancing over five rounds. The winner of the tournament will receive a $1 million prize.
“It’s never been a better time to be a fan of motorsports, and this new first-ever in-season tournament will bring a new competitive dynamic to NASCAR’s summer race weekends,” said Craig Barry, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, TNT Sports. “TNT Sports has always been at the forefront of creativity and innovation, and NASCAR is a perfect partner to bring this vision to life across our networks and platforms.”
“We’re excited to be part of NASCAR’s first in-season tournament next season,” said Charlie Neiman, Head of Sports Partnerships, Prime Video. “This tournament will showcase the league’s ability to drive innovation and engage fans with increased competition during a key part of the NASCAR schedule.”
In November 2023, NASCAR reached new seven-year media rights agreements for the NASCAR Cup Series with four best-in-class distribution partners – FOX Sports, NBC Sports, Amazon’s Prime Video and TNT Sports, a division of Warner Bros. Discovery – to deliver live coverage of all 38 NASCAR Cup Series races, beginning in 2025 and extending through the 2031 season.
Prime Video and TNT Sports will evenly split a series of 10 midseason races. Both also own the exclusive rights to select practice and qualifying sessions for the NASCAR Cup Series schedule through 2031.
NASCAR’s first fully direct-to-consumer partner, Prime Video, will stream practice and qualifying live for the first half of the season through their last race of the midseason series with the exceptions of the Busch Light Clash, DAYTONA 500® and NASCAR All-Star Race™, which remain on FOX Sports.
TNT Sports will initiate its coverage with the next five midseason races, all part of the NASCAR Cup Series in-season tournament, simultaneously broadcast live on TNT and streaming on the B/R Sports Add-On on Max. Practice and qualifying for the remainder of the season will stream on Max and air on truTV.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2024/5/1242379/nascar-to-launch-in-season-tournament-to-2025-cup-schedule