TSN and NASCAR Sign Multiple Long-Term Agreements

TSN and NASCAR have signed a series of multi-year agreements involving broadcast rights and the continued partnership of NASCAR Canada, it was announced today by Phil King, President, TSN and Robbie Weiss, Managing Director, NASCAR International.

The deals, two of which are extensions of current agreements, are as follows:
An extension through 2010 for broadcast rights to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, including the series’ crown jewel, the
Daytona 500.
An extension through 2015 for the continued partnership of NASCAR Canada, a joint venture of TSN and NASCAR. NASCAR Canada will continue to oversee NASCAR’s business and marketing initiatives in

Canada including sponsorship and licensing, national marketing initiatives, communications and multi-platform media sales.
An agreement through 2015 for NASCAR Canada to also serve as the sales and marketing agent for the newly-formed NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

Today’s announcement precedes Sunday’s

Daytona 500
, NASCAR’s biggest race (2:30 p.m. ET on TSN and TSN HD) and follows two other multi-year broadcast deals announced last month: the NASCAR Busch Series (all 35 races annually including the inaugural NASCAR Busch Series race in Montreal) and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (12 one-hour broadcasts).

“This agreement represents TSN’s long-term commitment to NASCAR,” said King. “NASCAR has a loyal following and rising fan base in

Canada, and as a result, has delivered strong NASCAR audiences on TSN, which have more than doubled in the past 10 years.”

“NASCAR is fully committed to our Canadian fans and to growing interest in the sport throughout

Canada. We are fortunate to have a great partner in TSN to support the full integration of NASCAR into the Canadian sports market,” said Weiss.

Added Randy Paul, Managing Director, NASCAR Canada: “NASCAR Canada has developed proven marketing and communication solutions for Canadian companies. These assets consist of sponsorship and licensing platforms as well as access to real racing assets at both the grassroots and national levels.”

TSN has been televising NASCAR since 1986. The network’s all-encompassing NASCAR coverage this season includes 28 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races and qualifying, 35 NASCAR Busch Series races, and 12 one-hour NASCAR Canadian Tire Series broadcasts featuring racing action from each series event. All NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races and the majority of NASCAR Busch Series races are available in High Definition on TSN HD.

NASCAR is the No. 1 televised motorsport series on television in

Canada. Last year’s

Daytona 500
was the most watched motorsport race in TSN history with a national audience of 568,000 viewers.

NASCAR has a long and celebrated history in

Canada, having held sanctioned events in many different NASCAR divisions dating back to the 1950s. In 2007, NASCAR will continue to support Canadian motorsports with three main initiatives: a first-ever NASCAR Busch Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series at circuits throughout Canada, and the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series races in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.

This NASCAR announcement is the latest in a long line of landmark multimedia deals and key acquisitions TSN has reached in the last year, fortifying the network’s position as

Canada’s Sports Leader.

Below is an outline of TSN’s recent broadcast and digital rights announcements:

NASCAR Busch Series
– multi-year broadcast agreement for all 35 races annually, beginning 2007 and including the first ever NASCAR Busch Series race in

Montreal (announced Jan 2007)

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
– multi-year broadcast agreement for the newly-formed 12-race series, beginning 2007 (Jan 2007)

CFL
– 5-year broadcast and digital rights agreement (2008-2012) for all 77 CFL games annually including all regular season games, the divisional playoffs and the Grey Cup (Dec 2006)

EURO 2008
– broadcast and digital rights agreement (Dec 2006)

NBA
– 2-year broadcast extension through 2007/08 (Oct 2006), including exclusive Canadian coverage of the NBA Finals

PGA TOUR
– 4-year broadcast extension (2007-2010), which includes the most prestigious golf event held in Canada, The 2007 Presidents Cup in Montreal (Oct 2006)

NFL Thursday/Saturday package
– 3-year broadcast deal for eight game package, complementing TSN’s coverage of Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football (July 2006)

Men’s World Hockey Championship
– 4-year extension through 2011 for broadcast and digital rights (July 2006)

Canadian Curling Association
– 6-year broadcast and digital rights agreement (2008/09-2013/14) to all eight Season of Champions events, including the semis and finals and the return of morning draws (June 2006)

Hockey

Canada
– 7-year extension through 2014 for broadcast and digital rights to 11 key tournaments, including the IIHF World Junior Championship (Jan 2006)