• Loading stock data...
Wednesday, April 30, 2025

The In-Season Tournament Trend: NASCAR Latest League to Create One

  • The 2025 Cup Series schedule will feature a five-race knockout bracket.
  • One driver will win a $1 million prize.
Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

American sports fans love a bracket, and NASCAR has taken note. 

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule will include a five-race in-season tournament that will see 32 drivers compete for a $1 million prize. Here’s how it will work: In the middle portion of the season, overall performance in three yet-to-be-determined races will seed drivers 1 through 32 for the tournament, meaning all of the sport’s top stars, and then some, should qualify. The ensuing five races will then pit drivers head-to-head based on their seeding, with the higher-finishing driver in each race advancing to the next round. 

Join the Club

With the move, NASCAR becomes just the latest league to hop on the growing trend of repurposing regular-season games and adding meaningful competition outside of the playoffs.

  • WNBA: Commissioner’s Cup, launched in 2021
  • MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX: Leagues Cup, launched in 2023
  • NBA: In-Season Tournament, launched in 2023
  • NASCAR: Will launch its in-season tournament in 2025

From Court to Track

For NASCAR, the move comes just months after the NBA found rousing success with the debut of its own in-season tournament. Both viewership and attendance soared for regular-season games in November as teams battled in the group stage before a knockout round culminated in a final four in Las Vegas. The league wasted no time selling the naming rights to its In-Season Tournament and rebranding it as the Emirates NBA Cup.

NASCAR’s in-season evolution coincides with the commencement of new $7.7 billion media-rights deals that will add Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports, the latter of which broadcast the NBA’s In-Season Tournament along with ESPN, as league broadcast partners. Prime Video will air the seeding races of the in-season tournament, while TNT will get the five knockout races. 

That’s a nice boost for the incoming media companies, especially as NASCAR continues to figure out exactly which races each of its four Cup Series broadcasters will air. “Sometimes you’re able to deliver more to one partner versus another in one part of the year,” NASCAR senior vice president of media and productions Brian Herbst previously told Front Office Sports. “But you want to make sure that you do right by everybody over the course of the term of the partnership.”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

exclusive

Dwyane Wade, Candace Parker Expected to Join Amazon NBA Coverage

Parker would be a studio analyst for both NBA and WNBA games.

NBA Playoffs TV Ratings Surge, With ESPN on Record Pace

The 11 NBA games that aired on ESPN or ABC averaged 4.45 million viewers.

Will Commanders Get Their Stadium? Public Funding Hangs in Balance

The NFL team will have an uphill battle with skeptical council members.
opinion

The Era of Messy NBA Team Sales

The eye-popping Celtics sale to Bill Chisholm is far from wrapped up.

Featured Today

How DJ Adam Amin Mixes Baseball With Bangers

Amin is one of Fox’s top NFL and MLB voices.
Jun 21, 2024; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck holds the Larry O’Brien trophy prior to the Boston Celtics championship parade.
April 27, 2025

The Celtics Succession Plan Remains Murky

The transfer of power to a private-equity group is still unresolved.
April 26, 2025

The Rays Groundskeepers Are Adjusting to Life Outside the Dome

After nearly three decades in a dome, Tampa groundskeepers were forced outside.
April 25, 2025

The Former NBA Agent Who Became a Pickleball Deputy Commissioner

Chris Patrick went from representing Jimmy Butler to pickleball deputy commissioner.
exclusive

WME Looks to Sell Off Baseball Agency Due to Union Pressure

The situation arises as Endeavor is once again a private company.
April 28, 2025

NFL Shifts Spotlight to Schedule Release, 2027 Draft Host Cities

Final preparations are underway for revealing the 2025 schedule.
blue clay tennis court
April 28, 2025

Power Outage Halts Madrid Open Tennis Tournament

The major outage across Spain and Portugal suspended Monday’s matches.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Portfolio Players is our bi-weekly spotlight on the athletes and investors reshaping the business of sports. This week, venture capitalist Kai Cunningham unpacks why athletes land top deals and how the usual investing rules don’t always apply.
April 27, 2025

Green Bay NFL Draft Drew Huge Crowds As Well As TV Ratings

The final turnout smashed projections from the Packers and Green Bay officials.
April 26, 2025

The Fall to Fifth: Browns End NFL Draft Drama for Shedeur Sanders

The Colorado quarterback’s free fall is over.
April 25, 2025

Five QBs Drafted As Shedeur Sanders Slips to Fourth Round

Shedeur Sanders is still waiting after slipping out of the first round.
April 25, 2025

Ohio State’s $20M Roster Sends 7 Players to NFL in First Two..

The NIL-fueled title team had more draftees than all of the Big 12.