NBC will become the official home of the Verizon IndyCar Series starting in 2019, the racing series has confirmed.

The deal concludes more than a year of discussions between the series and a variety of television outlets. Over the last 10 years, IndyCar has split its broadcast offerings between two of the big three networks as ABC/ESPN and NBC/NBCSN have held separate contracts to air America’s oldest racing series.

With both contracts set to expire at the end of 2018, consolidating IndyCar’s TV presence to a single outlet has been the main priority expressed by series CEO Mark Miles. The achievement of another goal, which is also expected to be revealed in the announcement, is shifting a greater percentage of IndyCar races from cable to the prized network channel. The current TV schedule has ABC airing five network races, including the Indy 500, and NBCSN presenting the other 12 on cable.

Although IndyCar’s Nielsen ratings on NBCSN have been on a steady rise in recent years, the wider audience available on NBC will provide increased ratings figures and generate more value for sponsors. News on IndyCar's digital broadcast rights—its live streaming offerings, and where they will be available—could also be part of the announcement. Based on chatter within the paddock, the new contract could place IndyCar on NBC for between eight and 10 races per year, which would add to the other positive trends for the open-wheel series.

The introduction of sleek new bodywork for the 2018 season was met with universal praise, and with an influx of new teams and talented rookie drivers, capping the momentum with IndyCar’s healthiest TV package in a decade should give the series plenty of ammunition to regain some of the market share captured by NASCAR.

The deal also bolsters NBC/NBCSN’s position as a leader in motorsports programming. Despite losing Formula 1 to ESPN during the offseason, its ongoing role as the home for NASCAR during the second half of its championship run, the upcoming full-time home for IndyCar, the existing home for IndyCar’s top feeder series Indy Lights, the Global Rallycross series, and other special events has the broadcaster queued up for countless hours of content.

May’s 102nd running of the Indy 500 will mark the 54th time it will be aired by ABC, and last for the foreseeable future.

Ed. Note: This story was originally published on 3/20/2018 at 8pm. It has been updated now that the network decision has been made official.

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