Prime Video takes over coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series starting this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. These plans include the removal of full-screen commercials.
According to the announcement, NASCAR's new streaming partner will provide end-to-end live coverage of green flag racing. The broadcast will use the double-box commercial format so that viewers don't miss any big moments on the track.
This is an approach that Fox Sports and NBC Sports have used at times during their respective portions of the season, but Prime Video will fully utilize it for its five-race schedule.
"As we were watching racing, thinking about how we want our coverage to be, we thought it was critically important to show green flag racing the entire stretch, never miss a thing," Prime Video Senior Coordinating Producer Alex Strand told media members on Monday. "We mobilized a ton of internal Amazon groups to make that possible.
"It's been a ton of hard work, but we're really excited to be bringing double-box commercials for all green flag racing, so no fans at home are going to miss a thing. And that was really important to us, and that's one of those things that most people won't know how much effort went in.
"But you talk about our operations team and the team under the hood, there's just a lot of people working on things that might not be the sexiest thing to sort of present to the universe, but they make the experience better."
Additionally, Prime Video revealed that it will have multiple methods for fans to get up to speed with anything they may have missed. The first is Key Moments, which will create an on-demand database of in-race highlights and flag changes. If a viewer wants to know the reason for a specific caution, they can go back and find that exact moment.
Viewers who missed the start of the race can get up to speed with Rapid Recap. They can watch a recap filled with highlights of big moments that happened before they turned on the livestream. This recap will last no longer than two minutes before dropping viewers into live coverage of the race.
How will Prime Video capture all of these highlights? According to a press release, the streamer will have more than 70 cameras at the track. This includes in-car and POV cameras with mics. A drone patrolling the skies will also capture unique angles of the on-track action.
With NASCAR's top series moving to a streaming partner for five races, fans will likely have some questions about the quality of the content. After all, another streamer, Netflix, struggled with its live broadcast of a boxing match last year.
Prime Video's answer to these questions is what it calls a Proprietary Ultra-Low-Latency Technology.
"Prime Video and AWS technology combine to create a proprietary, end-to-end livestreaming solution that delivers ultra-low latency, eliminates drift, and ensures synchronization," the press release stated.
"Prime Video delivers streams with unparalleled quality from the track to the screen, with delivery speeds that match and often surpass what fans receive from traditional cable and broadcast networks."
The five-race schedule starts with the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25 (6 p.m. ET). It continues with Nashville Superspeedway on June 1 (7 p.m. ET), Michigan International Speedway on June 8 (2 p.m. ET), Mexico City on June 15 (3 p.m. ET), and Pocono Raceway on June 22 (2 p.m. ET).
A subscription is required to watch the next five races on the Cup Series schedule. A standalone Prime Video subscription is $8.99 per month. A bundle with Amazon Prime is $14.99 per month. A 30-day trial is available.