Versus will also air at least 10 hours per season of IRL- related programming other than racing, the IRL said in a statement. The deal with Versus is valued at $60 million, the New York Times reported today, without saying where it got the information.
ABC will air the series' flagship Indianapolis 500 race and four other races. ESPN, which is also owned by Disney, will give up the rights to the non-ABC races at the end of the season.
``We couldn't be happier,'' said Tony George, the founder and chief executive officer of the IRL. ``We have the opportunity to team up with our media partners and really capitalize on unification and the three-year Indianapolis Motor Speedway Centennial Celebration.''
The IRL gained participants and higher television ratings after it absorbed rival open-wheel racing league Champ Car World Series at the beginning of the season. Ratings for this year's race rose 7 percent to a 4.6 rating for the Indianapolis 500 in May, according to Nielsen. Nascar's Coca-Cola 600 race, which aired the same day, garnered a 4.7 rating.
The deal will give the IRL two fewer races on ABC than it had this year's seven. That could create a near-term challenge for the racing league, said Eric Wright, vice president of Joyce Julius & Associates in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a consultant that measures the value of sports sponsorships.
``Any time you lose a broadcast network it puts sponsors at a bit of a disadvantage,'' Wright said. ``A lot depends on how far Versus wants to go to promote the series.''
ABC and ESPN are also part of an eight-year, $4.5 billion with News Corp.'s Fox and Time Warner Inc.'s Turner Sports to broadcast Nascar races.