The Fox Sports division of US network Fox is seeking to expand its current rights deal with the Nascar motor-racing series, according to the Charlotte Observer newspaper.
In October, Fox Sports sealed an eight-year rights extension, from 2015 to 2022, for coverage of Nascar events.
The deal involved the flagship Daytona 500 race and 12 other races from the top-tier Sprint Cup competition every year, as well as other Nascar events such as the Sprint All-Star Race, the Daytona Shootout, the Duel at Daytona and the entire lower-tier Camping World Truck series.
Fox is now said to be holding talks to broadcast at least half of the second-tier Nationwide Series as well as adding some additional Sprint Cup races beyond its current extension.
The newspaper said that Fox is seeking to add some of the Sprint Cup races broadcast by pay-television channel TNT to its line-up and would like to broadcast the Nationwide Series during the same period on the schedule. New national sports channel Fox Sports 1, which is set to launch in August, could broadcast the Nationwide races.
The ABC network and sports broadcaster ESPN currently hold the rights to the entire Nationwide Series schedule under eight-year deals, from 2007 to 2014. The two broadcasters are expected to begin negotiations with Nascar over a contract extension by next month.