On July 14th, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) turned rumor to reality and made headlines in the motorsports world with the announcement of its impending departure from ESPN, where Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events have been telecast for the last 14 years, to move to FOX Sports beginning in 2016.

The news was met with resounding applause from the majority of drag racing fans who have become exceedingly agitated with ESPN and it’s bottom-of-the-pecking-order treatment of the NHRA, and despite some skepticism from others, the series’ new television deal appears to be a winner. At worst, it’s a lateral move. And, whether the new television deal was already in the works prior to his promotion to the presidency of the NHRA or not, for new point man Peter Clifford, the announcement instantly established him to the drag racing faithful as a go-getter, ready to swiftly move the organization forward. That the organization reportedly paid a ransom to exit its ESPN contract early shows some serious initiative.

Of course, like many things in life, the NHRA’s new deal with FOX Sports is a matter of tradeoffs. And those tradeoffs were an immediate source of discussion among racing fans on social media and internet forums.

First, is the reach of the FOX Sports 1 (FS1) channel. FS1, which is still in its infancy, is slated to host the majority of NHRA qualifying and eliminations programming. FS1, as you may recall, was borne out of the beloved SPEED Channel, which was purely motorsports and automotive programming. When the announcement came that it was getting the axe in favor of a stick-and-ball sports channel, racing fans around the world were livid. But, in the two years since, FOX Sports 1 has slowly made amends, becoming mainstream cable television’s home for auto racing, hosting a number of major and semi-major racing series in its program lineup. According to public data, the new sports channel reaches 84.8 million American households, or roughly 72.9 percent of all households with a television.

ESPN2 enjoys a slight edge in that department, with 94.3 million households, or around 81 percent of all homes with a television. For our neighbors to the north, drag racing will be available on FOX Sports Racing, which was rebranded from the SPEED Channel. Viewers in the Caribbean will also have access to the programming. ESPN, meanwhile, delivers NHRA programming to a reported 192 countries around the world through various networks. The actual availability is unknown, but it’s worth stating the point that the global reach potential is significant.

The second point is the amount and quality or the programming. And by quality, we mean telecasts that aren’t shown at three in the morning.

The vast amount of programming and scheduling slants this deal heavily in favor of FOX Sports. Via FS1, both Friday and Saturday qualifying will be televised (presumably on tape delay), while 16 eliminations shows—or nearly two-thirds of the 24-race schedule—will be shown live. Four of those Sunday eliminations programs will be shown live on the FOX national network, giving the NHRA visibility on a channel available to any home in the U.S. with so much as a decent antenna attached. Between the original airing and replays, more than 450 hours of NHRA programming is planned for 2016, or nearly four times what ESPN2 will be airing in 2015.

Drag racing fans have, for years, detested ESPN over less-than-desirable air times and a perceived notion of disrespect. This, we must again point out, is a product of the value—or lack thereof—of NHRA drag racing to ESPN. You see, unlike most programming on ESPN in which the network actually pays a handsome fee to broadcast, the NHRA ponies up millions each year for the airtime. This, naturally, places the NHRA well down the pecking order. Anything of greater value to the network than drag racing could, and has, pre-empted it. And with live sporting events taking place on the weekends, it has forced the NHRA into undesirable slots on the schedule. Business is business.

And so, while it’s hard to argue that ESPN delivers a platform that, at least at this moment in time, provides the potential—that is, if drag racing could gain priority airtime—for greater visibility, the new agreement with FOX Sports brings the NHRA out well ahead of where it stands now. More programming in total, four times as many live broadcasts, aired during the afternoon hours, as it happens. While it doesn’t quite harken back to the glory days of TNN and Diamond P Sports, it brings drag racing as close as it may get to it in the 21st century. And with the NHRA set to tackle the production in-house, expect to see some changes for the positive.

For an organization that has seemingly been stuck in reverse for years, this new television deal signals a big leap forward, ushering in a new era and bringing a wave of excitement from drag racing fans who have longed for improved television coverage of the world’s fastest motorsport. Whether or not it all truly pays off remains to be seen, but our hats are off to Peter Clifford and company for refusing to continue down the current path and instead take a chance on the future of the NHRA.