The Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium lived up to the hype, and Fox made the most of it. Just check out the numbers: 3.08 million viewers tuned in, way up from 1.51 million last year when the event was held at the Coliseum. While the numbers are awesome, fans aren’t exactly thrilled about how the race was broadcast. Fox Sports has taken some serious heat for how the race was shown. Complaints range from tight shots on drivers to focusing way too much on the lead car and even staying locked in on just one driver for too long. Fans were hoping for a wider view of the track to capture the full experience.

Let’s hope Fox listens and delivers better coverage for the Daytona 500 and the other 12 races on their schedule. They might be extra motivated now that they’ve announced their big plans for the future!

Fox Sports is bringing some big!

2024 was supposed to be a huge year for Fox. The company had big plans to launch Venu Sports, a joint venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery designed to bring all of their sports content together on one platform. But things didn’t go as planned. FuboTV sued them for being anti-competitive, and the court sided with Fubo, shutting down Venu Sports.

The idea was that people with cable could access all the Fox Sports content, and those who didn’t have cable would get access through Venu Sports. But now that it’s off the table, IndyCar fans were left wondering what’s next. The good news? According to a RACER report, Fox has announced a new, dedicated streaming service that will include all IndyCar races, as well as Fox Sports 1 and 2 cable channels, plus practices, qualifying, and even the Indy NXT series!

This is big news for the Roger Penske-owned series! Fox has bagged the rights to broadcast the entire IndyCar Series and the famed Indianapolis 500 in 2025. With Fox expanding its reach with the streaming service, the sport stands to benefit, bringing even more eyes to IndyCar.

Fox’s goals with their new streaming plan are similar to what they hoped to do with Venu, “We’re huge supporters of the traditional cable bundle, and we always will be. But having said that, we do want to reach consumers wherever they are, and there’s a large population, obviously, that are now outside of the traditional cable bundle. We’re very pleased with this trend of the bundle. It’s financially, economically positive for us. We would hope that this bundle will be attractive to the cordless customers – the cord-cutters and cord-nevers.”

As the cable TV subscriptions go down, FOX has to tap where they are going, which is on streaming platforms. However, the exact date of launch and what the streaming service will be priced at hasn’t been revealed. However, one thing is certain: it will be launched by the end of this year. While the network is venturing into the streaming industry, they have assured that “the traditional bundle as still the most value for our consumers and the most value for the company.” But still, this move was almost inevitable.

Trending

1

NASCAR Rumors: $41B Japanese Giant to Outrun Dodge to Become NASCAR’s 4th Manufacturer Days After New Reports

2

“I’d Have Smacked Him”: NASCAR Veteran Sends a Strong Message to Defend Dale Earnhardt Jr. Against Fans’ Hate

3

Ryan Blaney Snatches Up $70 Billion Sponsor as They Leave Struggling F1 Team in the Dumps

4

Roger Penske’s Final Hopes Slipping Away as NASCAR Fans Prepare for Honda

5

Pressured by Brad Keselowski, Roger Penske Spills Truth on Reviving Joey Logano’s NASCAR Career

Fox Sports entering a new territory

It’s no secret that users of cable TV are reducing by the day. In fact, there are now only around 70 million in the U.S. And the number continues to decline at a rate of nearly 10% a year. So the network, which has always stayed away from streaming, is now quickly getting on board. Well, they have Tubi, but according to the RACER report, Tubi will be deployed on select instances for major sporting events – likely the Indianapolis 500 – but not as a full-time outlet for all of its sporting content.

If you recall, they have also recently launched a FAST (Free-Ad Supported Television) on Tubi for exclusive NASCAR content. They promised to show repeat telecasts of races, old races, NASCAR documentaries, and much more. This is them taking steps into the streaming world. And Fox is not exactly new in the streaming world, Fox Nation, which has Fox News content, already has more than 2 million subscribers, and it’s paid, unlike Tubi.

While Fox is a loved brand with huge popularity, the streaming space is already so cluttered and competitive that they would have to tread lightly and mindfully. And they are also a flux of free pirated streaming services, which is a huge competition to the paid ones.

What do you think about their streaming service plan? Would it succeed? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.