NASCAR Outruns Other Sports Including NBA but Falls Short of Its Own Past

Four races into this season and there’s no doubt that NASCAR is on an upward curve in terms of racing action and eyes on the action. Look no further than the packed circuits in Daytona, in Fontana, in Vegas, and more recently, in Phoenix.

In fact, all four of the races so far have earned the title of the most viewed sporting event across the US on that particular weekend.

However, there’s one thing about the viewership numbers that might concern NASCAR fans and the decision-makers. And that is how the sport is outrunning its competition, the other sports, but lagging behind its own numbers from last year.

Journalist Adam Stern recently reported that FOX TV clocked in 3.991 million for the race in Phoenix. But this number was significantly less than last year’s race at this point in the season, in Vegas, which recorded a viewership of 4.396 million.

And “to put that in perspective,” as one comment read on Stern’s tweet, the same race event had 10 million viewers in 2002.

Will the team owners push NASCAR for a bigger share of the pie?

As NASCAR reaches the end of the current broadcasting deal and edges closer to the new one, perhaps with several monumental changes in place, team owners are also keeping their interests in mind.

Because, under the current model, only 10-15% of the total revenue is split between all the teams. And that is something that could be the key argument of team owners or the Racing Team Alliance to put pressure on NASCAR.

This was something spotter Brett Griffin talked about in the recent episode of the Front Bumper Clear podcast. “What the RTA was truly formed for was to go to NASCAR and get more of the media money, the TV money,” Griffin said.

Read More: NASCAR Spotter Calls on Billionaire Owners Rick Hendrick, Roger Penske & Michael Jordan to Take a Stand Amidst Ongoing Debate 

“The question for me here is, ‘Will Rick Hendrick, will Roger Penske, will Gene Haas, will Matt Kaulig, will Michael Jordan…will the billionaires truly stand up and fight this time to get their piece of the revenue share?’”