NASCAR certainly bagged a good TV deal for the next seven years at the Cup level. With a windfall of $7.7 billion, the Cup Series will see a mix of TV and streaming giants take the reins of broadcasting action. On the Xfinity side, the sanctioning body also inked a historic deal, as for the first time in the series’ history, fans will be able to watch the races for free.

CW partnered with NASCAR to bring about a massive change in how fans engage with the Xfinity Series. The Nextsar-owned network even showed a sign of goodwill as they agreed to jump into action early as NBC took the exit door in completing the 2024 broadcasting commitment. CW took charge of the situation and is now airing the playoff races before its full-year stint starts next year.

However, the recent developments at CW have been worrying, especially for NASCAR fans. It started with the idea of shifting the race booth to a remote setup, and now it’s come with Dennis Miller’s exit from the network. According to a report by Awful Announcing, CW President Miller is expected to make way for Brad Schwartz. This is indeed a big shakeup given that Miller has been the brains behind the network’s push toward covering live sports. He helped CW to add the likes of LIV Golf, College Football, WWE NXT, and also NASCAR.

Despite the success, it looks like CW is looking to follow the industry-wide trend of cost-cutting. Earlier in the year, Nexstar let go of its chief revenue officer, Michael Strober, and now Dennis Miller’s exit seems to be a part of that plan. In August, Nextstar announced that they had reduced year-over-year losses at CW by $33 million as they are looking to turn a corner for good in becoming profitable.

While it’s just a change in the hierarchy level at the CW network, these drastic changes have sparked concerns amongst the NASCAR community. Learning about these developments, fans started discussing these topics on social media. Trying to make sense of how these changes could affect Xfinity Series broadcasting from next year.

Is the Xfinity Series broadcasting in the right hands at CW?

As noted above, this deal between NASCAR and CW is indeed a game-changer. Although the Nextsar coffers will incur a hit of $800 million for the next seven, the fans are the absolute winners in this deal. Free Xfinity racing action—now that is a first. This is why these sudden changes in the network have left a few fans worried. “Hopefully this doesn’t change anything, but the fact that local CW affiliates keep choosing to not air the races in certain markets is enough to have me concerned about CW going forward for NASCAR fans. I hope they don’t regret making this deal.”

It can be tough to endure NASCAR Truck Series races on FOX Sports. Random camera angles, remote booths, and most frustrating of all—commercial breaks every 5 laps or so. Although the shift at CW has ruffled a few feathers, this fan was hoping they would take over the Truck Series’ coverage as well. “Hopefully it doesn’t result in a strategy change. IMO, the Xfinity series has the best TV deal now. Wish the CW would pick up the truck series.”

The current issue that the fans are facing with the playoffs race is not being able to stream the races live. Although the CW has a streaming app, currently they are streaming the races a day after the actual event. Moreover, there’s confusion around the TV stations that air the races live. Trying to connect these issues with the current scenarios, this race fan was feeling pessimistic about the next year’s operations at CW. “i’m feeling less and less optimistic about this deal each day.”

There were reports that CW is planning to shift the broadcasting booth to a remote facility in Charlotte next year. Not only the fans, but even Dale Earnhardt Jr. was against this idea. “I hope they do not,” he wrote this via X. Concerned with the way things are operating at Nextstar Media, a user on Reddit highlighted this concern ahead of the 2025 season. “They want to not send the booth to the track too.”

Although the network is expected to stream the races live on their apps from next year onwards, there’s a catch. The younger generation feels that while the broadcast is free, the races might not stream live on the app. Forcing them to shift to TV set-ups, and in the era of streaming and wireless connection. “I’m skeptical that’ll happen- CW has never streamed anything live and if they didn’t for college football, I’m doubting they will for nascar. Dunno if it’s an infrastructure problem or part of their ad strategy to force you onto broadcast.”

What’s your take on major changes at CW and how it might affect NASCAR Xfinity races next year?