SMI President Goes Against Fans’ Sentiments as He Backs NASCAR’s $7.7 Billion Broadcast Deal With Bold Claim

It is not new information that NASCAR’s viewership has been in a gradual decline. For instance, the grand finale of the 2023 Cup Series averaged 3 million viewers, its lowest ever number since 2004, despite Ross Chastain‘s antics to deny the champion, Ryan Blaney, a win. Apart from the sanctioning body’s inaugural street race at Downtown Chicago that broke all records, becoming the most viewed Cup series event on NBC in 6 years, the sport and its viewership have taken a hit despite the organization’s best efforts.

But, according to latest reports, NASCAR is on to a whole new strategy here. As per sources, the organization is planning to adopt a new streaming schedule by bringing in partners like Amazon Prime and Warner Bros. Discovery. However, this move might be seen as defiance given the community’s criticism. But more importantly, will the organization strangle its own child in pursuit of new horizons or will this be a decisive move that will get NASCAR back in the game?

Speedway Motorsports’ higher-up goes against the grain backing the billion-dollar broadcast deal

The answer to the above question is simple, one that can only be answered by time. Amidst the rising tides of obscurity, NASCAR is going all in on its 7.7 billion dollar broadcast deal in an effort to stay afloat. The organization, on Wednesday, announced it has added 2 streaming partners as part of a 7-year media rights deal starting from 2025 till 2031.

In an official statement, the Chief Executive Officer of Speedway Motorsports, Marcus Smith despite the opposing fan sentiments said, “The new broadcast agreements show that NASCAR continues to be powerful property in the sports media landscape, not only on traditional broadcast television, but now with additional streaming and digital platforms.”

He further added, “Our sport continues to be anchored with longtime partners FOX and NBC, and we will now form new alliances with aggressive partners like TNT Sports, the CW as previously announced, and an emerging sports broadcaster like Amazon Prime Video. NASCAR will have an opportunity to reach fans like never before. We are grateful for NASCAR’s hard work on an agreement that benefits all stakeholders and fans of our sport.”

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NASCAR President delivers his take despite fans voicing their displeasure

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Fans are the ones that make or break any promotion, series, or faction. They have the power to bring a downtrodden promotion into the limelight if things are in conjunction with their ideals and wishes. The polar opposite is also possible if the fandom gets into a confrontation with the organization.

Now the pretext of the whole statement is the precarious position NASCAR has got itself in. Just to analyze the fan sentiment, let us take a look at a reply from the above tweet. Reacting to Smith’s statement, a fan commented, “The problem is not everyone is willing to spend money on other forms of streaming. If NASCAR utilized their app in a more fluid situation, they could have their own streaming platform and have sponsors buy into it.”

Now this is one aspect that has the entire community anxious about. Even though the organization plans to continue its operations with its broadcasting partners, Fox Sports & NBC, splitting the mid-season into 2 for live streaming isn’t something that sits well with the fans. Moreover, a major chunk of the community likes to watch the action on a television, which they have invested in along with exorbitant cable packages.

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However, it looks like the organization is eagerly looking forward to try out its new strategy. Steve Phelps, the NASCAR President in his statement according to ESPN, said, “We are super excited about what 2025 is going to bring to us because of where the distribution that we now have across air, which is a combination of obviously broadcast, cable and streaming. We want to meet race fans where they are or potentially where they are. We think this group does exactly that for us.”

With clashing opinions from the NASCAR management and fans, there’s nothing for sure that can be said. Whether the media rights deal will succeed in attracting the much needed viewership or not, is something we’ll have to leave to the future to know.