The Jury is out on NASCAR viewership; it’s down and falling. From fans criticizing the current playoff format to heated driver feuds and even team owners clashing with the series itself, like NASCAR versus 23XI Racing lawsuit, challenges keep popping up. But when fans start pulling away, now that’s a real red flag because no sport thrives without them. And from recent times, viewership has been dipping in NASCAR, sparking debates on reasons like the playoff format, the average fan’s age, track choices, and race scheduling. But what went wrong? The numbers show a significant dip, and fans might have the answer.

One factor keeps coming up in these talks: the broadcasters’ handling of NASCAR’s massive media deal. As races get split across FOX, NBC, Warner Bros., Discovery, and Amazon, these broadcasters decide how fans access the action and what it costs them. Take the recent Kansas race—Jeff Gluck’s poll showed about 91% of fans rated it as good, yet viewership fell. Similar dips hit other playoff races, like the round of 12 opener at New Hampshire, with only 1.29 million viewers. So let’s try to find out if these billion-dollar partners are really responsible and how the fans’ anger is justified.

The media partners of NASCAR are the source of its problems with viewership in the 2025 playoffs because they have a considerable influence on the distribution of races to viewers, which they spend billions of dollars on. The 7-year contract is over a total of $7.7 billion, with an average of $1.1 billion per year, divided between FOX, NBC, Amazon Prime, and TNT Sports; still, this has resulted in accessibility problems and a drop in numbers.

In an example, as an X post of Jeff Gluck shows, the Kansas playoff race on USA Network only reached 1.49 million viewers, compared to 1.79 million in 2024, and the New Hampshire opener was also only 1.29 million, compared to 1.88 million the previous year. In-house rivalries, such as the current contract war between NBCUniversal and YouTube TV, are at risk of causing blackouts to major races, forcing fans to scramble and damaging engagement.

NASCAR got 1.49 million viewers for the Kansas Cup Series race on Sunday.

Last year: 1.79 million.

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) September 30, 2025

Jeff Gluck, in a chat with Jordan Bianchi on The Teardown podcast, pointed out the networks’ influence, saying, “They have a huge seat at the table. They’re paying a billion-plus dollars.” This underscores how broadcasters, while funding the sport heavily, often defer big decisions back to NASCAR.

Gluck added, paraphrasing NBC’s stance: “And NBC, I’m paraphrasing from what I understand, essentially told them, ‘Hey, you guys do what’s best for the sport.’ Okay?” This hands-off approach stems from networks prioritizing their bottom lines amid shifting viewer habits, but it leaves NASCAR to fix issues like poor scheduling against NFL games. Danielle Trotta echoed this on the Stacking Pennies podcast, noting, “Well, I think going up against the NFL is really tough. You know, I think they were down what year over year was a 19 to a one.”

Her comment highlights the brutal competition, where NASCAR’s 1.0 rating pales against NFL juggernauts, a problem amplified by broadcasters slotting races on cable like USA instead of over-the-air channels. These insights show how the partners’ strategies, from divided rights to minimal input on fixes, contribute to the slide. But fans aren’t staying quiet about it.

What fans are saying about the viewership crisis

One fan summed up the confusion perfectly: “Nobody that watches the NFL has to look up or keep track of what network/s are broadcasting the games. The need to clean this up, a lot.” This frustration stems from NASCAR’s scattered schedule across multiple platforms, unlike the NFL‘s consistent spots on major networks like CBS and FOX. In 2025, only a handful of Cup races aired on broadcast TV, forcing viewers to juggle subscriptions for USA, TNT, and streaming services.

This setup, born from the $7.7 billion deal aiming to modernize reach, instead alienates casual fans who miss races due to the hassle, as seen in Reddit threads where users report giving up mid-season.

Shifting focus to promotion efforts, another viewer highlighted a key shortfall. They said, “I again am going to point at the lacking of marketing by NBC into these dips as a major factor. For all the crap we give FOX for their broadcasting, and rightfully so imo, they at least try to market their sporting events way more than NBC ever has.”

NBC’s minimal ads during non-racing programming contrast with FOX’s aggressive pushes, like cross-promos in NFL broadcasts, raised questions. This lack, tied to NBC’s focus on broader content like the Olympics, has a real impact—playoff races on USA saw drops partly because potential viewers weren’t aware, echoing complaints after the Kansas event where hype fell flat despite the race’s quality.

“There have been two races on network TV since March. If this sport continues to be used as nothing more than a crutch for the dying medium that is cable, there is no playoff change, horsepower increase, or branding initiative that will matter in terms of sustaining an audience. There’s no upward path in a room where the ceiling is collapsing,” one commenter noted.

With 23 races on cable and five on streaming in 2025, accessibility suffers, especially as cord-cutting rises. This mirrors broader trends where sports like MLB see boosts from broadcast shifts, but NASCAR’s reliance on USA and TNT has led to historic lows, like New Hampshire’s numbers, pushing loyal fans to illegal streams or simply tuning out.

Compare that to other series, and the contrast stings even more. A fan observed, “So IndyCar saw an uptick for almost all their broadcasts after having every race on FOX, whereas NASCAR is bleeding viewers after having 2/3s of its schedule on cable/streaming. Gee, I wonder why nobody is watching races on USA Network or TNT?”

IndyCar’s 2025 move to all-FOX coverage lifted averages by 27%, drawing in broader audiences without paywalls. NASCAR’s split, meant to tap new demographics via Amazon and TNT, backfired amid low awareness, as evidenced by fan forums decrying hidden gems like the dramatic Kansas finish that fewer saw live.

Amid these woes, access threats loom larger with ongoing disputes. “I’m wondering how bad the next two weeks are going to be if NBCUniversaland YouTube TV don’t come to an agreement,” a worried fan posted. This refers to the carriage battle risking blackouts for ~9.4 million subscribers, right during playoffs. Past spats, like 2024’s similar NBC-YouTube TV talks, disrupted events and dropped viewership by up to 20% in affected areas, underscoring how such corporate fights erode trust and push fans toward alternatives, further hurting the sport’s growth.