Industry chatter in recent months has suggested there could be a growing rift between Fox Sports and NASCAR. However, both sides have downplayed those rumors, insisting that their long-standing partnership remains strong. According to a report by Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal, some questions have surfaced within NASCAR circles as FOX has recently poured significant promotional effort into the IndyCar Series. 

Apparently, the NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was aired on Fox Sports 1, the network’s secondary channel, while the weekend’s IndyCar Series race was broadcast on the main one. To make things worse, viewers noticed that the next program scheduled on the main channel wasn’t another major sporting event but an episode of Bassmaster Fishing.

Interestingly, this comes after both organisations have insisted there is no strain in their relationship.

“We’re in a great place with NASCAR,” Jordan Bazant, executive vice president of Fox Sports, said in a recent statement to Sports Business Journal. “We’ve had a lot of success together for more than 25 years, and the sign of any strong partnership is the ability to keep having the conversations needed to improve and move things forward.”

Executives from NASCAR, on the other hand, have echoed a similar sentiment. The sport’s executive vice president and chief media and revenue officer, Brian Herbst, also highlighted NASCAR’s appreciation for FOX. He noted that the network has been part of every NASCAR media rights cycle since the sport first began negotiating television deals.

“We’re extraordinarily proud of our relationship with FOX. They are our most long-standing broadcast partner, and they’re the only broadcast partner that has been a part of every single one of NASCAR’s media rights cycles,” Herbst said.

Notably, netizens recently noticed that FOX continued to show advertisements even during the short stage racing, as little as 30 minutes, and the frequency rose as much as four times. A section of fans pointed out that there have been advertisements every five laps, making the race “unwatchable” due to the distraction.

Fans highly believe Fox Sports has started giving more attention to the IndyCar Series after acquiring a minority stake in the competition owned by Roger Penske. Reports suggest FOX has stepped up its investment and promotional efforts to boost IndyCar’s visibility, a move that hasn’t gone unnoticed by NASCAR fans, some of whom feel the network may be shifting its priorities.

NASCAR community slams FOX for sabotaging NASCAR

The biggest question that lies in everyone’s mind currently is, “Genuinely HOW does fishing get a big Fox time slot?” But there seems to be a proper explanation for the same. And it is all related to the money that NASCAR gets paid by FOX.

“Yes, NASCAR is getting paid really, really good money to be on FS1. Bass Fishing has to do all their own production at their expense, and Fox gives them a very tiny cut of the ad revenue.”

This same concept was explained on a much more detailed scale by one of the other fans. “Because somehow FOX feels the need to keep FS1 around, and what do they do to keep it relevant? Put NASCAR on it because they know people will watch.

“And they pay a load to NASCAR for it. NASCAR execs have also sold the product for money rather than eyeballs. Bassmaster just needs exposure.”

Nevertheless, at the end of the day, the only thing that fans can think about is—”This TV deal sucks a**. I genuinely hope FOX is gone after this deal runs out.”

For now, the explanations about the FOX and NASCAR deal make it seem like NASCAR is earning enough from their broadcast to not care about getting sidelined on their network. So it is likely that they might still work with FOX, albeit on a smaller scale than before.