Fans Snub Fox’s Massive Achievement as They Declare NASCAR Has “Lost It’s Identity Completely”

Published 06/18/2023, 1:58 PM EDT

Fox Sports has been covering NASCAR races for over 20 years. The media giant has even bagged the prestigious Emmy Awards 13 times for their NASCAR coverage. Under the present contract, Fox Sports hold broadcasting rights for the first 16 NASCAR Cup Series races, including exclusive rights to the famed Daytona 500. The previous contract with NASCAR ended in 2022, and Fox Sports extended its contract in 2023, adding 2 more years of entertaining coverage.

Fox Sports 2023 NASCAR coverage ended at Sonoma, and fans haven’t been very appreciative of how Fox has been conducting its NASCAR coverage in recent years. NASCAR viewership soared to great heights in 2022 after a four-year slump. But viewership numbers have plummeted again this season, and fans have their fingers trained on Fox Sports’ erratic and advertisement-laden broadcasts.

Is Fox to blame for the lower viewership count?

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Going by social media reactions, this year’s NASCAR coverage was disappointing, to say the least. While viewers’ anger at excessive ads was palpable right from the race at Daytona, things kept getting worse and came to a head at the Sonoma road course race.

The telecast was plagued by ads frequently and the sudden random cutaways didn’t help Fox’s case either. At one point during the race, one of the commentators said that the upcoming section would be sponsored by Toyota and hence, would remain commercial-free. It was not to be. Moments after this announcement, the live broadcast was obstructed by commercials.

Play-by-play Fox announcer, Mike Joy even made a comical gaffe, confusing Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin for Martin Truex Jr, while talking about the 2016 Cup race in Sonoma. Following the conclusion of Fox Sports 2023 NASCAR coverage, SBJ’s Adam Stern posted viewership numbers on Twitter.

Revealing that viewership numbers were down by 10% from last year, Stern wrote, “@FoxSports finished its portion of the 2023 @NASCAR Cup Series schedule with an average of 3.315 million viewers per event, down 10% from 2022. NASCAR was the No. 1 or No. 2 sport of the weekend on U.S. TV nine times for the first half this year, one better than last season.”

As Stern released the alarming drop in viewers per event count, discontent fans slammed Fox Sports coverage for being too woke.

You’ll eventually have nothing: Fans bash NASCAR and Fox Sports for the sport losing face

Fans worldwide were disgruntled at Fox Sports’ nonchalant attitude towards the sport. Many fans responded to Adam Stern’s Twitter post, citing Fox Sports and NASCAR’s ‘woke’ behavior to be the reason for the decline in viewership.

.@FoxSports finished its portion of the 2023 @NASCAR Cup Series schedule with an average of 3.315 million viewers per event, down 10% from 2022.
🔲 NASCAR was the No. 1 or No. 2 sport of the weekend on U.S. TV nine times for the first half this year, one better than last season. pic.twitter.com/CxjrDpHkW1
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) June 17, 2023

Slamming Fox and NASCAR on Twitter, some fans wrote, “Great job NASCAR. Continue going woke and you’ll eventually have nothing left” and “That woke stuff got in the way”. Here are some more comments from disheartened fans.

“@NASCARONFOX has to improve the broadcast quality, and it goes much deeper than the ridiculous ad time and goofy personalities not taking the sport seriously”

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“Fox Sports like Fox News missed out because of trying gimmicks”

“[…] the sport has lost its identity completely. The TV networks don’t do features on the drivers anymore. It’s just become one big corporate s*** show”

“Fox Sports like Fox News missed out because of trying gimmicks, someone needs to look at old Speed coverage and try to replicate it!”

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Watch This Story: Dale Earnhardt Jr Criticizes-NASCAR’s Rule Change After Anticlimactic Sonoma Race

What are your views on Fox Sports 2023 NASCAR telecast? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Naman Neeraj is a NASCAR Author at EssentiallySports. This Motorsports buff has completed his undergrad in English Literature and has now set out to make a name for himself in the journalism field. Although he is new to the scene, he has been following motorsports for over a decade.

Edited by:

Nischal Kandpal

Fans Snub Fox’s Massive Achievement as They Declare NASCAR Has “Lost It’s Identity Completely”

Is Fox to blame for the lower viewership count?

You’ll eventually have nothing: Fans bash NASCAR and Fox Sports for the sport losing face

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