The NASCAR Cup Series has reached new lows this season, with viewership stats plummeting on particular race days. For example, New Hampshire scraped 1.29 million, a 28% drop from 2024’s 1.88 million. Then the 1.87 million viewers of the Pocono event marked a 22% drop from the 2.4 million from last year. These numbers spurred waves of criticism in the garage and the community. Yet those waves did not reach NASCAR’s upper echelons.

NASCAR signed a lucrative media rights deal at the end of 2023, worth $7 billion. It collaborated with four partners – Fox Sports, NBC Sports, Amazon Prime, and TNT Sports – to broadcast the 2025 schedule. Despite ominous signs, the sport’s CEO is defending this eclectic media situation.

A stubbornly optimistic view

Before 2023, NASCAR had not signed a TV deal since 2013. At that time, cable was in 100 million homes, and NASCAR was a strong anchor property across the cable ecosystem with FS1 and USA. Back in 2010, cable subscriptions topped 105 million. However, times have changed. 23% of Gen Z and 18% of millennials are planning to cut subscriptions within a year, with subscriptions dropping to 68 million in 2024. People are shifting to newer options, and hence, NASCAR wanted to diversify its content distribution strategy.

That is the logic that Jim France, CEO of NASCAR, presented recently to defend the media rights deal. Journalist Matt Weaver posted France’s opinion on X: “NASCAR Chief Brand Officer Tim Clark says there was trepidation over having five very diverse broadcasters, but that Jim France has touted having five of the biggest brands in broadcasting having incentive to push NASCAR is important. Says there were some surprises along the way.

This conception directly contradicts the recent backlash the sport has received. Having five media partners in a single season was overwhelming for fans, who had to switch between apps and channels frequently. In 2024, FOX and NBC aired 20 of 36 Cup races over the air; now that has dropped to just nine. The Coca-Cola 600’s streaming debut on Amazon Prime registered a few high points, though. It peaked at 2.92 million, solid for digital but nowhere near cable success.

Yet even Nielsen Sports takes the NASCAR CEO’s side. Jessica Forrest, Group VP of Nielsen, a partner of the second edition of Racers Forum, put forward her views recently. “The hybrid approach that NASCAR has employed is critical in a time where media consumption is as fragmented as it is. I think it would be very tough for one rights holder to put all their eggs in one media distribution basket. That would also be very expensive for a media company.”

Meanwhile, a rival motorsports series is expecting more growth in viewership.

Partnering with a much-criticized media giant

Fox Sports has been at the receiving end of controversy in NASCAR. From choppy images of the Daytona 500‘s final lap to inconsistency in broadcasters’ comments and camera views, the media giant has not been popular among stock car racing fans. Yet ironically, it is doing well in IndyCar, the open-wheel racing series owned by Roger Penske. Fox covered the 17-race 2025 NTT IndyCar season, averaging 1,362,000 viewers according to Nielsen Media Research. This marked a +27% year-to-year increase from 2024 and the most-watched season in 17 years.

What is more, there was a massive lift in coveted demographics. There were bumps of +81% in P18-34 and +51% in P18-49. The season also saw huge increases with women viewers – F18-34 (+72%) and F18-49 (+30%). This elicited optimistic comments from IndyCar CEO Mark Miles recently. Matt Weaver posted on X: “IndyCar CEO Mark Miles touts the FOX deal and the continuity for series growth. “We doubled our 18-35 … so don’t tell us network TV, at least this network, can’t draw a younger audience.” Miles says Eric Shanks believes there’s a real momentum opportunity for 2026.”

Clearly, IndyCar is trundling down a more promising path in viewership. NASCAR, on the other hand, is not yet in safe waters – let’s wait and see if there are encouraging updates soon.