In NASCAR fandom, fans have long voiced disappointment about choppy post-race coverage and networks jumping straight to other programs. They find it frustrating when the checkered flag waves, and the story gets cut short by any local news or football previews.

This leaves many wondering if a fresh broadcaster could lock in the full experience without those interruptions. And the push for change feels even more urgent as the sport navigates shifting TV landscapes and tough rivals like the NFL grabbing up the majority of airtime.

Recently, a fan demanded a new broadcaster like ABC after incidents like the Talladega race, where NBC cut the post-race feed on Peacock for local or NFL news around 6 p.m. ET, even without any immediate NFL game. On the Reddit NASCAR thread, he posted:

“With the NFL dominating the networks, and NBC immediately dumping the Talladega post-race in favour of the NFL, why doesn’t NASCAR look to a network like ABC who only telecasts MNF? This way they’d be guaranteed to be able to have exclusive coverage during and after the race.”

Just like ABC’s Monday Night Football is a fix for exclusive coverage, free from those abrupt switches, he demands the same thing from NASCAR broadcasters too.

But those hopes crash against reality; the seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights deal announced in November 2023 ties NASCAR to Fox, NBC, Amazon Prime Video, and Warner Bros. Discovery through 2031. ABC and ESPN sat out the bidding, focusing instead on high-revenue staples like NFL and SEC college football, leaving no room for NASCAR‘s package.

This setup amplifies the NFL squeeze, where football grabs the majority of the eyeballs in the sports, per driver Denny Hamlin on his Actions Detrimental podcast. “When the NFL has taken such a lion share of those eyes right now… if football is not on, then I think that you’ve got a legitimate shot of being the next in line,” he said.

His point hits home amid NASCAR’s 2025 Cup Series averaging just 2.52 million viewers, down 13% from 2024’s 2.916 million, while NFL games pull 17.5 million on average. Veteran broadcaster Danielle Trotta echoed this on the Stacking Pennies podcast, calling fall scheduling a “self-inflicted wound” against the NFL “beast,” proposing an early-September end to dodge the conflict. But the deal’s 36-race mandate makes cuts unlikely without slashing revenue.

Even the Daytona 500 faces pressure, as Fox’s Bob Pockrass clarified on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour: “It sounds like that NASCAR is pretty adamant that the Daytona 500 will be the first race… but if that’s what the fans are saying.” Yet, with NFL playoffs spilling into February, Harvick pushed back: “Football has become so popular that it makes the dynamic very difficult to compete against them.”

These reasons have other fans giving it back online, sharing raw takes on why the suggested change isn’t practical.

Fans can only voice frustration

One supporter cut straight to the chase in a heated statement: “ESPN might’ve been interested considering they just lost F1, but NASCAR signed those contracts, and they won’t be changing them for a while.” Because of the 2023 media deal signed between NASCAR and Fox, NASCAR shifting to any other media player seems very dim. It could’ve been a perfect time to get a deal with ESPN as the latter has recently parted ways with F1.

Shifting gears, the pain hit fresh at Talladega when a commenter vented, “NBC dropped it for local news in NY today.” Now NBC dropped covering the after-win moments after Talladega even on non-NFL days for some local news, which makes it really frustrating for fans.

“Disney does not cater to rednecks anymore, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.” While harsh, it nods to Disney’s priorities, dropping the Indy 500 after 55 years in 2019 for cost reasons, despite still banking on SEC football drawing millions.

Finally, timing woes bubbled up in a practical solution: “The problem in the fall would be any Saturday night races would compete with college football on ABC. Not that they don’t on the other networks…. Another solution while sticking with NBC is to have the race earlier in the day, since NBC only does SNF.”

This fan stated the problem but gave a solution as well. An earlier start of the race could be done to avoid these clashes. This will also help NBC to have a good time interval between different marquee events to show more of the race that fans demand.

Ultimately, fans know that changing the media partner won’t be possible till 2031, but they still vent out frustration. While the fan asking for NBC change wasn’t wrong on his part, others’ grounded opinions make that change seem distant for now.