Ever since FOX Sports signed a new deal to broadcast NASCAR in 2025, it has faced multiple controversies. From the IndyCar versus NASCAR fiasco to Daytona 500 problems, there were ample issues. However, FOX’s new tactics to recover revenue enraged fans this time, as they slammed the broadcaster with sharp takes.

The surge of FOX Sports’ advertisements

In recent times, NASCAR fans have voiced intense frustration with FOX Sports’ broadcasting due to the frequency of advertisements. As seen during races, most recently at Las Vegas, FOX Sports increased the frequency of side-by-side (also known as split-screen) advertisements.

While they eliminated full-screen commercials during the green-flag racing to allow fans to watch the races continuously, they kept on bringing the split-screen advertisements non-stop, which, as fans pointed out, often cause distractions.

Fans noted 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 “unmatchable” due to the distraction.

As a result, they often missed out on passes, wrecks, or important sections of races. However, FOX Sports has tactical reasons behind the increased frequency of advertisements, and this goes on behind the massive deal that they signed with NASCAR recently.

FOX Sports has a $7.7 billion media rights deal with NASCAR for seven years, which translates to $1.1 billion for 14 races. To be exact, it is nearly $78.5 million for a single race. No wonder why there is a surge of advertisements in recent times.

Besides this, there have been talks about how FOX began to prioritize IndyCar over NASCAR ever since taking over a minority stake in Roger Penske’s competition. According to reports, FOX has increased its investment to uplift IndyCar, which did not sit well with NASCAR fans.

This was prominent after their recent Daytona 500 promotion, where they used artificial intelligence to recreate the Ryan Newman crash from 2020. Calling it out, fans stated that the footage was unrealistic and insensitive.

However, keeping aside the business part and the IndyCar angle, fans claimed that the advertisements indeed create distractions and voiced their frustrations on social media.

Fans react to FOX Sports’ broadcasting issue

Reacting to it, a fan wrote, “I love when @NASCARONFOX shows us a little racing in-between commercials.” With this, the fan wanted to shed light on how FOX Sports has not been serious with races, but with advertisements.

Another fan wrote, “The amount of commercials is absolutely ridiculous.” The fan wanted to highlight how the broadcaster increased the amount of advertisements.

“I feel I have been listening to commercials all race,” wrote another fan. With this, he wanted to point out how his race-watching experience changed entirely.

Another fan wrote, “I was in my @chevrolet car getting @goodyear tires checked, and I was about to order from @Arbys while applying for my insurance at @progressive, because I’ve been taking a few @pfizer meds, but then @NASCARONFOX put on some damn Racing in between.”

The fan sarcastically mentioned how there were commercials about Chevrolet, Goodyear, Arby’s, Progressive, and Pfizer, all at once, during the race.

With that said, the broadcaster needs to keep showing the commercials to survive the massive contract, and as for the fans, their frustration is also justified, given how watching advertisements side by side can ruin the experience.