NASCAR has just received a massive $32 million injection through the Daytona 500 event before the main event on Sunday, due to the advertising slots that FOX has given out to some of the most luxurious brands. While this is a massive bonus for the sport, considering the TV revenue that they earn, this will only make the fans criticize the broadcaster more.

FOX’s sold-out ad inventory can upset fans

Ahead of the Daytona 500, FOX, the official broadcaster for the race, has sold out its entire ad inventory ahead of NASCAR’s season-opening event. This is massive, considering they have sold 80 units to some of the most popular brands.

“We were a little bit more geared up — pardon the pun — to get into that marketplace, and the demand was more significant this year for Daytona than I can remember,” Mark Evans, FOX Sports’ EVP/Sales said.

This is a major business deal that FOX has struck. Each of those 80 units, as per Sports Business Journal, has been sold for around $400,000.

However, it is only natural to assume that the fans are not going to like this move. While FOX had managed to fix one aspect of their Cup Series broadcasting, removing the caricatures of the drivers, this selling of ad inventory could bring the situation back to square one.

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FOX has been a constant target for fans, but the criticism has increased massively in recent seasons. One of the main issues that fans pointed out was the regular advertising interruptions. Every few laps during a race, the broadcast switches to ads. Although the live stream still plays, it has been moved to a small window, disrupting the overall flow of watching a race.

With this news, the race telecast could get heavily commercialized. This only means there will be more interruptions and a broken race flow for the viewers, spoiling their experience.

The more popular brands that will be advertised during the Daytona 500 include the likes of FanDuel, Tecovas, Celsius, and Johnson & Johnson.

But the situation could be even worse for the fans, as Evans revealed that some of the AI-based companies have also spent a lot on those ads.

“Other categories are kind of taking that place, and that would kind of be like insurance, financials,” he added. “They’re all still there. They’re all still spending. But some of the AI companies — they’re all increasing their spend significantly.”

This has been a repeated occurrence, especially at Daytona. Back in 2023, many dubbed the Great American Race the Commercial 500 due to the many advertisements that interrupted green flag racing.

While FOX did manage to improve the situation slightly in the past two seasons, fans might have to go through something similar this year, with the massive profit the broadcaster has made from the 80 units.

How do constant ads ruin races for fans?

It is quite apparent how constant advertising can ruin the racing experience for the fans, but it is also true that there are several workarounds for this. FOX has adapted one of the most efficient ones: running the live race via side-by-side coverage during the commercials.

This has been the trend in NASCAR. But still, fans have their complaints with this, the major one being how the race is broadcast. Even when the live race is played on the side, it is usually from the onboard cameras of one of the cars, which appear rather random.

In a race like the Daytona 500, where the chance of the “Big One” is constant, it is understandable why the constant advertisement makes the fans angry. Missing out on the slightest bit of racing action can be rather irritating.

Seemingly, however, what hurts the racing experience more is the frequency at which the ads are broadcast. Every few laps, the commentary (which is also very criticized) switches off to play the ads. Overall, it feels more like the broadcast is being turned on in between laps to give a few updates before moving back to ads.

These issues have made FOX a target amongst fans. While they did gain some consideration with the glimpse of the new graphics for this season, the sale of a whopping 80 advertisements does not sound too good for the racing experience.