Fox Sports hoped to go its entire NASCAR slate without running a full-screen ad this season, but as my SBJ colleague Adam Stern notes, it had to shift gears during Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway due to the way the event played out.
Heading into the 2026 season, the network said it was planning to only run ads through a double-box format alongside race action for its 14 NASCAR premier series races this campaign after it and other broadcasters experimented with the concept in recent seasons.
The network appeared to follow through on those intentions through the first nine races, but some fans and media were quick to call out Fox Sports when that changed during the 10th event in Alabama.
Twice during the second stage of the three-stage race, Fox ran full-screen national ads.
On Monday, the network told SBJ that its hand was forced after the first stage went without a caution flag being flown, meaning the network didn’t get a chance to run full-screen ads it had planned to display during a crash or other stop in the action.
Fox is contracted to pay NASCAR nine figures annually through 2031 for its slate. The exact dollar amount it is paying NASCAR is unknown, but the rate was $380 million a year from 2015 through 2024.
Despite the hiccup, Fox says its overall plans to not run full-screen ads during Cup Series action remain unchanged.