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Fox’s decision to drop “Race Hub” in 2024 raised eyebrows around NASCAR. Getty Images <\/p>\nFox Sports has been a partner with NASCAR for 25 years, broadcasting the last 23 Daytona 500s, and its deal is scheduled to run through 2031. The partnership is the rare, long-term match between network and sport.<\/p>\n
But despite this history, there have been conversations within NASCAR circles over the last year about the state of the relationship since Fox Sports has invested heavily in open-wheel racing and seemingly reduced its shoulder programing and coverage of NASCAR.<\/p>\n
The angst began when Fox Sports dropped its long-running daily NASCAR studio show \u201cRace Hub,\u201d picked up the licensing rights to live IndyCar races and promoted the open-wheel series heavily during the 2025 Super Bowl and throughout last year. To wit, IndyCar-related ads nearly doubled the number of NASCAR-related spots that Fox Sports has run since the start of 2025, according to iSpot TV data.<\/p>\n
The relationship was enough of a concern that NASCAR was asked about the apparent disparity in promotion by some of its teams in industry meetings in recent months, according to a person familiar with the matter. Could NASCAR be sliding down the network\u2019s motorsports totem pole?<\/p>\n
The notion has been shot down by both NASCAR and Fox executives recently to SBJ. The sanctioning body had positive meetings with the broadcaster at the Daytona 500, according to a separate source. Jordan Bazant, executive vice president of Fox Sports, said that the two sides remain in lockstep.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a great place with NASCAR,\u201d Bazant wrote in an email to SBJ. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of success together for more than 25 years, and the measure of any great relationship is the ongoing ability to have the conversations necessary to make things better, to keep things moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian Herbst, NASCAR\u2019s executive vice president and chief media and revenue officer, said the series continues to be pleased with Fox, and NASCAR executives are confident that the sum of five different media partners advertising the sport is greater than the previous deal with two rights partners. NBC Sports was the other incumbent, while the newcomers are Prime Video, TNT Sports and The CW.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re extraordinarily proud of our relationship with Fox — they are our most long-standing broadcast partner and they\u2019re the only broadcast partner that has been a part of every single one of NASCAR\u2019s media rights cycles,\u201d Herbst said. \u201cIf you look at [the Daytona] weekend, as much as any other, it shows how creative and thoughtful that Fox can be on a property that they care so much about and know so well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prioritized property?<\/p>\n
When NASCAR signed its most recent media rights deals, its strategy was to maximize revenue and bring in fresh approaches to the sport. It was during that time that NASCAR signed a seven-year deal with Nexstar Media Group to broadcast the entire season of NASCAR\u2019s second-tier series for $115M annually.<\/p>\n
To do that, NASCAR took away all of the O\u2019Reilly races that previously aired on Fox and NBC Sports, and it also carved out four of Fox\u2019s Cup Series races. At the time, people close to Fox Sports said that these developments appeared to upset the network, which now has 14 Cup races annually, down from the prior 18, and no O\u2019Reilly races. Fox, which still airs the full season of the third-tier Craftsman Truck Series, paid $380M annually in the prior deal.<\/p>\n
Some in the NASCAR industry also have been perplexed by the heavy rotation of IndyCar advertising over NASCAR commercials, given that NASCAR attracts bigger ratings.<\/p>\n
Last year, NASCAR races averaged 2.5 million viewers, while IndyCar races averaged 1.4 million. But according to data from iSpotTV, Fox has aired IndyCar-related ads around 725 times since the start of 2025, nearly double the 385 airings of NASCAR-related ads over that time.<\/p>\n
Fox’s decision to drop “Race Hub” in 2024 raised eyebrows around NASCAR. Getty Images <\/p>\n
Fox carries the entire IndyCar season versus only part of the NASCAR season, but its role is still regarded as uniquely important for NASCAR because it airs the sport\u2019s biggest race and season opener of its premier series. Herbst pointed to several developments in recent weeks that showed Fox\u2019s commitment to NASCAR.<\/p>\n
Fox advertised the Daytona 500 during the NFL\u2019s NFC championship game and shot the race in 4K for the first time with a new graphics package that is easier to read across all devices. In addition, it sent Fox News anchors and talent from the FS1 show \u201cFirst Things First\u201d to broadcast on-site, had a costumed version of Bart Simpson wave the green flag to promote the 800th episode of \u201cThe Simpsons,\u201d and brought back its classic \u201cSpeed\u201d brand as part of a new vlogcast with NASCAR broadcaster Kevin Harvick and IndyCar broadcaster Will Buxton, a move that excited core fans.<\/p>\n
Fox is cross-promoting with other networks with NASCAR media rights, too, like The CW, and it now advertises national commercials during races with a double-box format, something fans have been requesting for years. In all, Fox channels will air over 300 cumulative hours of NASCAR programming this year.<\/p>\n
The Great American Race drew 7.5 million viewers last month, up from 6.7 million last year when the event was rain delayed.<\/p>\n
Media consultant Patrick Crakes said Fox paying NASCAR such a considerable, nine-figure annual sum means the network is likely to remain well-incentivized to prioritize, promote and grow the circuit even as it also looks to IndyCar as a growth stock in its portfolio of auto racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s safe to say that NASCAR is the fourth strategic pillar in Fox Sports\u2019 annual content portfolio, along with the NFL, MLB and Big Ten,\u201d Crakes wrote in an email to SBJ. \u201cI do get the perception that maybe Fox is spending more time with IndyCar promotionally, but it\u2019s hard to reconcile neglecting NASCAR strategically given the level of Fox\u2019s massive multiyear investment. There just isn\u2019t any logic in acquiring NASCAR at these rates and then not marketing it properly only to upset the fans, distributors and sponsor partners who pay all the bills.\u201d<\/p>\n
IndyCar investment<\/p>\n
By the middle of 2024, Fox decided to drop its daily studio show around NASCAR, \u201cRace Hub,\u201d in what turned out to be an early sign that it was reassessing its coverage of the sport ahead of the new media rights cycle. Coincidentally, IndyCar\u2019s media rights were also up for bid that year, and Fox added them amid the broader hype around IndyCar\u2019s more global competitor, Formula 1.<\/p>\n
While the \u201cRace Hub\u201d move raised eyebrows in NASCAR circles, the volume of discussions about the Fox relationship picked up after IndyCar was given several national Super Bowl ad slots last year. By the middle of last year, Fox convinced IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway parent company Penske Entertainment Co. to sell a one-third equity stake to the network for a reported $125M to $135M, giving Fox more incentive to promote IndyCar. With its average annual value believed to be around $30M, revenue from IndyCar\u2019s media rights pales in comparison to NASCAR\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Then, this past offseason, Fox brought four IndyCar drivers out to Los Angeles to shoot cinema-grade commercials to promote the 2026 season. Fox also promoted NASCAR in the lead-up to the Daytona 500, but it was with a spot that was largely filled with classic highlights. The network worked to help IndyCar set up a street race around the national mall in Washington D.C. as part of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but it also arranged a rare doubleheader with NASCAR and IndyCar at Phoenix Raceway.<\/p>\n
Daniel Cohen, executive vice president of global media rights consulting for Octagon, said that, while Fox has been in the process of reorienting its motorsports coverage, it\u2019s still giving plenty of attention and promotion to NASCAR.<\/p>\n
\u201cFox continues to evaluate their motorsports portfolio, and they have done a terrific job — just look at the Daytona 500 numbers — of continuing to generate revenue and eyeballs for NASCAR,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cBut I think that especially given their equity interest of IndyCar, there are folks within Fox\u2019s hall that see the ceiling could be much higher with a ceiling like IndyCar versus a property like NASCAR.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not to say that IndyCar in my opinion will ever surpass the prominence or revenue generation of a NASCAR, but when you look at, \u2018How can we grow something from its starting place to where it can be?\u2019 I think they see a lot of opportunity in IndyCar.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fox Sports has been a partner with NASCAR for 25 years, broadcasting the last 23 Daytona 500s, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,36805,1193,12716,634,82],"class_list":["post-534092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fox-sports","tag-indycar","tag-motorsports","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}