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NASCAR Fans Disgruntled Despite FOX’s Ratings Boost in $7.7 Billion Media Rights Deal

Carl Harrison by Carl Harrison
March 12, 2025
in Motorsports
Reading Time: 2 mins read
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NASCAR Fans Disgruntled Despite FOX’s Ratings Boost in $7.7 Billion Media Rights Deal

In what can only be likened to a blockbuster movie filled with plot holes, FOX Sports continues to disappoint fans with its shaky coverage of the 2024 and 2025 NASCAR Cup Series seasons. Missing critical moments such as Ty Gibbs’ breathtaking airborne ride in COTA or Brad Keselowski’s cool-suit malfunction, FOX Sports has left NASCAR enthusiasts feeling short-changed.

These grievances come to light even as NASCAR’s staggering $7.7 billion media rights deal takes effect this season. Despite FOX’s boastful ratings for the first four races, fans remain unimpressed and eagerly anticipate what the new media partners will bring to the table.

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane to last year when FOX Sports faced a barrage of criticism for its lackluster race coverage. However, the media titan managed to bounce back, ending the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season on a high note with the Sonoma race. It reported an average viewership of 3.773 million, a four percent increase from the previous season, excluding the rain-affected Daytona 500.

The silver lining continues in 2025 with impressive viewership figures for the Daytona 500, which achieved a 3.4 rating and attracted 6.76 million viewers, representing a 13% increase. Atlanta and COTA races followed suit, garnering 4.586 million and 4.132 million viewers, respectively.

The Shriner’s Children 400 at NASCAR’s Phoenix Raceway was the highlight of the season, riding the wave of Christopher Bell’s thrilling three-peat victory. FOX Sports 1 reported an 18% increase from the average viewership of Cup telecasts in the previous year. According to journalist Adam Stern, FS1 recorded a 1.43 rating and 2.82 million viewers for the Phoenix race.

The climax of the Phoenix race saw Christopher Bell putting up a fierce fight against teammate Denny Hamlin, with viewership peaking at 3.386 million. This race was the most-watched Cup Series race since 2021, and FOX managed to outperform all cable television, with the NASCAR race ranking as the top telecast.

However, FOX Sports’ early entry into the NASCAR scene this season has raised eyebrows. Journalist Cindy Yen noted that NASCAR could have transitioned to its network partners, such as Amazon Prime and TNT, earlier instead of relying heavily on cable TV.

Despite the impressive ratings, FOX Sports’ image within the NASCAR fan community is far from stellar. The 2023 media rights deal saw NASCAR distribute races among various media partners in 2025, with FOX Sports claiming 12 races, NBC 14, and Amazon and TNT taking over five races each. This arrangement has not sat well with fans, who are clamoring for an end to FOX’s cable TV domination.

Fans argue that despite FS1 breaking its cable TV records with 2.8 million viewers, it pales in comparison to network TV’s 4.02 million viewership. They contend that FOX’s ratings could be misleading and that the decision to go with cable TV might have been a misstep. This only adds to the media giant’s catalogue of missteps in NASCAR coverage.

Moreover, fans believe NASCAR’s reliance on cable TV is a step backward in this digital age. They point to the NFL’s significant boost in viewership following the streaming of games online. They were taken aback when FS1 hosted the season-opening races, which are typically the most hyped. One fan criticized the decision, stating, “Putting the race on FS1 is such a bad move.”

This sentiment is echoed by many others, who assert that both the younger and older generations are tuning out of cable TV, resulting in lower-than-reported viewership for FS1.

It is clear that the uptick in FOX Sports’ ratings has done little to win over fans. With a substantial portion of the Cup schedule yet to be covered by the media partner, it remains to be seen how it will manage to regain fans’ trust and interest.

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