What Fans Think of NASCAR’s TV Coverage in 2025 So Far

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What’s Happening?

The 2025 NASCAR season brought the most significant shift in television coverage the sport has seen in decades. After years of the FOX/NBC split, NASCAR entered a bold new media rights era with four broadcast partners sharing coverage of the Cup Series. With new TV partners and brand-new coverage reshaping how fans watch the sport, The Daily Downforce is tracking fan sentiment week-to-week from here on out. While we’re starting midway through the season, here’s what you need to know to get up to speed.

The TV Partners

  • FOX: Maintained the traditional role to start the season, with the first 12 points races of the year. Includes the Daytona 500, the Clash, the Duels, and the All-Star Race
  • Amazon Prime Video: Made history by becoming the first streaming-exclusive partner to air NASCAR Cup Series races, covering a five-race summer stretch, including the Coca-Cola 600.
  • TNT: Returned to NASCAR for the first time since 2014, broadcasting five races on cable. Includes the In-season tournament and the Brickyard 400.
  • NBC: Resumes its anchor role, closing out the season with the final 14 races. Includes the Southern 500 and the playoffs.

The Daily Downforce is Hiring

This new model divides the season into four distinct chapters, each with its own production team, on-air personalities, and viewer experience. For fans, this means constant change, from camera styles and commentary tone to streaming options and on-screen graphics. With such an unprecedented mix of broadcast partners, how NASCAR is presented week-to-week has become a major storyline in its own right. Fan opinions on the quality of these broadcasts—what works and what doesn’t—are louder and more important than ever.

The NASCAR Broadcast Fan Ratings Tracker

The Daily Downforce will track fan sentiment about the Cup Series broadcasts each week. Through social media and your direct feedback, we’ll compile data, highlight standout moments (both good and bad), and analyze what fans are saying.

Each week after the race, we will:

  • Post a poll on X (formerly Twitter): “How would you rate this weekend’s Cup Series broadcast?”
  • In the replies, we’ll ask for your thoughts, both praise and criticism.
  • Selected comments will be featured in a mid-week article, alongside screenshots of the results.

Fan Response So Far

While we didn’t track FOX’s portion of the season in real-time, early fan response to 2025’s broadcast shakeup has been mixed:

FOX’s coverage drew familiar criticism for being “lackluster.” Most critics have pointed out the missed on-track action, excessive commercials, lack of booth chemistry, cartoon graphics, etc. Through their 12 races, some of the highlights include receiving praise for the Daytona 500 broadcast, as they delivered “side-by-side only” commercials for the entire event; the same innovation, however, backfired at Talladega, as FOX went to commercial with less than 10 to go, and fans were livid. It drew the most criticism a broadcaster has seen in a long time.

Amazon Prime’s debut, on the other hand, earned praise for crisp visuals, fresh commentary, great sound and camera work, and extended pre- and post-race shows, among other things. Still, it raised concerns about accessibility for non-subscribers. After their five races, it was deemed “the best TV coverage for NASCAR in decades.”

TNT debuted with a thrilling race at Atlanta, the track’s second event of the season. However, reviews of the broadcast were mixed. While some praised the energy of the coverage, others saw it as a clear downgrade from Prime, citing the return of full-screen green-flag commercials, poor audio mixing, and questionable camera angles. Despite falling short of Prime’s standard, many fans still considered it an improvement over FOX.

NBC’s broadcast offered little that felt new. Aside from a refreshed graphic package, modeled after Prime Video’s earlier design this year, initially, fans generally found the coverage largely unchanged, describing the overall experience as average.

Latest Poll Results

Tracker:

WeekNetworkRaceVotesGood | BadSource
14PrimeNashville158791% | 2%Check The Poll HERE
15PrimeMichigan73691% | 3%Check The Poll HERE
16PrimeMexico63186% | 3%Check The Poll HERE
17PrimePocono127592% | 2%Check The Poll HERE
18TNTAtlanta113559% | 4%Check The Poll HERE
19TNTChicago37815% | 39%Check The Poll HERE
20TNTSonoma40021% | 19%Check The Poll HERE
21TNTDover72323% | 18%Check The Poll HERE
22TNTIndianapolis60229% | 11%Check The Poll HERE
23NBCIowa66341% | 13%Check The Poll HERE
24NBCWatkins Glen48631% | 15%Check The Poll HERE
25NBCRichmond51754% | 7%Check The Poll HERE
26NBCDaytona54959% | 7%Check The Poll HERE

This tracker will evolve each week as we move through the rest of the season, so stay tuned and keep your voice in the mix. Want to be featured? Follow us on X and join the conversation each race weekend.

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Bryan Aguiar

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