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Dude, Where’s My NASCAR

How America’s homegrown motorsport is branching out: to new countries, new venues, and most importantly, more broadcast partners. NASCAR president Steve Phelps explains how they plan to grow without pissing off their faithful. (Michael Jordan is another story.)

steve phelps
NASCAR’s decision to expand its number of partners has caused some angst among hard-core fans, who worry that the expansion will increase the difficulty of finding races and then having to shell out for new services. Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images
John Ourand
October 31, 2024

About a year ago, NASCAR signed media rights deals with Fox Sports, NBC, Warner Bros. Discovery, Amazon, and The CW for about $7.7 billion—a 40 percent increase for the racing circuit, which had been battling soft ratings for several years. NASCAR certainly benefited from the adjacent enthusiasm around F1, but it also widely expanded its number of partners from two to five. This decision has caused some angst among hard-core fans, who worry that the expansion will increase the difficulty of finding races and then having to shell out for new services, like Prime. But, alas, this is life under market capitalism, especially during a tectonic platform shift, as NBA fans are about to find out next year, too.