Beyond the Flag
Fansided

NASCAR: It’s Time That NBC Stops Letting Down Fans

By Cole Mentzel

facebooktwitterreddit

Back in 2013, NASCAR and NBC agreed on a 10 year deal worth $4.4 billion. The deal began this season and it gave NBC the right to broadcast Sprint Cup and Xfinity races. NBC is set to share seasons with Fox Sports while ESPN will no longer have the rights for races.

Fans had mixed responses to the deal and were eager to see how things would operate with a new company on board. So far, the broadcasts have been excellent. With Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte in the booth for each and every Sprint Cup Series race, things have gone smoothly.

More from NASCAR

NBC has even involved Rutledge Wood in certain segments and had a special throwback celebration at Darlington earlier in the season where legendary announcers Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett, with Dale Jarrett commentating on the side, took fans back in time with their classic in-race analysis.

NBC is certainly not lacking in the category of presentation but they are lacking in the category of fan satisfaction, something that NASCAR needs to work on.

NBC is one channel that mostly everyone, whether they have Cable, DirecTV or Dish, all have and the races that have been on those channels have been flawless. However, things have gone wrong whenever they put races on their sports station, NBCSN, as most fans don’t get the channel. Some have the option of having it but it costs extra money each month that people just can’t afford to spend and others don’t have a choice. They are stuck without it.

This has created a real issue between NASCAR and it’s fans since there are so many people who can’t watch races when they come on NBCSN. NBC chose to broadcast 13 of their 20 races on their sports station and fans were in for a rude awakening whenever the Charlotte race in the Chase was delayed, causing NBC to move it from their flagship station back over to NBCSN the next day.

If you don’t believe me, go find some of NASCAR’s posts on Instagram or Twitter stating that races are on NBCSN. The comments can get messy at times and they aren’t from a few users, they’re from just about every person replying to the post.

Some of the replies to this tweet say it all about the situation at hand:

NASCAR and NBC have to do something about this because they are losing so, so many viewers and getting a lot of negative backlash. For a sport that struggles to compete with the others, putting primetime races or Chase races on a channel that hardly anyone gets in the first place is not the right move.

One way NASCAR could satisfy their viewers and improve their ratings is if they offered their online version, NBCSN Live Extra, for a small price each month in which users could pay for the races that they are able to watch without missing out on the action. There would still be some that couldn’t afford the cost but they would gain back many fans who would rather purchase that instead of a whole new package of channels for their television.

This would solve many issues for people who may not have the option to pick up the channel on their current TV plan and it would keep the fans happy instead of forcing them to miss the race almost every weekend.

By simply airing the races on NBC, they would make all the fans happy and could potentially gain new followers of the sport due to people flipping through channels and finding the races on.

Overall, NASCAR and NBC have two options. They can continue to run races on NBCSN and lose tons of viewers or they can find an alternative way to let fans who aren’t as fortunate as others find a way to enjoy their favorite sport. The bottom line is that changes need to be made before next season so they can avoid issues such as this one.

Next: Jimmie Johnson Sets The Standard For Other Drivers

Home/NASCAR