The opinions on whether or not NASCAR’s streaming debut on Amazon Prime Video would be a success have been varied, to say the least.
But following a broadcast that was praised by most of the 2.72 million viewers that watched Prime’s telecast of the Coca-Cola 600, the four weeks that follow for both NASCAR and Prime will be even more important than the first NASCAR Cup Series race to ever be available exclusively on a streaming service.
Momentum is often talked about when discussing what happens on the racetrack, but the momentum Prime currently has behind it is one of the main talking points as the streaming service prepares to take the show to Nashville Superspeedway. It’s not often that a NASCAR broadcast is praised as heavily as its Coke 600 effort, but that’s no reason for Prime to become complacent as it works its way through the next four weeks.
There’s no reason to think Prime will fall into the trap of complacency, as the team putting together the broadcasts seems focused on bringing an excellent product to the television screen. But in a sports world that lives by a what-have-you-don- for-me-lately mantra, keeping the good times rolling will be paramount to the overall perception of Prime’s first year as a NASCAR broadcast partner.
So what did Prime do right that earned the mountains of praise heaped upon it? For starters, it treated the Coke 600 like a major event. The 600 felt like a crown-jewel race. That’s one important piece of the puzzle that will come to light again on Sunday evening in Nashville: How does Prime treat a race that isn’t a crown jewel? Every Cup race may not have the prestige of the 600, but every race is one of 36 that makes up the schedule of the premier stock-car racing series in the world.
If Prime treats every race as an important event with a sense of racing reverence, fans will look at races in a similar fashion. A major complaint regarding FOX’s NASCAR broadcasts has been that, aside from the Daytona 500, races feel very run-of-the-mill. That was far from the case at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and if Prime can make races at Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speeedway feel like must-watch events, the fans will tune in.
Prime also placed an emphasis on pre- and post-race coverage. A pre-race show that began an hour before the scheduled race broadcast gave the crew of Danielle Trotta, Carl Edwards and Corey LaJoie plenty of time to break down the important storylines, talk to drivers and set the stage for the race. A post-race show that went on for an hour-and-a-half after the checkered flag provided plenty of interviews, analysis and saw over 1 million fans tune in.
It may be slightly unrealistic for fans to expect that amount of coverage to be possible for network broadcasts that have to deal with broadcast windows and time constraints that stem from the length of the race itself, but Prime used time as a tool at its disposal to provide an in-depth broadcast that was far from surface level.
Maintaining the respect and appreciation of sports fans is a difficult thing to do in the modern sports landscape, but within the first five hours of its time as a NASCAR broadcast partner, Prime Video managed to start off on the right foot.
Time will tell whether or not fans hold NASCAR’s first streaming partner in such high regard when Prime’s five-race stretch concludes at Pocono on June 22, but all signs currently point to its success being much more than a flash in the pan.
Will the first year of streaming feature viewership for the next four races that is slightly down from years past? Maybe. But, as the saying goes, “if you build it, they will come.” Prime may be a new player in the NASCAR television market, but should its broadcasts continue to impress, the cloud of frustration regarding NASCAR’s move to streaming will vanish rather quickly.
A member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Samuel also covers NASCAR for Yardbarker, Field Level Media, and Heavy Sports. He will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2025.