The 2025 NASCAR media rights agreement brought about welcome and highly anticipated change.
NASCAR would make its streaming debut on Amazon Prime Video for five races a year from 2025 through 2031, and TNT would return for the first time since 2014 to broadcast another five (with HBO Max streaming the races).
New broadcasts allowed for new faces to shine on pit road and in the broadcast booths, and new innovations like Amazon’s extended post-race coverage have been adopted by the networks succeeding its five-race summer stretch.
The not-so-welcome change of the 2025 media deal, however, was the dwindling number of races that would be held on network TV.
In 2024, there were 20 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series on network TV: 10 each on FOX and NBC. In 2025 with the new media deal, that number is down to eight: four on FOX and four on NBC.
The Xfinity Series is available on network TV every single weekend through the CW, and in terms of viewership and accessibility, the 2025 season in that series has been a smashing success.
That can’t be said for Cup, where the number of races on network TV has decreased by almost 60%.
The nadir of 2025 viewership came at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, where a non-delayed playoff race on USA hit rock bottom with 1.29 million viewers.
With 32 races in the books for the 2025 season, the viewership margin between points races on network TV (highlighted in gold) and points races off network TV is drastic.
All five points races held on network TV have eclipsed 3.2 million viewers, while just one of the 27 points races off network TV eclipsed three million. Eleven of the 27 races on cable or streaming have dipped below two million viewers, including the last eight in a row.
The average viewership of the 32 points races this season comes in at 2.445 million viewers.
That is a 17.6% decrease from the 2.966 million average through the first 32 points races of 2024.
It’s not hard to see why.
Sixteen of the first 32 points races of 2024 were broadcast by either NBC or FOX, which is more than triple the amount through the first 32 races of 2025.
But it’s not just the lack of races on FOX and NBC that has led to a sharp viewership decline in 2025: there’s also been a decrease in viewership for the races on cable or streaming.
The 16 combined points races on FOX Sports 1 and USA in 2024 saw an average of 2.217 million viewers per race. The 27 points races on cable or streaming in 2025 have had an average viewership of 2.064 million, which marks a 6.9% decrease from last season.
What makes the 2025 viewership woes all the more disappointing is that the 2024 season saw an increase in viewership over 2023. The new media rights deal and the decrease of races on network TV in 2025 has led to a sharp decrease from the gains made last year, and with the new media deal running through 2031, there should be concern if the ratings and viewership numbers seen this year are on their way to becoming the new normal.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf