NASCAR Cup Series Navigates Broadcast Shift, Sees Projected Ratings Dip in 2025 Season

Charlotte, NC – The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season concluded with a notable 14 percent year-over-year decline in television viewership, a trend largely anticipated by the sport’s leadership due to a significant shift in broadcast distribution. The championship race at Phoenix Raceway, held on NBC, attracted 2.77 million viewers, a decrease from the 2.9 million who tuned in for the 2024 finale. This follows a 2024 season that saw an overall average of 2.892 million viewers, a marginal one percent increase from 2023, while the 2025 season averaged 2.476 million viewers.

NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps acknowledged these figures during his recent "State of the Sport" press conference, stating that the organization had internally projected this recalibration. The shift involved a deliberate move away from a heavy reliance on free-to-air broadcast television towards more cable channel and streaming platform placements. Notably, five races aired exclusively on Amazon’s Prime Video, a new venture for the sport’s broadcast rights.

"When the season started, because of the distribution changes to be less broadcast heavy and more cable heavy and streaming, we knew we were going to have a reset," Phelps explained. "We had projected that that reset and told everyone in our industry that reset would be between 14 percent and 15 percent in Cup."

Despite the overall dip, Phelps expressed satisfaction with the performance of Amazon Prime Video’s coverage, which averaged 2.16 million viewers across its five-race slate. This partnership, alongside Turner Sports, joined incumbent broadcasters FOX and NBC in the 2025 media rights agreements.

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"Everyone just raised their game," Phelps commented on the new broadcast partners. "Amazon’s production was tremendous. Turner Sports was tremendous. NBC already had a high bar, right? The Turner numbers were slightly softer than we thought they would be, slightly, but in line with the projections."

The performance of races aired on USA Network, a cable outlet, was a point of discussion. These broadcasts frequently struggled to surpass the one-million-viewer mark. "I would say the cable portion of the NBC package has been a little softer than we had expected," Phelps conceded, while remaining optimistic about the potential for rebound on NBC’s broadcast races.

Looking ahead, Phelps articulated a clear vision for future growth. "The expectation moving forward, now that we have had the reset, is that we are going to grow," he stated. "We’re going to grow because we have the best racing in the world, our stars are going to be more out there, we’re creating better content, all the things that make fandom." He reiterated a lack of concern regarding the current ratings, emphasizing that they align with internal forecasts.

The sentiment among team owners appears to echo this strategic foresight. Brad Keselowski, a prominent figure in the sport and team owner, shared his perspective. "I think NASCAR and everyone in the industry knew there would be some transition, but we didn’t know what it would be," Keselowski told Motorsport.com. "I think we knew there would be a transition with the viewership habits of our fans."

Keselowski admitted to being "pleasantly surprised by the performance of Amazon and streaming races," contrasting it with a degree of disappointment in the cable broadcast numbers. "Conversely, I was disappointed in the races we had on cable and broadcast has done what we thought it would do," he added. He concluded by acknowledging the long-term nature of the current broadcast deals, stating, "I guess we’re fixed on this for the next six years so we’ll have to make the most of it."

In contrast to the Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series experienced a significant upswing in its television ratings, achieving its strongest performance in four years. This improvement is largely attributed to the strategic decision to air every Xfinity race on broadcast television via The CW Network. The series averaged over one million viewers throughout the season, with an exact figure of 1,034,000, marking a 10 percent increase from its previous year’s performance on FS1 and USA Network.

The Xfinity Series finale also delivered an impressive 1,015,000 viewers on a Saturday, a notable achievement given the competition from college football and Game 7 of the World Series on FOX. Phelps lauded this move as a strategic success. "We also told them we probably have a double-digit increase in Xfinity," Phelps remarked.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series maintained its distribution primarily on FS1 and select FOX broadcasts, with its ratings remaining consistent with prior years. Phelps highlighted the strong performance of the FOX portion of the Cup Series schedule, particularly in the early part of the season.

Regarding the demographic impact of streaming, Phelps noted, "We surmised that the audience makeup of Amazon would be younger, and it was by about six years. Then the production value that FOX and NBC have had traditionally, amazing."

The 2025 season marks a pivotal moment for NASCAR as it navigates evolving media consumption habits and explores new distribution channels. While the Cup Series grappled with projected declines due to these shifts, the Xfinity Series demonstrated the potential for substantial growth through strategic broadcast placement. The organization’s leadership remains focused on leveraging these changes to foster future expansion, emphasizing the core strengths of its racing product and the appeal of its star drivers.