NASCAR fans get major TV boost for playoff blockbuster at Talladega

At last, some good news for long-suffering NASCAR fans ahead of this weekend’s playoff blockbuster at Talladega (Sunday, 2pm ET).

It would be an understatement to say folks are restless right now, with the Cup Series playoff format and the Next Gen car both being ripped mercilessly on social media. Oh, and they are not happy about the sport’s current TV deal either.

When NASCAR netted a huge financial package for it’s latest seven-year pact with networks - $7.7bn through 2031 - there was always going to be a catch. Until now, the postseason has been airing on USA Network, not with the big boys on NBC.

The ratings for the playoff races so far have been predictably poor - Sunday’s South Point 400 in Las Vegas was about par for the course - 1.717m viewers tuning in against 2.3m for the same race last year.

This is not a direct comparison of course - the race in Vegas aired on NBC back in 2024. But the weekly USA Network figures - generally a drop of 600k-800k per race - do show the clear fall in eyeballs by accepting that deal.

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Cup Series returns to NBC

Well the good news for NASCAR fans this week is that no longer will they need to find their way to USA network for the remainder of this season. Every one of the three remaining Cup Series races WILL air on NBC - including the championship decider in Phoenix on Sunday November 2.

One man who has been vocal about NASCAR’s apparent decision to put dollars over eyeballs is superstar driver Denny Hamlin. He spoke in the aftermath of the recent race at the Charlotte Roval, which netted 1.544m on USA as opposed to 2.419m on NBC in 2024.

He said: “We obviously lost a significant amount of network races in this TV deal. You know, in each one of the TV deals that we’ve signed over the last few years, or the past few agreements that we’ve had, we’ve always just taken the most amount of money. You know what I mean?

"It’s not been about what’s going to put us in the most households. You know, we were guinea pigs to get channel X off the ground, channel Y off the ground.”

Well folks, guinea pig season is over, for now at least. NBC it is for the remainder of 2025 - get the popcorn…

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