Track-by-track deals gave way to centralised contracts, several networks left the sport, and by 2007 Fox, ESPN and TNT held the Cup races between them.
NASCAR moved to centralised television deals in the 2000s, starting with a six-year package agreed on 15 December 1999. Fox, NBC and TNT shared races before the 2007 contract gave Fox, ESPN and TNT the Cup schedule until 2014, which set the pattern for the rest of the decade.
NASCAR's television map was redrawn in the 2000s. Track-by-track deals gave way to centralised contracts, several networks left the sport, and by 2007 Fox, ESPN and TNT held the Cup races between them. The contracts behind those changes shaped nearly every broadcast that followed.
When did NASCAR centralise its television rights?
NASCAR announced in 1999 that television rights would be sold centrally, so networks would negotiate for a package of races rather than strike deals track by track. On 15 December 1999, Fox Sports, FX, NBC and Turner signed up for a six-year deal covering the Winston Cup and Busch Series.
The package split the season in two. Fox and FX took the first half, while NBC and Turner shared the second, and from 2004 that second half included the Chase for the Cup. Turner first planned to use TBS, but in March 2001 it moved its races to TNT, a channel it wanted to position as a drama-heavy network.
The decade's contracts decided which networks would be in the picture, and which would walk away from it.
How did the Daytona 500 rights rotate between networks?
The Daytona 500 alternated between Fox and NBC under the 2001 to 2006 contract. Fox carried the race in odd-numbered years, 2001, 2003 and 2005, and NBC took the even years. The Pepsi 400 in July went to whichever network did not hold the 500.
Speedweeks came with the same arrangement. The network holding the 500 also took the Budweiser Shootout, the pole qualifying session for the 500, the two races run after it and the season-opening Busch race.
Other rights fell to cable. Speed Channel bought out the rest of ESPN's Truck Series deal in 2003 and became its exclusive home, while the closure of CNN/SI in spring 2002 pushed most practice and qualifying sessions onto Speed.
Why did NBC's coverage draw criticism from fans?
Fans said NBC's coverage was weaker than Fox's, with long commercial breaks that caused missed restarts and interruptions during green-flag running. The complaint became a running joke, Nothing But Commercials, and the film Talladega Nights later mocked it in a scene.
Some of the criticism was aimed at the booth. Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Bill Weber were called monotonous by some viewers, compared with Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip at Fox. After its first season Fox's races drew more viewers than NBC's did in 2001, and by 2004 NBC had made substantial improvements in technology and commentary.
NBC's commercial timing was a particular issue. Restarts were often missed, and breaks during green-flag runs came too often. The 2001 Charlotte race was interrupted in its pre-race show when President George W. Bush announced the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, and NBC covered the news until 25 laps to go.
How did TNT and NBC share races from 2001 to 2006?
TNT and NBC worked closely, because Turner produced all of NBC's telecasts and TNT was treated as the secondary broadcaster. Most prestigious races stayed on NBC, with exceptions such as the Southern 500 at Darlington in 2001 and 2002 and the Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond from 2004 to 2006.
TNT's first Winston Cup race under the new deal came at New Hampshire International Speedway in July 2001. TNT also picked up most of the Busch Series except for the major races, and it covered the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 at Rockingham from 2001 to 2003.
The partnership ended when NBC chose not to bid for the contract in 2006. The two networks shared a broadcast team of Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach Jr., and the only visible differences were the logo placement and the pit reporters' fire suits.
What happened to the networks that left NASCAR?
CBS ended a twenty-two season partnership after the 2000 Pepsi 400, and TNN closed its run in November 2000. TBS left after eighteen seasons at Charlotte, and ESPN's first run of twenty seasons ended at Atlanta in 2000. Each exit reshaped the schedule for the networks that remained.
ESPN had begun showing NASCAR races in 1981 at Rockingham, and its 265 Cup telecasts included some on ABC Sports. ABC's twenty-five nonconsecutive seasons closed at Indianapolis in 2000, with the Brickyard 400 as the final race.
Who held the Cup races between 2001 and 2014?
The Cup schedule passed through several hands. Fox carried the first 13 races every year, NBC and FX left after 2006, and ESPN and ABC returned for the second half of the season from 2007. Each switch changed what viewers saw on the weekend.
| Period | Networks | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 to 2006 | Fox, NBC and TNT | Daytona 500 alternated between Fox and NBC; TNT took the summer races |
| 2006 | NBC and FX depart | NBC's NFL deal began at $2.8 billion for six years |
| 2007 to 2014 | Fox, ESPN, ABC and TNT | Fox the first 13 Cup races; TNT six summer races; ESPN and ABC the rest |
How did viewing figures change over the decade?
Average race viewership peaked at 7.85 million, then fell to 5.99 million by 2010, as reported by Sports Business Journal. The figures came from a period in which the networks were also showing more of each weekend. Weekend coverage had grown at the same time, which makes the trend harder to read.
Coverage of each weekend grew under the 2007 contracts. All Cup practices were televised from the start of 2007, where previously only the final happy hour session had been carried, and every Nationwide final practice and qualifying session was shown too.
Pay-per-view also appeared. DirecTV launched NASCAR Hot Pass at the 2007 Daytona 500 with four driver channels, the package became free in 2009, and it was discontinued on 7 January 2013.
Which networks held the 2007 to 2014 contract?
Fox, ESPN and ABC, and TNT signed an eight-season deal that ran to 2014. Fox kept the Daytona 500 and the first 13 Cup races, TNT took six June and July events in its Summer Series, and ESPN with ABC covered the remainder of the schedule.
ESPN's booth centred on Jerry Punch as play-by-play, with Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree in the analyst seats and Brent Musburger and Suzy Kolber as hosts. Aerosmith opened each ESPN broadcast with a live version of Back in the Saddle, filmed in concert in Las Vegas.
TNT's summer races brought Kyle Petty into the booth after the death of Benny Parsons, and Larry McReynolds was loaned by Fox to provide analysis. Bill Weber and Wally Dallenbach Jr. called the races, and TNT used a cover of Born to Be Wild as part of its broadcast.
Why did Fox's 2001 Daytona 500 coverage draw attention?
Dale Earnhardt was fatally injured on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, the first points race that Fox had televised. Fox ended its broadcast at 5:15 pm, before his condition had been confirmed, and it returned to regular programming while the news was still unclear.
A Fox executive called Hill told the Associated Press that the network had overrun its schedule, and that the 18-car pileup on lap 173 had forced a red flag. He argued that carrying on with coverage of the death would have been excessive. Producer Neil Goldberg added that Fox Sports staff were kept away from the crash scene.
ESPN, which was airing a Craftsman Truck Series race that day, carried coverage of the death and its aftermath earlier and at far greater length. Fox News Channel and Fox Sports Net broke into their own programming to report the news.
Who worked pit road for the TNT and NBC races?
Marty Snider, Dave Burns and Matt Yocum handled pit road duties on the joint broadcasts. The races were produced with Turner's graphics package, so the two networks looked alike on screen. Viewers saw the same production whichever channel carried a given race.
Where were practice and qualifying shown in the early 2000s?
Practice and qualifying sessions alternated between Fox Sports Net and FX during the Fox portion of the season, and between TNT and CNN/SI during the NBC portion. Speed took over from Fox Sports Net by late 2002, and after CNN/SI closed in spring that year most sessions moved to Speed.
What did Speed Channel carry in 2007?
Speed Channel carried the Gatorade Duel qualifying races at Daytona and the Nextel All-Star Challenge doubleheader, along with the Craftsman Truck Series races it had not passed to Fox. Fox carried the first part of the Cup season, from Speedweeks through the June race at Dover.
Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip returned to Fox's booth in 2007. Fox carried two Truck Series races that year, but the May race at Mansfield was moved to Speed after lap 50 because of rain delays.
What changed in the 2008 broadcasts?
The 2008 season was the second year of the Fox, TNT and ESPN and ABC contracts. Dale Jarrett became ESPN's lead race colour commentator, Rusty Wallace joined as pre-race analyst, and Allen Bestwick took over hosting for all of the races.
Fox introduced its Gopher Cam that year. The camera sat beneath the track close to the inside of the turns, giving a different view of the cars, and its mascot was named Digger after fans and drivers suggested names.
How did ESPN's 2010 schedule anger fans?
From 2010 ESPN carried fourteen of the seventeen races, and the Chase races moved from ABC to ESPN after NASCAR standardised its start times. Southern ABC affiliates had counted on NASCAR to draw viewers away from NFL games on rival stations, and they objected to the change.
Critics saw the change as part of a wider move of sports coverage from ABC to ESPN, and many fans were angry about it. The shift left only a handful of races on broadcast television for the last part of the season.
Who was TNT's pit road team in 2007?
Marty Snider and Matt Yocum returned as pit reporters for TNT in 2007. Allen Bestwick and Dave Burns had left for ESPN after the 2006 season, so TNT promoted Ralph Sheheen and Lindsay Czarniak to full-time pit reporter roles. That gave them regular Cup assignments for the first time.
Both had previously worked as substitutes or on stand-alone Busch Series races that clashed with the Cup schedule, so the promotion gave them their first regular Cup assignments.
How did Kyle Petty's 2007 schedule work?
Kyle Petty drove a part-time schedule in 2007. Chad McCumbee took over his No. 45 car at the June Pocono race, and John Andretti drove the remaining races apart from Sonoma, where Petty himself took the wheel. Petty's arrangement meant several drivers shared the car over the season.
Petty also commentated from inside his own car during the June 24 race at Sonoma.
What did ESPN2 and ABC carry in 2007?
In 2007 ESPN2 carried 29 of the 35 Busch races, and ABC took the other five. ESPN2 started with the Orbitz 300 at Daytona in February, and ABC's first race was the Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas in March.
ESPN also held exclusive rights to the Nationwide Series for the whole season, with races split between ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. The first Cup race on ESPN was the Brickyard 400 on 29 July, and the Chase races appeared on ABC.
Those contracts defined how fans watched NASCAR until the next round of deals.
