Over the previous few seasons, NASCAR’s schedule has seen important change. NASCAR dropped the basic calendar that older followers liked. Now, the game races on metropolis streets, navy bases, and even in different international locations. Corridor of Famer Ken Schrader thinks these daring strikes are precisely what NASCAR wanted. He says the brand new schedule is the principle motive NASCAR simply landed an enormous TV deal.
Ken Schrader believes NASCAR’s daring schedule adjustments are paying off
“One of many massive causes for that seven-year $7.7 billion contract, TV contract due to NASCAR displaying TV what they’re able to doing at totally different venues. You possibly can’t assume such as you did 20 years in the past. And I believe the route that they’re going now could be actually good,” Schrader stated.
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throughout a current chat with Kenny Wallace. Wallace requested if Schrader appreciated seeing so many wild, one-time occasions on the schedule. For Schrader, the reply was simple.
He believes NASCAR needed to step exterior its consolation zone. The game wanted to show it may achieve brand-new markets, and that daring strategy paid off. It helped NASCAR safe an enormous seven-year, $7.7 billion TV deal that began in 2025. Now, FOX, NBC, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Amazon Prime Video share the race protection.
MADISON, IL – JUNE 02: Former NASCAR, Motorsport, USA driver Ken Schrader speaks throughout the Lunch with Legends for the NASCAR Cup Sequence Take pleasure in Illinois 300 on June 2, 2023, at Madison in World Huge Know-how Raceway at Gateway, Illinois. Photograph by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire AUTO: JUN 02 NASCAR Cup Sequence Take pleasure in Illinois 300 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon116230602010300
Nonetheless, the scheduling philosophy behind that deal hasn’t come with out controversy.
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For many years, NASCAR constructed its model by visiting the identical oval tracks twice a 12 months. Now, the calendar options wildcards just like the Chicago Road Race, , the reopening of Chicagoland Speedway, and abroad visits like Mexico Metropolis. Many loyal followers surprise if leaving historic tracks will destroy the game’s conventional identification.
Schrader is conscious of these considerations. However he thinks NASCAR can’t operate in the identical means because it did twenty years in the past. For years, the game has struggled with dwindling broadcast viewership, shifting client preferences, and heightened competitors for sports activities leisure. NASCAR needed to attempt new issues to draw youthful followers, preserve sponsors, and attain folks worldwide.
The game is making massive adjustments off the observe, too. The Netflix present NASCAR: Full Pace was an enormous hit with youthful followers and ladies. That success led NASCAR to deliver the present again for a second season in 2025. The game additionally spent $53 million to construct a brand-new manufacturing middle in Harmony, North Carolina, to run distant TV broadcasts.
This contemporary plan is clearly working. In 2024, NASCAR held races in 11 totally different international locations throughout three continents. They pulled this off by their official racing collection in Europe, Mexico, Brazil, and Canada. Their TV attain is huge, too. NASCAR now broadcasts in 185 international locations and reaches over 550 million properties worldwide. Schrader says these big numbers show that NASCAR was sensible to embrace change.
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Schrader famous that not each new observe will win over all followers. However by innovating as a substitute of counting on the previous, NASCAR is constructing for the long run. Kenny Wallace agreed, including that he loves the thrill of shock areas.
The daring schedule shakeup may simply be the most effective enterprise alternative the game has made in a long time.
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