Fox Sports has changed its approach to showing commercials during its portion of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. It will now further emphasize the action on the track.
Videos by FanBuzz
According to an announcement from the Fox Sports media relations team, all of the Cup Series races on Fox and FS1 this season will only feature double-box commercials during green flag action. The only full-screen commercials will be under caution. Fox Sports says this applies only to the national ads.
Fox Sports previously dipped its toes into the water last season. It used this approach for races that aired on big Fox. Now, it will also use the strategy for all FS1 races.
The race at EchoPark Speedway, which Tyler Reddick won, showed this approach. According to the weekly commercial breakdown provided by Caws and Jaws, the race had 215 minutes of race broadcast and 29 minutes of traditional commercials. It had 30 minutes of side-by-side commercials.
This marks a significant change for the broadcast partner, which upped the number of races on big Fox this season to six. Fans tuning in for races in past seasons have voiced complaints as the broadcast has cut away from green flag racing to show an ad for Applebee's, Xfinity, Busch Beer, or any other number of advertisements.
This strategy created a situation where drivers would crash or make exciting passes for the lead, but the fans at home would not see them. After all, Fox Sports has to pay the bills by airing commercials.
Now, this will not happen. Fans will see these wrecks as they happen. They just may not have audio from the race due to a double-box commercial break.
One of the other broadcast partners also made a similar move in recent seasons. Back in 2024, NBC Sports announced that it would provide "nonstop" NASCAR coverage during green flag action of select races.
The broadcast partner said that it would only air commercials in a side-by-side view, but it limited this approach to the drafting tracks on the schedule.
This meant that the summer races at Daytona International Speedway and Echopark Speedway and the playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway would have this approach.
The other races on the NBC Sports schedule that season still switched to full-screen commercials during green flag racing.
Prime Video also used the side-by-side view during its inaugural Cup Series run last season, which featured five spring and summer races. The streamer did not go to full-screen commercials during green flag action.
