NASCAR 2026 broadcast schedule expands across Prime Video and The CW

NASCAR’s decision to split its media rights among four primary partners and numerous FAST platforms represents an aggressive test of fan tolerance for fragmentation in exchange for a 40% rights fee increase. By moving 10 midseason Cup races to streaming-only or cable-plus-streaming hybrids on Prime Video and Max, NASCAR is trading the broad reach of broadcast television for targeted digital engagement. This strategy shifts the burden of discovery onto the viewer, requiring multiple subscriptions to follow a full 38-race season. The success of this model will serve as a bellwether for other Tier 1 sports leagues considering similar multi-platform split-rights deals. Watch for 2026 viewership delta on Prime Video versus historical FS1 and USA Network benchmarks.

The 2026 season represents the second year of NASCAR’s $7.7 billion media rights program, which runs through 2031. Per Sports Business Journal (November 2025), the first year of this deal saw an inevitable decline in average viewership for the Cup Series, which dropped to 2.5 million viewers—a record low—as the number of races on over-the-air broadcast networks fell by nearly 60%. While historical partners FOX and NBC have scaled back to 14 races each, the introduction of Amazon Prime Video as the first fully direct-to-consumer partner has shifted the sport’s demographic target toward younger, digitally native fans.

To counter the reach challenges of streaming, NASCAR has integrated significant star power into its digital booths. Per Autoweek (May 2024), legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined both Prime Video and TNT Sports for their respective five-race midseason blocks. Prime Video’s sophomore effort in 2026 also includes a rotation of Hall of Fame guests, including Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin, to anchor pre-race coverage at marquee events like the Naval Base Coronado street race.

Structurally, 2026 also brings a massive change to the competition format that coordinates with the new broadcast windows. Per the Associated Press (January 2026), NASCAR has discarded the elimination-style playoffs in favor of a 10-race 'Chase' model based on points consistency. This shift, along with the title sponsorship change of the secondary series from Xfinity to O'Reilly Auto Parts as reported by Daily Downforce (November 2025), is part of a broader effort to stabilize the product for a fragmented audience. While The CW’s coverage of the secondary series saw a 10% viewership lift in 2025 due to its consistent broadcast window, the Cup Series continues to struggle with the 'access problem' created by rotating across four different primary distributors.