August 3rd, 2010 
T.C. As NASCAR continues to look for ways to improve the sport, both on and off the track, one area I believe they are missing a huge opportunity is with their online content. While there are plenty of articles, blog posts, and video clips available at NASCAR.com and the many other racing related websites, NASCAR is trailing most of the other major sports with their live streaming options.
NASCAR’s current online presence is controlled by Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting Systems, and has been since 2001. In 2008, the two entities extended their online deal through the year 2014. This puts Turner in direct control of NASCAR’s official online footprint.
Currently, outside of the six races that TNT’s RaceBuddy is available online, NASCAR.com’s online offerings are pretty scant. TrackPass offers scanner audio, timing and scoring data, limited MRN/PRN broadcasts, and some weird virtual racing animation called RaceView. There are also some short feature shows and racing highlights available each week. There is however, no way to watch races streaming live online, view archived race footage, or even listen live to MRN and PRN broadcasts and shows.
And compared to the other major American sports, NASCAR is still in the digital ice age. For example, while they don’t offer live streaming video of games online, the NFL does have live online streaming audio for all 32 teams. Major League Baseball has their MLB.TV package that allows fans to watch every regular season game live online, and they’ve been doing so for years. The NBA offers League Pass Broadband that allows viewers to watch 40 games a week live online including full DVR features, plus every game from the season is archived and available at any time to watch in full replay. Even the NHL has Gamecenter that offers live online games, plus they just added a new archive of old and classic games that are available for download. Everyone else seems to get it, except NASCAR.
The biggest obstacle appears to be that NASCAR has several partners in terms of broadcasting, and getting them all to agree on a fair package might be difficult at best. But the one key factor that could change everything is NASCAR. It’s their product in the end, and if they wanted it done, it could get done.
Just to give you and idea about what the networks think, earlier in the season when asked about streaming races online, FOX’s David Hill said that they would not do it, so as to protect their local affiliates. After reading that, and knowing the difficult situation that network television is in, I can understand his position. What’s interesting to note however, is that while he’s not okay showing NASCAR races online for fear of harming his local affiliates, he’s certainly okay “harming” them by allowing Major League Baseball to stream every single game online with it’s MLB.TV package while FOX continues along as part of $3 billion TV contract with MLB that runs through 2013. Good one David.
What NASCAR needs is a comprehensive online package that would allow fans to pay a subscription fee for everything mentioned. Allow them access to live audio and video of press conferences, practice sessions, qualifying, and races online. Make RaceBuddy available for all 36 races. Give them access to listen to all of the MRN and PRN broadcasts and shows. Want scanner audio for every driver you? You got it! Offer several different packages at different price points, and let them choose what they want. There is so much activity going on during the week and at the races on the weekend, and it could all be available for consumption, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, right on NASCAR.com. Cha ching, cha ching!
NASCAR needs new ways to connect with their fans, and they are always looking to expand the sport’s reach. They have a golden opportunity lying right in front of their faces to accomplish both, and they have chosen to ignore it. Somebody please explain this to me.
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It is simple:
Brian France could give a s—
Lets have a telethon for the poor Na$car millionaires and billionaires. I can no longer stomach the thought of them possibly missing a yacht or a million dollar vacation home payment.
Please call 1-800-GIMME-ALL-YOUR-MONEY and donate now!
The agreement also prevents SIRIUS/XM from streaming the NASCAR channel 128 over their internet feed.
Stuff like this is hurting the “Brand” more than people’s comments.
You are so right! It seems like the broadcast companies drive the cart, not NASCAR, and they aren’t going to make improvements until pushed hard to change. Seems to me that NASCAR is way behind the times in dealing with TV and online rights as well as managing their TV PR efforts. Yet they have a product that lends itself easily to this. Another growing pain for NASCAR but one that needs to be addressed.
I subscribed to TrackPass for years. I enjoyed being able to listen to the team audio. However, it’s no longer unedited. It was easy enough to match up the delay while watching the race live by pausing the broadcast to sync the two. However with the censoring came long missing parts of the audio or it became unintelligible. Several times when there was a Java update the TrackPass application would not work for weeks at a time. This tells me the developers weren’t planning properly. Customer support, that’s supposed to have a 24 hour turn around time, would wait to respond until the next Java update, which could be weeks, or make up some invalid reason. NASCAR really needs to hire a company that can keep up with the online demands of sports and sports fans.
This season I’ve canceled TrackPass long with three pairs of season tickets (three seats for two races) and have watched very few full races. NASCAR, and its affiliates, keeps giving me reasons to spend less time and money on the NASCAR product.
For myself,I visit TNI ,Jayski,and Speed TV. In that order. I visited Nascar.com occasionally,but not often.
Race Buddy and Track Pass are very light in their offering. Usually when I listen it is a few laps behind the actual race. It’s like reading cup scene two weeks after a race.
TNI has better information, and entertainment value is second to none!
Good post, TC. I think about this a lot, and wonder if NASCAR was thinking about anything except the Turner money when they made that deal. Even the online streaming of the Nationwide races from two years ago felt like a world-class upgrade, and that was with poor quality and no features. Fans of other sports would riot if that’s all they could get.
Protect the affiliates by streaming the races through their websites so they can sell the advertising! Yeah, that’s the solution!
I was VERY disappointed to find TrackPass is now edited, this is unforgivable as scanner audio is the one thing between teams and fans that should remain “pure” ie NO interference from NASCAR, PR, media spin, etc!! So I will NOT be spending any more online subscription money with NASCAR until TrackPass is restored to work EXACTLY the same as uncensored scanners at the track.
I’ve been hollering about streaming NASCAR satellite ch 128 for years.
I’d like to share with you RaceFansTV as an alternative:
http://www.racefanstv.com/channels/stock-car-and-dirt-track/
It’s free to watch, all videos are licensed, full-length, and yes we have NASCAR. We launched to the public last month. Enjoy and pass it forward!
Doug
RaceFansTV.com
T.C.
NASCAR is missing the boat on many things. I have written down many simple ideas over the last year which could help them, but not only do I not know the right people to talk to, I am not really in the mood to give away money making ideas to a company that does not care to listen.
Variety is the spice of life (and business too). If you are not growing you are dead already.
You article reveals, once again, that too few people are running things at NASCAR. NASACAR’s dictatorship managment hurts them. They need some fresh blood and fresh ideas.
Dictatorships are fine when a country or business is small and grwong, but once they mature that ALWAYS fail.
NASCAR needs to open things up, or they are doomed to fail.
FOX won’t allow streaming in order to “protect” local affilates??
My question to FOX (and NASCAR) is this: “WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND IS GOING TO CHOOSE STREAMING OVER BROADCAST??” Streaming is ALWAYS plan B for the viewer…
Don’t get me wrong, I agree that having a plan B accessible is a good thing, but the point is that it is plan B, not plan A for viewers.
As for what constitutes a good site, take this one as an example. It’s a fun diversion between races and the site doesn’t pretend to be anything else than that. Excellent content without all of the bloat. I visit this one more than the rest combined (and I only go to the others to see qualifying and standings).
Like most things, I would assume it has something to do with money. Does anyone know how much NASCAR gets for selling their online rights to Turner?
Personally, I use dial-up internet and have no interest in any of this stuff. But it probably would be good for the sport. I would like to be able to pull up simple things like a current running order, and that isn’t even possible (except this memory-hogging thing ESPN offers which is way more than I want to see).
I’m going to let NASCAR off the hook on this one. I have the MLB.tv package, as well as the Extra Innnings on DirecTV. You may think that MLB “streams every game” but they don’t. On Saturdays, Fox has exclusive rights during a 6 hour window. During that time, you can’t stream ANYTHING on MLB.tv. If they’re playing a San Francisco game on TV, I can’t watch a Chicago White Sox game on the Internet.
Its the *networks* that are the problem. And NASCAR is shown only on network TV.
Baseball has the same problem when they’re on the networks, but 99% of games aren’t. So it all works out in their favor.
As a big baseball fan, trust me, many many of us are pissed with the backwards thinking of national networks.
As for the official Nascar website, I never go there anymore. It’s to busy, way to cluttered, and offers very little actual news. It’s all puff pieces and opinions. I get my Nascar news from TNI and Jayski.
Not everyone has Cable. For ABC to put NASCAR on cable seems grossly unfair. It means one HAS to purchase SOME service to watch or listen to a race live.
I have Premium Cable but last week when tennis ruled over NASCAR and
an hour’s worth of the program was on CLASSIC ESPN, I could not view it
as CLASSIC is in the GOLDEN package. That means I would have to pay
$79 more a month to watch a NASCAR race when it is patched somewhere
else.
NASCAR INC is NOT working for the fans. If they were, they would see
to it that fans could watch the race on a local affiliate and in a timely fashion.
SHAME ON NASCAR.
It seems to me that NASCAR has a habit or tendency to outsource functions and assumes they will be taken care of – i.e., Goodyear to handle all tire matters. When you have 2 giant organizations that dislike each other ( EESPN and FOX ) plus Turner and NASCAR involved, reaching an agreement acceptable to everyone (and their attorneys) would be extremely difficult, whether it should be or not.
What NASCAR charges for it’s lame online content right now is crazy. Imagine if it were any good? There’s too much free content out there, why should I pay for it?