NBC listens to fans, brings NASCAR into new era with commercial-free coverage

As NASCAR continues to evolve to meet the modern standards of sports, one major topic is how the sport is covered on television.

NASCAR has seen every Cup Series race be televised since the 1980s, and with Amazon Prime becoming a broadcast partner in 2025, NASCAR will finally see streaming become a major part of its infrastructure.

An announcement from NBC, however, may prove to be one of the biggest changes so far for the presentation of races on television.

NBC will not show full-screen commercials during green flag racing for three NASCAR Cup Series races in 2024, starting with Saturday's Coke Zero Sugar 400. As long as the green flag is displayed, only side-by-side commercial breaks will take place, enabling fans to not miss a moment of the action in a crucial race.

The strategy will also be used in the playoff opener at Atlanta (Sept. 8) and in the fifth race of the playoffs at Talladega (Oct. 6).

Unlike other sports, it's not guaranteed that there will be a break in the action whenever a NASCAR telecast goes into a commercial break. Only the fans in the stands ever get to see every second of a race, and if a crash happens when the broadcast is in a break, only replays can show viewers at home what happened.

Using this side-by-side strategy at the three fastest and most intense tracks on the schedule is an excellent way for NBC to roll it out. It's not known whether or not this will continue into 2025, but if it goes well, there's no reason for it not to.

NASCAR fans have long complained about NASCAR's reluctance to embrace modern entertainment and television standards. Viewers don't have the attention spans that they once did, and with Formula One's shorter races and commercial-free broadcasts, NBC seems to be taking the lead in making NASCAR a hotter commodity for the casual viewer flipping through the channels.