The latest stretch of NASCAR races brought new attention to television coverage. TNT closed its run with the Brickyard 400, drawing its biggest audience of the season but leaving questions about overall numbers. Now, the focus moves to NBC for the rest of the schedule, while Amazon Prime Video continues to shape how future broadcasts may look. The results from recent weeks could play an important role in how NASCAR plans its media strategy in the years ahead.
Key Highlights
Brickyard 400 on TNT averaged 2.5 million viewers, the network’s best NASCAR number this year.
Ratings were down from 3.6 million last year’s Indianapolis race delivered on NBC.
TNT’s five-race average viewership came in at 2.1 million across its schedule.
Amazon Prime Video drew widespread praise for its five-race stretch earlier this season.
Future NASCAR broadcast deals may be shaped by Amazon’s approach and TNT’s year-over-year decline.
TNT’s Final Numbers Show a Mixed Picture
This year marked TNT’s return to NASCAR coverage under the new $7.7 billion broadcast deal, splitting the midseason schedule with Amazon Prime Video. The network capped its run with the Brickyard 400, posting 2.5 million combined viewers between TNT and TruTV. It was TNT’s strongest audience of the season, but the figure reflected a steep decline from NBC’s 3.6 million for the same race in 2024.
Across its five-race stint, TNT averaged 2.1 million viewers. Those numbers provide valuable data points for NASCAR’s broadcast partners as they evaluate midseason scheduling. With Amazon and TNT now part of a rotating package, year-over-year comparisons will be inevitable. While NBC will take over for the final 10 races, TNT’s lower ratings highlight the challenge of maintaining audience numbers when events move between networks.
Amazon Prime Video Set a New Standard
While TNT faced mixed reactions, Amazon Prime Video’s coverage earlier this season drew almost universal praise. The streaming platform delivered five races that impressed drivers, teams, and industry insiders alike. Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic summed up the sentiment on The Teardown podcast:
“I don’t think there’s a negative thing to be said about Amazon and their coverage, honestly. I’ve talked to a lot of people and it just seems like across the industry, whether it’s drivers or exec team people or whomever, like everybody’s just glowing, offering rave reviews about the job that Amazon Prime did through their five races.” – Jordan Bianchi
One key element that separated Amazon from its competitors was its post-race coverage. According to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, Prime retained 43% of its race audience during its Pocono post-race show, a strong figure in modern sports broadcasting. Gluck noted the significance on The Teardown:
“For those of us who may have a gripe or two about TV coverage and time in NASCAR, this is something you can point to and be like, ‘See, this is what we’re talking about. This is what we’re trying to tell you.’ I think if Prime had the entire season, NASCAR as a sport would be viewed like far more favorably than it is right now.” – Jeff Gluck
Amazon’s focus on extending coverage after the checkered flag and engaging viewers beyond the finish line is being hailed as a major step forward for NASCAR broadcasting.
What TNT’s Numbers Mean for NASCAR’s Future
With viewership peaking at 2.5 million on TNT but trailing historical benchmarks, the sport faces questions about how midseason races are distributed. External factors such as major news events can skew comparisons, but the drop-off from NBC’s past performance cannot be ignored. The experiment of splitting summer races between a streaming platform and a cable channel is still in its infancy, but early signs suggest that fans responded more positively to Amazon than TNT.
Fun times the last 5 weeks with @tntsports and the whole team of talented individuals. It was wild to be at this desk each week with absolute legends 🤙
I’ve got a 3 week break from NASCAR TV and I will see you all again for Daytona pic.twitter.com/8IqeW1RQwf
— Parker Kligerman (@pkligerman) July 28, 2025
TNT now hands over coverage duties to NBC for the final playoff push, and the network will aim to finish the season on a strong note. The mixed results from TNT’s stretch could spark further conversation about whether NASCAR’s future broadcast model should prioritize streaming partnerships or lean on traditional television. Amazon’s approach may influence future negotiations, especially if retention numbers and viewer satisfaction remain strong.
News in Brief: NASCAR TNT NASCAR Ratings Average
TNT’s five-race NASCAR stretch concluded with the Brickyard 400 averaging 2.5 million viewers across TNT and TruTV, its highest of the season but down from NBC’s 3.6 million last year. Overall, TNT averaged 2.1 million viewers, drawing scrutiny as Amazon Prime Video’s earlier five races earned widespread acclaim and better audience retention. With NBC taking over for the rest of the year, TNT’s figures raise questions about midseason broadcast strategies.
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