Since the start of NASCAR’s TV era, fans have always had a love-hate relationship with their viewing experience when it comes to the commercial breaks. The sport has historically had a tradition of running ad breaks in the middle of a live race, something that fans have learnt to live with, but never quite embraced. But one partner is fiercely determined to change that.
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This year, TNT Sports, which handled five races in the media deal in June/July, officially used a double-box (split-screen) format to show commercial breaks during green flag runs. And they plan to continue the same next year as well, as TNT Sports EVP and Chief Content Officer Craig Barry wants to take things one step further in Year 2.
“If I had my way, it would look more like soccer,” said Barry, as reported by Sports Business Journal.
HBO Max is the streaming partner with TNT Sports, and both platforms are gaining love from fans for showing pure, uninterrupted racing without ads. When TNT shows ads in its double-box format, the race still continues on HBO Max with natural sounds of the engines and fans while the TNT commentators are on a break.
This is what Barry wants for the fans, which is similar to how soccer does it. For instance, DAZN used the split-screen ad broadcasting approach during the 2025 Club World Cup. This year, the split-screen ad approach was applied in the FIFA World Cup as well, where FOX Sports used it for the controversial hydration breaks.
In NASCAR, the traditional model has cut live races to show ads on the full screen normally, even when the race is running green. Hardcore fans didn’t like missing any on-track action, whether it was exciting or simple racing.
Which is why the split-screen advertising that is breaking the commercial ad tradition of the sport is becoming a new trend lately, as along with TNT, FOX and Amazon Prime have also adopted the new way since last year.
And the success of the approach is seen in the numbers. TNT Sports broadcast five races from June 28 to July 26, and they averaged 2.2 million viewers, increasing from 2.1 million last year.
“You have got to go in completely and appropriately set because we only have a five-race run, and success is building incrementally better each race,” Barry added about his goals for this year.
TNT Sports and HBO Max both come under their parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. TNT broadcasts the NASCAR coverage, while HBO Max takes care of the streaming.
Meanwhile, as TNT Sports aims to deliver pure racing to fans, another broadcaster is taking an innovative approach of its own to do the same.
USA Sports’ innovative plan to capture the racing experience
NASCAR insider Adam Stern recently tweeted that USA Sports “is placing pit reporter Trevor Bayne inside the pace car at the beginning of the race and during restarts…Bayne could provide intel on what’s about to happen near the resumption of the race after a restart in its final moments.”
The broadcaster has chosen former driver Trevor Bayne for the job, given his vast experience in the sport. The idea is to give viewers a closer look at what happens on the restarts near the end of the race. And the team is also looking at other similar spots to intervene.
“It’s definitely a work in progress,” said Lead Producer Rene Hatlelid. “But everybody has put in a lot of hard work into this. NASCAR has been extremely open-minded to taking this idea in.”
Executive Producer and Senior Vice President of USA Sports Jeff Behnke is also excited about this, who said that innovation has always been their goal.
“From our extended post-race shows to our radio-style broadcasts, we’ve always looked for ways to innovate within our NASCAR coverage and enhance our coverage for race fans. USA Sports’ new pace car analyst position is just another example of our fan-first approach.”
According to the media deal, USA Sports will handle the NASCAR coverage for the final 14 races of the 2026 season starting from the Iowa race.
With both TNT Sports and USA Sports trying new ways, it’s clear that the broadcasting landscape of the sport is leaving the traditional ways and moving with the times.