ESPN says it sympathizes with fans who believe the network’s NASCAR telecasts have too many commercials, but reminded reporters it’s running a for-profit business during a news conference on Wednesday.
Too Many Commercials? ESPN Addresses NASCAR Fan Frustration
Rich Feinberg, ESPN’s Vice President of Motorsports, said the network actually runs fewer commercials than it is contractually permitted.
“We could actually be putting more commercials in our telecasts,” he said. “With our arrangement with NASCAR, we would be allowed to do so and obviously that would generate us more revenue. We choose not to do that in an effort to show as much green-flag racing as possible.”
Feinberg also said ESPN’s research has shown its commercial-to-racing ratio is “very, very similar” to other NASCAR broadcasters.
"The reality is...it is a business," he said. "And with the rights payments we have to make to have our partnership with NASCAR, and the costs of marketing and production and personnel, we're a business as well and we need to recoup expenses and hopefully make ourselves profitable."
Feinberg said the network could potentially be interested in a “side-by-side” style of race broadcasts. “Side-by-side” is a practice used in the IndyCar Series to show commercials at the same time as the race, ensuring fans won’t miss any green-flag laps of racing.
"Currently, we are not allowed to do side-by-side with our rights agreement with NASCAR, but I know that in our partnership we have discussions with them about that," Feinberg said.
He added convincing advertisers to participate in side-by-side coverage was “a long road” because those companies are paying for the full screen. There would need to be more willing advertisers “lined up at the table” for side-by-side to become a reality – a situation that doesn’t exist right now.
“When you get to some sort of multi-box screen with a lot of things going on, I can certainly understand the advertisers’ hesitancy to open that door up – despite the fact it could potentially result in viewers staying with our telecasts longer,” he said.
Among the changes for this year, Feinberg also said ESPN had built a completely new Pit Studio, added a helicopter camera to be used at every race (instead of just some races) and improved its technology in Tim Brewer’s garage segment.
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