NASCAR Senior employee speaks out on potential TV collab with IndyCar to ‘maximise revenue’ in 2019

Amid NASCAR’s ongoing legal disputes, Executive Vice President and Chief Media & Revenue Officer Brian Herbst looked back at the proposed collaboration with the IndyCar Series in 2019. The initiative was intended to strengthen NASCAR’s media rights value, but to no avail.

During the mid-to-late 2010s, NASCAR faced declining TV viewership. This raised concerns that the sport was becoming a “nice-to-have” rather than a “must-have” compared with major leagues such as the NFL, NBA, and college sports.

The plan to jointly approach the market with IndyCar was one of several internal strategies explored to enhance NASCAR’s media value ahead of future negotiations, following its last rights deal signed in 2013. Other efforts included experimenting with new venues such as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Chicago Street Course.

Here are the transcripts discussing the potential collaboration between NASCAR and the IndyCar Series, shared on X by Matt Weaver.

“NASCAR EVP and Chief Media & Revenue Officer Brian Herbst explored a scenario in May 2019 where NASCAR and IndyCar could try to package their TV deals together to maximize revenue. It 'never got off the ground,' Herbst says,” Weaver wrote.

While the media rights partnership with the IndyCar Series never materialized, NASCAR later held races at the LA Coliseum and the streets of Chicago. Both events have since been discontinued, with races now shifting to Bowman Gray Stadium and, soon, the San Diego street course at Naval Base Coronado.

Today, NASCAR has secured a $7.7 billion media rights deal covering the 2025–2031 seasons. The new agreement for the Cup Series features broadcast partnerships with Fox, NBC, Amazon, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Meanwhile, the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series are aired on The CW Network and FS1, respectively.

The IndyCar Series, meanwhile, moved its full broadcast package to Fox Sports starting with the 2025 season, ending its long-running partnership with NBC.

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“I feel bad”: NASCAR Insider on pay for chartered teams

Another document that was publicized detailed the payments for chartered teams, stating that teams receive a base of $141,000 per event. NASCAR insider and spotter Brett Griffin admitted feeling bad for the drivers, describing the deal as a “joke.”

In an X post, Brett Griffin, former host of the Door, Bumper, Clear podcast, wrote:

“I feel bad for all the drivers that have signed crappy (money) deals. Some get zero money from the purse if they don’t finish top-25. And, what they do get is a joke on some of those deals when they actually go out and have a solid day.”

He added:

“I was fortunate to work for a driver from 2001 until he retired that took great care of me and my family, so I’m always going to have an affinity for a driver making a fair wage, putting their life on the line and to represent successful companies.”

These documents, including the transcript outlining a potential media partnership between NASCAR and the IndyCar Series, originate from the ongoing antitrust lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR. The two teams declined to sign the proposed charter extension agreement last year and are scheduled to go to trial in December.

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Edited by Zarec Sanchez