NASCAR President Steve Phelps believes that the race series isn’t in direct competition with Formula 1 and IndyCar.
While NASCAR remains the top choice in terms of viewership within the United States, F1 is building momentum as it brings races to Miami, Austin, and now Las Vegas.
Netflix’s Drive to Survive is also helping F1 grow its popularity state-side, though Phelps believes that NASCAR faces bigger threats.
“Yeah, for us, I actually don’t view them as competitors,” Phelps said during an interview with CNBC.
“Our competitors, I view as more holistically. And I think it’s really not just motorsports, actually not even just sports, it’s entertainment. And we are competing for that dollar.
“We are competing for your time and other people’s time because if they’re not watching NASCAR, are they watching Netflix? Are they watching movies? Are they watching CNBC?
“What are they doing when they’re not doing that? So it’s super competitive.”
NASCAR is attempting to combat growing competition by expanding its presence to various platforms.
The racing series is available on TNT, Amazon Prime, and Fox, as it tries to expand its reach across multiple streaming services and channels.
Along with expanding viewing options, the sport is widening its race schedule and the number of locations.
For the first time, NASCAR raced in Mexico, potentially paving the way for future races in other countries.
“I believe that global expansion for us is important,” he added.
“Like most people don’t know, we have four racing series around the globe.
“We have a series in Canada. We have a series of Mexico. We have a series in Brazil, and we have a series in Europe. All meant to do three things: driver development.
“So, getting drivers from other countries to come to our national series, like Daniel Suarez, who graduated from our Mexico series and then went up and raced in our national series and has won races in our national series. He was our Xfinity Series champion.”
There are logistical concerns regarding further expansion, as teams faced several challenges in getting to Mexico and the other races after.
F1, meanwhile, is much more prepared to travel around the world.
Its international impact is much larger as a result and Liberty Media is hoping to inch closer to NASCAR and become a bigger threat in America.
NASCAR holds long-time roots in the States, but F1’s rapid expansion may challenge them sooner rather than later.
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