'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
According to the Wall street Journal and the Sports business journal, NBCSN will be shutting down by the end of the season, leaving the second half of the NASCAR season to be broadcast on the USA Network. The news comes only 7 years after the sport's sanctioning body signed a 10-year deal with the network to air their races.
“We’re absolutely committed more than ever to live sports as a company, and having such a huge platform like USA Network airing some of our key sports content is great for our partners, distributors, viewers and advertisers alike,” said NBC Sports Group Chairman Pete Bevacqua.
The sports business journal has reported that the network is going through the process of notifying leagues that the channel will be shut down by the end of the year. Comcast and other television packages also don't have NBCSN listed on their carrier plan, which is another sign of the impending move.
While the announcement that NBC will air some races on USA Network is promising, seeing NBCSN go down like this is a little scary. It also seems to show that sports like NASCAR, NHL and IndyCar are becoming too niche to justify their own channel existing.
NASCAR fighting it out against other sports
The only reason Fox and Fox Sports air NASCAR in the spring is due to the fact that they don't have any football and baseball is only just starting up. Unfortunately for NASCAR, they might get squeezed out of key television spots in favor of who the network wants to please.
For example, let's say it's Sunday night and football is about to come on, do you really think NBC will let them finish the race? The easy answer to that is no, and the race would be moved to the USA Network as a result. Now, getting moved to USA Network isn't the worst thing that could happen, but it all depends on how many times this ends up happening.
In the end, this could either end up being a disaster, or the best case scenario for NASCAR. It all really depends on how much fan support is shown when NASCAR is moved to USA Network, and if it can also pick up new viewers. That's going to be key to this deal, but who knows if NASCAR is even a priority for the network?
