ESPN’s Worst NASCAR Broadcast Decision

[TMC]

ESPN had a pretty bad second run with NASCAR if you ask most fans that were watching at the time. With an unprofessional channel wide way of looking at the sport and the choking out of broadcasts for other (most of the time less popular) sports NASCAR fans had reason to hate the Worldwide Leader In Sports. But no other time was worse for fans than when ESPN had switched their ABC coverage of the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series’ penultimate race in the championship fight for America’s Funniest Videos. This is the worst ESPN NASCAR broadcast decision.

ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports, was once also the worldwide leader in motorsports. Today, its coverage of NASCAR is a shell of what it once was, so the question remains. What happened to NASCAR on ESPN?

• 0:00 "What Happened?" introduction.
• 0:34 Brief background on NASCAR on ESPN's history.
• 1:54 How NASCAR on ESPN first originated on ABC.
• 3:47 When ESPN aired their first, live race, and covered races until 2001.
• 4:38 What happened to make ESPN first lose broadcasting rights?
• 5:15 When Bob Jenkins said goodbye to NASCAR fans from ESPN in 2000.
• 7:00 NASCAR on ESPN returns in 2007 - But was it ever the same? It only lasted until 2014.
• 8:41 What happened to most of the NASCAR on ESPN talents?
• 10:02 The true downfall of NASCAR on ESPN. Did they just stop caring?
• 11:13 Too many sports messing with NASCAR's coverage on ESPN.
• 12:33 What happened to NASCAR on ESPN? They just simply stopped caring about the product.
• 13:16 No broadcast company is perfect. Could ESPN ever return? SRX may give us a glimpse.
• 14:07 Closing thoughts - Should ESPN return to NASCAR?

With news starting to trickle in about new TV deals for other sports the questions of when NASCAR will ink up their new deal are beginning to take flight. The old TV deal before this one though is worth looking back at for one sole reason. The fact that after much anticipation and hype ESPN and ABC Sports utterly missed when it came to their NASCAR coverage. The question that I ask is why? Why did they fail? Why did NASCAR on ESPN fail?

NASCAR and ESPN have had a complicated relationship for almost 40 years. Could we see a possible reunion?