While all major sporting leagues today offer fans a quality of broadcast befitting of technological advancement, NASCAR is somewhat stuck in the old days.
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One of the premier racing leagues in the United States of America, stock car racing is not only the most watched form of motorsport action in the country but is also gaining international traction and interest with the governing body’s push to take the league past US borders.
However, weekly broadcasts of Cup Series events that include pre-race sessions such as practice and qualifying as well as the race itself still reach its audience in high definition only.
Pretty sad that 2006 cameras look better than 2024 cameras pic.twitter.com/K0C9RTFAiV
— Brett (@brettbphoto) September 25, 2024
While 1080p resolution has been widely regarded as the norm for full HD viewing for many years, the advent of high frame rate televisions with 4K to 8K capabilities has upped the stakes in recent times.
Consumers in the market now have access to TV sets with such capabilities and sporting leagues such as Formula 1 with 4K broadcasting are setting the industry standard.
With the open-wheeled series having made the switch back in 2017 with a further jump to 8K coming in the future, NASCAR‘s lack of broadcasting quality upgrades is a curious case.
With the sport having the ability to reach its at-home audience with image quality improving by four times, fans of the sport reacted to the same topic.
“We’re still using the same technology”
Fans on social media critiqued NASCAR’s broadcast quality in 2024 with the same not being at par with where the youth’s expectations have been set. With stock car racing aiming to rope in younger fans into the sport, the league must up its game in terms of the quality of its broadcasts in line with what the next generation of fans has come to expect.
Comparing the image quality from 2024 to that of 2006, one fan opined on how the latter looked more vibrant and said, “Much richer colors. That DLP car may also be using real paint instead of a wrap so that could play into it, but FOX’s color grading for at least the past 4 years as been just dull.”
“I find it absolutely crazy we’re still using the same technology that was used to broadcast the 2004 daytona 500. I know broadband is the biggest issue holding back upgrades today like sd to hd back in those days, but damnit i really feel like fox/nbc HAVE to use 4k tech rn,” opined another fan urging the sport to switch to 4K resolution and how stock car racing’s broadcast quality has stagnated over the years.
i find it absolutely crazy we're still using the same technology that was used to broadcast the 2004 daytona 500 😭💀
i know broadband is the biggest issue holding back upgrades today like sd to hd back in those days, but damnit i really feel like fox/nbc HAVE to use 4k tech rn
— Jacob Morgan (@Jacobdean1342) September 25, 2024
Another fan chimed in talking about the entire motorsports industry and how broadcasting has been of late, “I truly feel like we have regressed in Motorsport broadcasting.”
“Hasn’t nothing to do with the cameras. The cameras are state of the art. Everything is transmitted only in 1080p. If it was like what Apple TV does the MLB, it would be 8K with a high frame rate depending on the quality of your TV,” explained one fan on the limitations the sport is facing.
After all has been said and done, NASCAR’s lack of a live 4K viewing experience in the current day and age is one of the aspects holding the sport back. A change in the same could change stock car racing’s perception as a whole, while further appealing to a younger audience which the sport is after.
