Many missing races

By ZECH YODER

When I heard the NASCAR Xfinity Series was going to be moving from Fox/NBC to The CW, I was excited. They had a great broadcast team, including Adam Alexander and former drivers Jamie McMurray and Parker Kligerman, and I thought it was great that the entire Xfinity Series season would be on broadcast television.

My excitement turned to disappointment when I attempted to tune into the first CW broadcast last fall for the Bristol night race. I opened my YouTube TV app and couldn’t find the race. In fact, I couldn’t find The CW at all.

For the better part of 30 minutes, I searched YouTube TV for The CW. After a few internet searches, I discovered that my YouTube TV subscription did not include live broadcasts of The CW. How is that possible? Apparently, the rise of internet streaming has created complications with television broadcasting rights. YouTube TV and The CW do not have a streaming agreement in this area so YouTube TV cannot air live broadcasts of The CW.

I thought to myself that this would only be a temporary thing. Surely YouTube and The CW would be able to work out a deal. Six months later and there is no deal. To make things more complicated, The CW does offer YouTube subscribers access to its content but only after it is broadcasted. Thus, I can still watch the Xfinity races on my YouTube TV app, but not live. The problem, however, is that if you watch the Cup Series race on Sunday, you’ll be told who won the Xfinity race on Saturday.

Okay, maybe you could watch the Xfinity race on Sunday before the Cup Series race. No spoilers then. Well, The CW has not been consistent with when it releases the content. I’ve noticed on several occasions this year that the Xfinity race was not released by The CW until after the Cup Series race.

I am not the only race fan that has experienced this dilemma. Many NASCAR fans are complaining that they don’t have access to The CW to watch the Xfinity Series.

If the purpose of The CW acquiring the broadcast rights of the Xfinity Series was to grow interest in the Xfinity Series and increase The CW’s viewership, someone has dropped the ball. While I acknowledge that digital streaming rights and agreements are over my head, I am flabbergasted that YouTube, The CW, and perhaps NASCAR has not figured out a compromise. While not as popular as the Cup Series, the Xfinity Series still averages more than one million viewers for most races – a respectable number for a “minor league” racing series.

I am curious if anyone else shares my frustration.

Zech Yoder is a local resident, an attorney at Adler Attorneys in Noblesville, and a lifelong race fan.