NASCAR seeking to capitalize on sports betting momentum through weekly featured matchups

NASCAR is seeking to build upon its momentum in sports betting by attempting to have sportsbooks replicate its own weekly featured matchups, which are included as part of its weekly “Fantasy Update.”

On a weekly basis, the league selects drivers for head-to-head battles, with featured matchups selecting participants based on rivalries, points battles and other factors through a centralized mechanism. The concept was developed in 2021 and announced in December.

“We’ve been highly encouraged by the response to featured matchups so far,” Joe Solosky, Nascar's managing director of sports betting, told Forbes. “Currently, 10-plus major U.S. sportsbooks run Cup featured matchups every week, including our partners BetMGM, Barstool Sportsbook and WynnBET.”

Additionally, a portion of the sportsbooks that run Cup matchups also run featured matchups for the Xfinity Series. According to Solosky, the adoption rate of the program “has far exceeded the expectations” set for the year, with Nascar now on its way “towards establishing featured matchups as an industry-standard bet-type.”

“The thought was that head-to-head driver matchups, which in most cases are even-money (-110) bets similar to point spreads in stick and ball sports, would be the most intuitive, familiar and accessible bet type for someone new to betting on Nascar,” Solosky told the cited source.

The executive describes the program as “extremely simple,” asking the player to root for one driver to finish ahead of another. The short odds make bettors more likely to win a matchup bet when compared to a traditional “outright” bet on one driver to win a race featuring approximately 40 drivers.

The success of the program has also been welcomed news for sportsbooks, which are taking four- and five-figure bets on featured matchups, with average bets $20 up when compared to regular Nascar bets, “bringing more money into the market.”

But Solosky also revealed to Forbes that, in the future, Nascar plans to take in-race betting to its next level by finding a way to incorporate a second screen race camera experience for fans, similar to what the NBA has done. According to the executive, this would give fans“ the opportunity to follow the two drivers they bet-on in addition to the linear race broadcast.

Additionally, Nascar has plans to develop more betting offerings, with a focus on live betting, and to bring pre-race and in-race options to all available betting platforms. “We’re working on getting more books to run fun props such as over/under number of lead changes in the race, over/under individual driver finishing position, more futures markets and more,” Solosky said.

This commitment to expanding sports betting within the league comes as betting operators see year-over-year growth in Nascar handle. The league had announced plans to expand its initiatives last year, ahead of the 2022 Cup Series season, and said it would be working with Genius Sports to that end.

On Tuesday, Minneapolis-based online technology company SharpLink Gaming announced that its integrated C4 solution has resulted “in a measurable improvement” in the conversion of NASCAR.com fans to sports betting depositors for BetMGM for the first five weeks of the 2022 NASCAR racing season, including a 225% increase in qualified sports betting depositors.

Rob Phythian, CEO of SharpLink, described NASCAR as an enthusiastic early adopter of leading-edge technological innovations in its efforts to advance its online sports betting business strategies and optimize its marketing spending.