NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell talks growth opportunities, possible international expansion

NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said the company has seen “a lot of momentum” after a challenging few years, touting NASCAR’s presence on multiple streaming platforms and the recently announced sequel to “Days of Thunder” as opportunities to raise the company’s profile.

The auto racing company CEO, in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan, credited the company’s growing popularity among a younger audience, in part, to its ability to connect with fans online.

“The media partners are just the foundation of the sport [that] help us grow,” he told CNBC.  

NASCAR content is available through streaming, cable and digital platforms across Fox, Comcast’s NBC, Versant’s USA Network, Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT Sports and Amazon Prime Video, thanks to seven-year media rights agreements — worth an estimated $7.7 billion, according to various media reports.

When asked whether the patchwork nature of exclusive streaming rights to races would confuse viewers, O’Donnell said the breadth was actually a benefit.

“For us [it’s] how many front doors can we give to a fan to come through and experience NASCAR, and we used to just be maybe on one or two networks,” he said. “And as you look at where media is going long-term, we realized to get younger we needed to try some different things, go where some of the younger fans are maybe watching or just tuning in for a couple minutes.”

The release of “Days of Thunder 2,” the sequel to the 1990 hit, will be another way to reach new fans, O’Donnell said. Tom Cruise will be reprising his role as Cole Trickle, a NASCAR driver, with Anne Hathaway set to co-star. The Paramount film is slated to premiere in summer 2028, Cruise announced on social media.

O’Donnell said Cruise recently visited NASCAR headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida, and believes that the sequel will bring new audiences to the league.

“He could not have been more enthusiastic,” O’Donnell told CNBC. “Tom’s No. 1 message to us: He’s like, ‘You got to be ready because I’m going to put people [on], and they’re going to know what NASCAR’S about.'”

Global racing league Formula 1 has notched success in recent years garnering new fans via streaming and film, including Netflix’s “Drive to Survive” docuseries and Apple’s “F1” movie, which premiered in 2025.

The Brad Pitt blockbuster became Apple’s highest-grossing film.

Similarly, “Ford v Ferrari,” a biopic about a legendary team of British and American race-car drivers, became one of the highest-grossing original movies of 2019.

And while NASCAR seeks to grow its reach domestically, O’Donnell said that he is “absolutely” open to international expansion.

The league currently races only in the U.S. and Mexico but is weighing options for additional international locations.  

O’Donnell said that brand awareness must be established internationally before plans for future race locations can be solidified.

“I don’t want to just export a race and plop it somewhere,” O’Donnell said. “We want to build the culture so that when you go to a race, if we’re in Europe, you know, hey, that’s the NASCAR experience.”

O’Donnell was named CEO in April, replacing Jim France and becoming the league’s first CEO outside the founding family.

Disclosure: Versant Media Group is the parent company of CNBC.