Mike Joy takes jab at NASCAR’s efforts to bring in younger viewers

Every sport aims to reach a younger audience. It’s no different in NASCAR, though FOX Sports‘ Mike Joy is concerned the sport is not doing enough.

Joy has led the network’s NASCAR broadcast team since 2001 and was there for the sport’s boom and rise to the mainstream throughout the 2000s. He took to social media on Tuesday to respond to a recent article written by Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, focused on FOX‘s introduction of the animated character Digger in 2008.

Joy thought Digger was a hit for young racing fans. Nowadays, he feels the efforts to grow the audience are missing the mark.

“David Hill is a visionary; I love the effort he and Ed Goren made to grow our audience,” Joy wrote on X. “Families and kids were always three deep at Digger’s souvenir trailer… more than at many drivers. Compare Digger to today’s efforts to bring new, younger eyes to sports on TV. I’ll wait.”

New data reveals NASCAR fan demographics

There is data to back up Joy’s claim. Thanks to a recent study from YouGov, we have an idea of what the modern NASCAR fanbase looks like and how they view the sport. The data contains surprises as well as a few obvious conclusions. Perhaps the most revealing numbers are on the demographics of the modern NASCAR fan.

One issue NASCAR has had in recent years is attracting a younger audience. The YouGov numbers show that issue is very real. For the five most popular Cup Series organizations, a plurality of fans were in the 55+ age demographic.

Other sports such as baseball have dealt with the same problem. MLB made changes, such as introducing the pitch clock. NASCAR, meanwhile, has adopted an elimination-style playoff format among other things.

But 17 years ago, there was Digger. The animated gopher had its own line of t-shirts, caps and plush toys, available at speedways and online. Digger was a key part of FOX‘s broadcast until its removal in 2012. While NASCAR purists might have pushed back on Digger, kids loved it.

“The purists in the sport thought this was silly overall, and that two or three minutes of animated storytelling was taking away from actual race coverage,” Paul Brooks, then president of NASCAR’s media group, told Stern. “They were playing to a new audience — kids and parents sitting at home — and finding different ways to attract them. But the bottom line was that Digger was polarizing to some fans and many of our officials and race teams.

“You either loved Digger or you did not.”

On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this report.