NBC Sports’ Snider hits 30 years with company, but checkered flag not yet in sight

NBC Sports NASCAR personality Marty Snider will cap off 30 years with NBC companies at this weekend’s NASCAR championship race in Phoenix, a markedly long tenue in the media industry that’s often prone to shakeups. Snider serves as both a pit reporter and studio host for NBC’s NASCAR coverage, but he’s contributed widely to the company over the years including helping with its broadcasting of IndyCar, the NFL and the Olympic Games. His career began as a sports reporter for NBC’s affiliate in Greenville, S.C., in 1994, and he joined NBC Sports in 1999 for a one-off appearance that blossomed into a full-time gig. Asked what’s kept him coming back to the same company for so long, Snider pointed to his two-decades-long relationship with NBC Sports executive producer and president Sam Flood, as well his relationships in the garage of NASCAR. Snider: “It’s been an absolute blessing to be on this ride or this long at NBC, and I’m staying for the next deal (starting in 2025) so I’m excited about that as well, but I wouldn’t want to work at anywhere else. I’ve always said that Jeff Behnke and Sam Flood are the best bosses I’ve ever had, and they truly make us better every day on television.”

LIVE FROM PIT ROAD: NASCAR is expanding next year from having two domestic media rights partners to five, so incumbents NBC and Fox Sports will air fewer races as a result. But over the last decade since it picked NASCAR rights back up, NBC has played a big role in the lives of NASCAR fans, and the network’s coverage has often been praised as serious and dedicated to making a complicated sport more understandable. This year, NBC has worked with teams on a new feature where Snider sat with a crew chief from a given team on their pitbox for the entire second stage, with the broadcast often cutting to Snider so he can get the down-low on moves by the team’s lead decision-maker. Snider: “When you bring that energy from pit road, it makes a difference. We invented little (features) in the industry like “Through the Field,” and just different ways to kind of make the broadcast a little bit more energetic. And I think that’s just always been a big focus for us – little things to make the broadcast more conversational.”

NOW AND THEN: What’s different to Snider about covering NASCAR now versus when he started off in the sport? The amount of time he gets to spend with drivers, who now spend less time in the garage. Snider: “When I first started, the drivers were certainly around a lot more. You could go in the hauler and hang out with a driver for 30 minutes or an hour. You just can’t do that now – it’s very rare you can do that now. … It’s just such a different aspect from the standpoint today, and it’s not right or wrong – it’s just different. The drivers (now) are so busy, they don’t have time to do that.” As for what excites him about next year when the new media deals start, Snider said he’s looking forward to seeing how NBC’s coverage evolves, and he’s interested to see how Amazon helps NASCAR as it enters the sport with its Prime Video streaming platform.