NASCAR Becomes First Partner of Facebook’s Venue Initiative

NASCAR has announced a partnership with Facebook that makes it the first partner for Venue, a new iOS and Android app that is set to enhance the live event experience by bringing fans and expert commentators together in an interactive way.

Created by Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team, which researches, tests, and refines new product experiences, Venue aims to offer fans an improved second screen experience while watching their favorite sporting event. Fans will be able to interact with the expert commentators, such as well-known personalities like journalists, current or former athletes, or aspiring “fan-analysts,” who will host a venue for each race. During the race, those commentators will provide commentary, pose interactive questions and polls and open up short chats around specific moments of the event. Fans will also be able to communicate with each other and enjoy multiple venues during a given race, offering different takes depending on their favorite expert commentary.

“As NASCAR makes its return to action over the coming weeks, Venue will provide users with a unique and exciting way to connect with fellow race fans from around the globe — all from the safety and comfort of their own homes,” said Tim Clark, SVP and Chief Digital Officer at NASCAR. “NASCAR was built on innovation, and we couldn’t be more excited to help a great partner like Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team innovate around new platforms.”

Expert commentators will be able to create “Moments” during the race – short-lived, digital opportunities for fans to connect based on something interesting that happened on the track. Fans will be notified when a new Moment is created so they don’t miss a second of their favorite commentary while watching the race and interacting within the app.

“Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team is launching Venue to bring fans and creators together around live events, starting with NASCAR,” said Ime Archibong, Head of Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team. “Digital spaces can connect us when we can’t be together in person, and Venue is one way to feel the energy of watching live events with other fans.”

Venue is now available on iOS and Android in the United States.