NASCAR announced that it will "retain and negotiate" TV
rights for future Winston Cup and Busch Grand National races
as current TV contracts begin to expire, according to David
Poole of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The current TV rights,
which are negotiated by individual track owners, amount to a
total of $100M, but the value of the races as a whole
"should grow dramatically over the next few years" with the
unified bargaining position. NASCAR will also retain the
rights for "other electronic media opportunities that may
arise" through implementation of digital TV and growth on
the Internet. Speedway Motorsports Int'l President Humpy
Wheeler estimates that TV rights for the races could
increase to as much as $400M by 2003, as "most current
contracts will have expired and the new structure will be in
place." Selling plans for the TV package were not
announced, but "sources say" that one plan calls for the
Daytona 500 to be sold separately, while a group of 10-12
"premier events" would make up a second package with higher
rights fee, followed by a third tier of events. Busch Grand
National races "could be included in those tiers" or "bid
separately" as another package entirely (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER,
2/25). In Raleigh, Barry Svrluga writes that the new
strategy is "aimed at getting away from the hodgepodge
nature of NASCAR's current TV package," which involves six
networks and "inequities between venues." NASCAR "hopes to
use a network partnership to develop multi-media venues for
viewing races," and a "final deal isn't likely to come
before the end of the year." Wheeler: "I see the potential
to package a NASCAR race with an NFL game on the same
network as a great sports Sunday doubleheader" (Raleigh NEWS
& OBSERVER, 2/25). Wheeler, whose SMI originally balked on
a unified TV deal: "We wanted to end all the fuss about us
bickering with NASCAR." In Winston-Salem, Mike Mulhern says
that SMI's agreement to go with the unified TV plan does not
include a "quid pro quo" with a second Winston Cup date at
the Texas Motor Speedway (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 2/25).
HELP ON THE WAY: In Greensboro, Dustin Long reports
that the new deal "could benefit" fans by "keeping ticket
prices from increasing dramatically" (NEWS & RECORD, 2/25).
USA TODAY's Steve Ballard reports that current rights fee
distribution "will remain" the same, as tracks will receive
65%, driver/teams 25%, and NASCAR 10% (USA TODAY, 2/25). In
Indianapolis, Bill Koenig writes that NASCAR "generated an
estimated" $70M in TV money last year and will make $85-90M
this year (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS, 2/25).
