NASCAR's new rights holders "insisted that they would
not pass along surcharges to cable operators" to pay for
their new rights deal, according to Steve Donohue of
BROADCASTING & CABLE. But Turner Sports and FSN execs
"conceded that they expected to pass along annual increases
in the license fees that they charge operators." FSN
President Jeff Shell: "We don't plan a surcharge per se for
NASCAR." Meanwhile, Turner execs "are privately suggesting
that ESPN should drop its rate since it will lose the NASCAR
contract." But ESPN Senior VP/Programming John Wildhack
said that the net has "no plans to offer MSOs a rebate tied
to the lost NASCAR programming." He said that ESPN will
look to replace NASCAR with new editions of SportsCenter,
other news programming, additional NHL playoff games and
more college football and basketball. Wildhack: "We'll be
fine" (B&C, 11/15). In the SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, Langdon
Brockinton reports that losing NASCAR comes after ABC/ESPN
relinquished rights to the Triple Crown. One industry
source: "If [ESPN] loses baseball, I think they will have a
major, major problem" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/15).
WHAT ABOUT AD RATES? Brockinton adds that NBC and TBS
plan to sell sponsorships and ad time jointly for their
NASCAR programming, but Turner Sports President Mark Lazarus
said that "exactly how the sales effort will be structured
hasn't been determined." Brockinton adds that NBC and
Turner, in conjunction with NASCAR and the individual
tracks, "will look to sell multitiered sponsorship packages
that include commercial time on race telecasts." Several
industry observers say that the NASCAR networks "will need
to broaden the sport's advertiser base" (SPORTSBUSINESS
JOURNAL, 11/15 issue). BRIDGE NEWS' Jennifer Allen reported
on the likely increase in NASCAR ad rates. Sponsors, many
of whom hold three-to-five year deals, "are likely to fare
better than advertisers." DDB Worldwide Dir of Sponsorships
Karen Baker: "Any sponsor with a long-term contract is in a
very fortuitous position. NASCAR is very, very fair in
dealing with sponsorship arrangements" (BRIDGE NEWS, 11/12).
