Int'l Speedway Corp. (ISC) released figures yesterday
showing that NASCAR will receive $244M from TV partners News
Corp., NBC and Turner Sports in 2001, "the first year of a
six-year," $2.4B contract, according to Rick Westhead of
BLOOMBERG NEWS. Analysts said that the amount of TV revenue
will increase 17% each year through the life of the deal.
About $232M of the $244M will be allocated to NASCAR's
Winston Cup series, while the remaining $12M is slated for
the Busch Grand National series. Westhead wrote that the
release of the agreement's details "two months after it was
signed clears up some uncertainty by investors" and may help
ISC's "lagging share price." After reaching a "record high"
of $70 following the TV deal in November, ISC stock is down
36% to $45. Raymond James analyst Scott Barry said details
of the TV deal had to be made public: "The market doesn't
like uncertainty." J.C. Bradford analyst Breck Wheeler: "It
was unnerving for the market that the details weren't
released when the contract was announced" (BLOOMBERG, 1/13).
