NASCAR: NASCAR VP/Broadcasting Paul Brooks said that
the debut of the NASCAR Channel has been delayed beyond the
beginning of the '01 season but is "still in the works."
Brooks: "The worst thing we could do is rush out with the
NASCAR Channel and it fail or be in a position not to
succeed" (NASCAR WINSTON CUP SCENE, 11/9 issue)....In
Winston-Salem, Mike Mulhern notes NASCAR's Pennzoil 400 at
Homestead-Miami this weekend and writes, "Not since NASCAR
tried to crack the San Francisco market has the sport faced
such an uphill battle. Miami, just a few miles to the north
[of the track] is a major market and a key to NASCAR landing
its big TV package. But NASCAR execs and the men at the
France family's International Speedway Corp. all have their
work cut out to deliver an impressive crowd this weekend."
Mulhern cites the remote location of the race track, the
lack of tradition at the race track, and the fact that Miami
is "quite ethnic" and NASCAR is "not culturally diverse" as
challenges this weekend. Sunday will feature the NASCAR
debut for NBC Producer Sam Flood (W-S JOURNAL, 11/10).
XFL READY TO WHIP UP FRENZY: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir
writes on the XFL from yesterday's media event in N.Y.:
"Well, there will be football. We have no idea how good, or
bad. We know that the peripheral entertainment before and
during the game will have to satisfy fans and viewers."
NY/NJ Hitmen GM Drew Pearson sees every stadium in the
league "firing up fans" the same way the WWF "rouses its
fans into a frenzy" in arenas. Sandomir replies:
"Unfortunately, the frenzied WWF fans often mimic the
malevolent and sleazy actions and attitudes of their idols;
hopefully, someone at the XFL will find a way to keep the
delirium to Dawg Pounds maximums." The Hitmen have sold
9,000 season tickets at $125-150 each (N.Y. TIMES, 11/10).
