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| NASCAR's Brett Jewkes |
NASCAR Senior Vice President and Corporate Communications
Officer Brett Jewkes confirmed today that the sanctioning body has held talks
with Sprint Cup Series owners with an eye toward implementing a new
ownership model, as early as 2016.
“Earlier
today, NASCAR met with all Sprint Cup Series owners and presented framework
concepts for future qualification to compete in NASCAR’s top national series,
with an eye toward implementing a new model for the 2016 season,” said Jewkes
in a written statement. “The on-going dialogue with the entire industry has
been very good and today’s session was another productive step in that process.
NASCAR, the tracks and the team owners all have the same collective goal:
making the sport as strong and competitive as it can be for decades to come.
“Today’s
meeting was one step in the process,” Jewkes said. “There is still a lot of
work to be done and that will continue over the coming months. We understand
there will be speculation and rumors related to the concepts outlined today,
but would caution against coming to any conclusions as we work toward final
decisions.
"When
it is appropriate to do so, NASCAR will make an official announcement. In the
meantime, we are excited about the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and
this weekend’s race at Dover.”
Sources say the new system was presented to owners by NASCAR for the first time today, and is specifically not franchised-based.
Sources say the new system was presented to owners by NASCAR for the first time today, and is specifically not franchised-based.
So, basically taxi medallions so new teams cannot take away spots from old teams.
ReplyDeleteAs reported ,this is NOT franchise-based.
ReplyDeleteIf it looks like a franchise and smells like a franchise; might as well call it a franchise. Hopefully I'm wrong. NASCAR has been making a lot of "Decisions" lately but I have to say they don't seem to be going in the right direction. The biggest thing I disagree with this year is their new TV Deal for this year that has left many without being able to view it. Ratings are plummeting and NASCAR needs to get a new series sponsor to replace Sprint yet. Better turn it around; and in a hurry...
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to hear how you know what it looks or smells like, since there has not been one bit of information released about the proposed new system. If you know any of the details, please feel free to share!
DeleteI'm sure hoping that whatever model is agreed upon does not discourage smaller teams from attempting to get into the sport. That is one of the last alluring things that separates NASCAR from the stick and ball sports.
ReplyDeleteWhile everyone is entitled to find their niche in life where they can make as much money as they honestly can- I only hear of the well established teams complain that they wish their organizations were worth more than the going rates of their acquired assets. Private businesses all over the world operate this way...they don't have the luxury of big corporations giving them millions of dollars each year to run their operations.
Money isn't an object to the larger teams in NASCAR as long as someone else is writing the check. As soon as a well established owner has to put their own money back into the business- they say they can't afford to support additional cars or they have to reduce the number of teams that they have. Is it a good business practice? Absolutely. But it's not the way a start up team can ever run if it were to be successful. I remember Rusty Wallace making the statement when announcing he was shutting down his Nationwide Team. He said something to the effect that he worked too long and hard to have to put up his OWN money to run his OWN race team. It was ridiculous and showed how far we distanced ourselves from the roots of the sport.
If the owners want their businesses to be worth more than the race cars, the buildings, or equipment they have- maybe they need to re-invest differently into their own businesses. The bigger and successful teams didn't start off that way but now the only reason they have these massive, white floor complexes is because someone else (sponsors) are footing the bill. So it pains me to hear that these same owners wish their businesses were worth more when it comes time to sell when they stand to make money off of what sponsors bought them in the first place. They get to cash in twice.
I'm hoping that NASCAR finds a way to encourage more teams to enter the sport- instead of limiting the number of teams that can attempt to race each week. We already have a hard time filling the field with quality cars so lets be careful not to alienate another teams that are just starting out and chasing their dreams...just like Hendrick, Childress, Petty, etc. chased their dreams in the beginning.
Speaking on this subject Richard Childress said "It’s critical, we’ve just got to have some long-term equity in these race teams and we don’t have it.". Really Richard? Two points - #1 a quick internet search shows that your estimated net worth is $200 million #2 You've been an owner for about 30-40 years. Is that not long term equity?
ReplyDeleteKevin F
Kevin F I agree with you 100%. I do however think that NASCAR is on the decline and owners are more and more concerned about their $. It seems more and more owners don't want to invest any of their own $ into the sport. It appears from an outside perspective that teams just want to play and live off of $ from companies that are spending sponsorship $. Well those companies are seeming willing to give less $ each year. With ratings & popularity going down in the sport that will only become more and more of a growing trend. Maybe these race teams are seeing something we all are not. Their actions wanting to get "long term equity" could be because the well is drying up of sponsorship $. Just a thought...
ReplyDeleteTV revenue is the only thing increasing and NASCAR is getting most of that benefit (compared to owners/teams). So I get their concern when ticket sales are down along with sponsor dollars being harder to find. I see the TV $$$ as temporary - there is a battle for content right now to keep subscribers on cable/satellite - specifically live content since much of that can't be streamed online unless you have a cable/satellite provider. People fleeing to just broadband to get TV content will continue. When will sports entities be forced there is the open question (same question can be applied to NCAA football, bball as NASCAR).
ReplyDelete