This year is pivotal for NASCAR, four
speakers agreed at a panel discussion
at the Student Commons Theater on
Thursday.
About 75 people attended the
event, “The State of NASCAR: A Panel
Discussion,” which was sponsored by
the School of Business Department of
Management. The panelists – journalists
who regularly report about
NASCAR (National Association for
Stock Car Auto Racing) – concurred
that NASCAR is losing its reputation
as the most rapidly growing sport in
the United States.
Reasons for its lagging popularity
include high fuel costs, racing teams’
debt, lighting expenses and the shrinking
consumer dollar, said Gene Laverty,
a writer for Bloomberg News.
“The amount of sponsorship going
into the sport really hasn’t changed
much,” he said.
But pressure from sponsors expecting
the sport’s popularity to grow
is great, Laverty said. This year will
determine whether the sport will be
able to overcome these obstacles, he
said.
“One of the biggest things about
the sport is that perception is reality,”
said speaker Dustin Long, a reporter
for Landmark newspapers. “If you’re
not growing, you’re standing still, and
if you’re standing still, you’re falling
behind.”
USA Today sportswriter Nate Ryan
said this is because two factors, event
attendance and network coverage,
which were integral to NASCAR’s
expansion, are failing to meet sponsors’
expectations.
“They’re finding it difficult to
expand into new markets,” Ryan said.
“If NASCAR doesn’t fi nd a way to
continue its expansion, there are real
challenges there.”
Panelists disagreed about whether
NASCAR will imitate other mainstream
national sports leagues by franchising
its racing teams.
“Franchising is on the horizon,”
Long said.
At the same time, Long said, race-car
teams have developed into businesses
so enormous that outside companies
and entrepreneurs find it difficult
to create start-up teams capable of
competing with them on a national
level. NASCAR.com columnist and
senior writer David Caraviello said he
doubts the France family, which has
mostly owned the league since it was
founded by William France Sr. in 1948,
will allow franchising, because it would
require the family to give up its control
of the league and its profits.
Speakers also disagreed about
whether the “Top-35 Rule,” a provision
that gives the top 35 drivers in the
league an automatic spot in a race,
should be removed.
“Fans don’t get a good feeling …
when someone gets in on a pass,”
Laverty said.
But, he said, fans would rather
see their favorite drivers than a fair
game. And sponsors have come to
expect camera-ready drivers like Jeff
Gordon, who bring in fans and have
national visibility as corporate spokesmen,
Caraviello said.
“You’re hiring guys who can move
a product more than drive a racecar,”
he said.
Long said this emphasis on turning
drivers into profitable commodities
instead of skilled competitors is a result
of NASCAR’s main agenda to make
money. Although NASCAR has been
characterized as an all-American sport,
he said, the increased involvement
of foreign companies, like Toyota, is
changing that image, as well.
“For a sport everyone thinks of as
red, white and blue, it’s really all about
green,” he said.