NASCAR might be for sale, but who’s buying if it is?
By Nick Tylwalk
The France family, which has essentially owned NASCAR since the very beginning, might be exploring a sale, but who might step up and purchase it if that’s the case?
It’s common sense in any kind of business transaction that you want to buy low and sell high. That wouldn’t exactly be the case for NASCAR, which has grown way beyond what its founders ever could have imagined in the late ’40s, but also has shrunken quite a bit since its heyday of a decade or two ago.
That would suggest that with rumors swirling again that NASCAR might be for sale, it would be for the second reason someone sells something, which is that there’s a legitimate fear things are going to get worse instead of better. As hard as it might be to imagine NASCAR without the France family, that time might finally have arrived, spurred on by sliding attendance and ratings that show no signs of letting up.
Beyond the idea that NASCAR would be run by someone else for the first time in more than 70 years, it’s intriguing to ponder who might be willing to buy. Let’s take a quick look at the potential buyers named in the ESPN report.
Marcus Smith
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The son of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. founder Bruton Smith, ESPN suggest that he “wants to make his own legacy in sports, separate from his father.” Buying NASCAR would certainly accomplish that.
Considering that the Smith family is held in pretty high regard by old school fans who would prefer stock car racing remain in the control of “racing people,” Marcus might be the buyer to best unite older and younger audiences. It would be interesting to see if International Speedway Corporation would be included in a NASCAR sale, as that would put the vast majority of tracks in the hands of one family if Marcus Smith was the buyer.
Comcast
As the sponsor of the NASCAR XFINITY Series and owner of NBC, Comcast is already intimately involved with stock car racing. Owning the content one broadcasts and promotes is still the in thing for media companies as we approach the third decade of the 21st century, so it’s not that far-fetched to think Comcast would at least inquire about the price tag for NASCAR.
One potential roadblock/twist would be that the current NASCAR TV deal runs through 2024, and Fox still has the rights to broadcast the first half of the Cup Series and XFINITY Series schedules and the entire Truck Series slate. That would make for an unusual working relationship, and it might make more sense for Comcast to get involved if NASCAR was for sale at the end of the TV contract instead of right now.
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It’s certainly possible that the pool of potential buyers is much bigger than this, because despite its struggles, NASCAR is still a big deal with millions of fans across the country. If the price is right, other individuals and companies might jump at the chance to own a bona fide piece of Americana, so the next year or so could be crucial for determining if the future of the sport will be written by new authors.