NASCAR already has a dozen of its 36 Cup races on cable -
ESPN and
Turner - with the rest being televised on over-the-air networks
Fox and
ABC.
That's a mix that NASCAR likes, so don't expect to see any more of the sport's big events moving over to cable TV.
Although
Speed, which is in 75 million homes, continuously lobbies for Cup races on its network, that doesn't appear likely.
It does have the Sprint All-Star Challenge, which is a non-points event.
“We think the balance as it is today is good,” Paul Brooks, president of the NASCAR Media Group, said. “We worked hard as we put our TV plans in place to ensure the greatest coverage available for the sport. … We have assurances that the balance will be there moving forward.”
That doesn't mean the lobbying will stop.
Contractually,
ESPN does not have the freedom to move the final eleven Cup races off
ABC to
ESPN. The first six Cup races of its 17-race schedule are already on
ESPN.
by Michael Smith/Sporting News
Michael Smith is a reporter with SportsBusiness Journal.
