Could race teams end up owning NASCAR itself in the near future?

NASCAR has always been a family-owned enterprise with race teams that are independent entities, but there are rumors that a once unthinkable change in that structure might come in the not too distant future.

It’s impossible to talk or even think about NASCAR as a whole without discussing the France family at the same time. The governing body of the sport, the corporation that runs stock car racing in the U.S., has been controlled by the France family, for better or worse, since Bill France Sr. got the ball rolling in 1948.

Since then, it’s been handed down through the generations, and Brian France is the current CEO. All this time, it’s also been intertwined with International Speedway Corporation (ISC), the company that runs 12 of the tracks that host NASCAR events, including Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and Darlington Raceway.

With that in mind, it’s easy to just assume this will be the status quo of the sport forever, that the inertia of the current setup will prove to be too much to ever make a radical change. But that’s not necessarily the case, and there’s reason to believe a huge switch that would make NASCAR similar in structure to other major North American sports leagues could take place sooner than anyone would have dreamed just a few years ago.

SportsBusiness Journal has a fascinating piece on whether or not NASCAR might quietly be for sale, something the company itself denies. Much of the article consists of source-enhanced speculation over who might be a potential buyer, including media companies like Comcast, and what a suitor would get if it acquired NASCAR.

More from NASCAR

What it wouldn’t get are the tracks, since some are owned by ISC and nine others by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI). There’s nothing that indicates that SMI, a publicly traded company that is controlled by Bruton Smith and his family, is looking to sell itself either, though the Smiths have been rumored to be part of a group looking to buy the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and there is some thought that selling their interests in SMI might give them the money needed for a venture on that scale.

Nevertheless, the SBJ took the daring step of wondering what might happen if NASCAR, ISC and SMI were all included in an acquisition package. Not only would that bump the price up — the article suggests that “estimates have typically ranged from $3 billion to $5 billion” for a purchase of NASCAR and its tracks — but it might also lead to a chance in how stock car racing is organized, one that could flip the balance of power around completely.

"Bob Caporale, chairman of Game Plan, which advises on buying and selling sports teams but has been involved in only one deal in NASCAR, said he thinks that a new structure in NASCAR could help unlock value. He even suggested a model similar to stick-and-ball leagues, where the teams own the league itself.“What’s struck me as unique about NASCAR when compared to the pro sports leagues is that there’s no ownership between NASCAR and the teams — it would seem that it would make a lot of sense,” Caporale said. “There could be a lot of value created in a new structure.”"

It’s always fun hearing or reading the unusual mix of frustration and resignation from team owners, drivers and other people in the sport when it comes to baffling decisions by NASCAR. They appreciate some things about the continuity and stability of the family-owned nature of stock car racing, but they definitely would choose other words, some not fit for print, when it comes to the lack of transparency and the very real way that NASCAR doesn’t have to answer to anyone, really.

Next: Clash TV ratings were up, but does that mean anything for NASCAR as a whole?

If the teams were in charge, not only would they have no excuses (or less of them, anyway) because they would most likely appoint their own commissioner or other authority figure, but the sometimes perplexing rules decisions and other behind the scenes goings on would be a lot more out in the open. As well, race teams themselves would almost certainly be worth more since they’d be part owners of the sport, which could bring more money into stock car racing.

Unpacking all of the possibilities would be worth an article or series of articles in its own right, and it’s a little too early for that. The big takeaway here is that despite what it says in public, NASCAR might really be at least considering a sale, and if it does, it could mean not just new owners but a potentially whole new world for racing, its teams and its fans.

Home/NASCAR

Could race teams end up owning NASCAR itself?

By Nick Tylwalk | Feb 13, 2018

NASCAR has always been a family-owned enterprise with race teams that are independent entities, but there are rumors that a once unthinkable change in that structure might come in the not too distant future.