Friday, November 12, 1999
Ratings boom wins NASCAR rich new TV deal
SPORTS ON TV-RADIO
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NASCAR cashed in on its popularity surge Thursday when it signed a deal with NBC, Fox, FX and Turner Sports.
NASCAR wouldn't talk dollars, but the deal is reportedly worth $400 million over six years, beginning in 2001.
That puts NASCAR behind only NFL football ($17.6 billion, eight years) and NBA basketball ($2.64 billion, four years) in the big bucks sweepstakes.
Why? Ratings.
NASCAR ratings are up 78 percent over the last three years. That's a period where every other sport is settling for a smaller piece of the pie.
“It's a phenomenon,” said Dick Ebersol, chair of NBC Sports. “Of all the tops sports, it's the only one to show continual growth.”
“It's had huge, explosive growth,” said David Hill, CEO of Fox Sports.
The agreement ends NASCAR's partnership with CBS, ABC, ESPN and TNN. It is a big blow for each. ESPN devotes 1,000 hours to auto rating and did 13 Winston Cup races. TNN carries 18 Winston Cup and Busch events. CBS carried eight hours of coverage from the Daytona 500, the premier race on the circuit.
(The 500 will alternate between Fox and NBC).
“We struggled mightily with the decision (to change networks),” said Bray Cary, NASCAR's vice-president of TV.
NASCAR feels that NBC and Fox can promote the sports better and give it better play.
The circuit will split its February-to-November season into two 18-week packages, with 70 percent of Winston Cup races on network.
“You won't have to try to figure out where to find NASCAR,” said Brian France, NASCAR vice president.
PICK'S PICK SIX: Jeff Piecoro's gig at the Breeders' Cup turned out to be a lot more profitable than he expected. Piecoro, the former WBOB reporter now at WLW, worked freelance at the Cup.
He and some colleagueseach threw in $10 to buy a Pick Six ticket.
“We had two horses in each race,” Piecoro said.
The right two horses, he might have added.
The ticket was the only winner, paying a record $3.58 million. Piecoro's take will be $166,000 after taxes. (He hasn't received the check yet).
“We were looking for a new house,” he said. “This will speed that up.”
PAY PER VIEW: Pay $49.95 to see Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis II Satur day on pay-by-view at your own risk. Boxing hasn't given much bang on the buck lately.
ALEXANDER ON: You'll be able to catch Shaun Alexander, the Heisman candidate from Boone County, on Channel 12 Saturday at 3:30 p.m. when his Alabama team takes on Mississippi State. WKRC opted for the game over Notre Dame-Pittsburgh.
John Fay covers TV/radio for The Enquirer. He can be reached at 768-8445
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