Move to cut costs doesn't go with more pay for drivers

NASCAR chief says 2018 may look like no season before.

NASCAR’s business model keeps down sizing to the scale of Groupon and Overstock. com, with a dash of the Dollar Store.

Everyone wants to pinch pennies.

Faced with drops in sponsorships, the inability to pay top drivers, sagging attendance and drops in TV viewership, NASCAR is in scramble mode going into the 2018 season.

That’s not just me talking. NASCAR chairman Brian France admitted the sport could be in for some drastic changes as it looks to keep expenses from escalating out of control.

“There’s a lot more we can do, and we’re going to do it,” France told NBC Sports last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We’re working

with (teams) to see how we can control expenses in a way that has not been done in motor sports before.”

The notion of a spending cap has been floated. This is where things get complicated because it’s impossible to compare NASCAR with ball-and-stick sports and their salary caps.

Drivers are essentially independent contractors who work out deals with team owners and sponsors,

with NASCAR having no control over the particulars.

But those sponsorship deals — especially lucrative ones with top drivers— have been imploding in recent months. Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch are among the veteran drivers out of rides because they have priced themselvesoutof themarket.

Denny Hamlin, another veteran driver, voiced concerns about revenue redistribution in the sport, suggesting drivers need tomake more money.

“The pie has to be shifted for sure,” said Hamlin, who is fififth in the playoffff standings. “TheTVdollars coming into NASCAR is higher than it’s ever been, but we’re seeing fewer and fewer teams, and it just can’t survive. So it

economically doesn’t make sense. The pie — the amount of TV money that the race teams share — has to go up, in my opinion.”

Good luckwith all of that, Denny.

“I truly believe our guys are worth exactly what other top athletes areworth,” said Larry McReynolds, a longtime NASCAR insider and now an analyst on Fox Sports. “Unfortunately, because of what it takes to make our sportwork, unlike stick-andball sports, the numbers just won’t get there.”

The cash-flow problem no doubt will be addressed in the off ff ff ff ff ff season and likely will lead to cutting a day offff the schedule each weekend, which will add up considerably.

But it’s still a tough road

economically.

NASCAR was fortunate to land a 10- year media partnership with NBC Sports Group

that began in 2015. The deal was reportedly worth $4.4 billion.

Coupled with Fox’s paying $2.4 billion over eight years of its contract (201522), NASCAR’ sc offer shave a combined worth of $6.8 billion in the years ahead. While that’s enough cash to keep NASCAR a float for a number of years, everything else is skewing in the downward direction. Hence the worrisome prospects, includ

ing the marketing sledgeham

merof losing the sport’ s most popular driver (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and its most polarizing one (Danica Patrick). Each moves the needle like no other driver.

Thosewho are staying on, like Hamlin, aren’t happy.

“We’re way underpaid as race car drivers,” Hamlin said. “There’s no doubt, doingwhatwedo, the schedule that we have and the danger that we incur every single week, NASCAR drivers should be making NBA, NFL money.

“I’m sure this will be in some headline somewhere where Denny says drivers aren’t paid enough, but I’m basing it offff all other sports. I’m not including myself. I’m including the back half of the fifield — those drivers are risking the same amount I amandthey should bepaid a hell of a lot more.”

So you have drivers asking for more money in a sport wheredollars aredwindling.

I feel your pain, Denny, but as noted, good luckwith that.