
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 17, 1994                   TAG: 9402170165
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.                                LENGTH: Medium

NETWORKS WANT PIECE OF NASCAR

In the 1960s, when stock car racing was young and sports television also was in its infancy, highlights of NASCAR races appeared on the tube every so often, usually on "ABC's Wide World of Sports," sandwiched between other obscure contests like barrel jumping or log rolling.

How things have changed.

This year, all 31 Winston Cup races and nearly every Busch Grand National race will be shown live.

The growth spurt occurred mostly in the 1980s, and cable's ESPN was largely responsible. Today, cable networks still have most of the telecasts.

But now that CBS no longer has NFL football or major-league baseball, it may well try to wrest some Winston Cup races from the cable networks.

"We're looking at everything," said Jeremy Handelman, vice president of program planning for CBS Sports. "It's not just a CBS Sports decision, but really a company-wide decision" that includes local CBS stations. "But the appetite is certainly there there for additional Winston Cup events, and perhaps other motorsports events as well."

CBS already has told its local affiliates that it will be bidding for some of the fall Winston Cup races, according to one television writer here this week.

CBS telecasts the Daytona 500, the Twin 125 qualifying races (on a tape-delayed basis), the Busch Clash, the DieHard 500 at Talladega in July and the Miller 400 at Michigan.

Nothing will change this year, since all the races are locked up, either by CBS, ABC, ESPN, TNN or TBS.

But after 1994, the television contracts will expire for a number of races, reportedly including those at the tracks operated by International Speedway Corporation (a company owned by NASCAR President Bill France Jr.). The ISC-owned tracks are Daytona, Talladega, Darlington and Watkins Glen.

Unlike in other major sports, the tracks own the TV rights to NASCAR races. So, the Winston Cup series is not sold as a package. The tracks do their own negotiating, sometimes selling different races to different networks.

This year, for instance, the first Pocono race will be televised by TNN and the second by TBS.

"There's really no other sport quite like it in terms of negotiations," said Bob Scanlon, ESPN's top motorsports producer.

The TV rights for most Winston Cup races cost a network a few hundred thousand dollars each.

"Compared to the NFL, it's a bargain," Handelman said.

But if CBS wants more races, the prices are sure to go up. Even if CBS doesn't go after more races, the prices still are likely to go up because of the intense competition that already exists between ESPN and TNN for motorsports programming.

"The bargain has probably ceased to exist," said Bob Dickinson, the director of program acquisition for TBS.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by CNB