Even if you think NASCAR is nothing more than cars making left turns, you have 200 million reasons to hope its popularity rebounds. And fast.
Brian France, the sport’s chairman, has considerably many more reasons — stretching into the billions. His family owns NASCAR, which his grandfather founded in 1948. As for Charlotte, the city’s $200 million bet on racing comes to life this spring with the opening of the publicly funded NASCAR Hall of Fame uptown.
These are hardly hall of fame times for the NASCAR crowd. Attendance is down, TV ratings fell another 7% last season and the sport’s lifeblood corporate sponsorships are harder to come by, too.
Daytona Beach is NASCAR’s headquarters, but the Charlotte region is where its business gets done. The major teams are based here, NASCAR’s licensing and media operations are housed in an uptown tower, and the consultants and marketing firms that rev the sport’s publicity engine also call Charlotte home. All of which made France’s appearance during the annual media tour this month a moment of heightened interest.
Brian France, the sport’s chairman, has considerably many more reasons — stretching into the billions. His family owns NASCAR, which his grandfather founded in 1948. As for Charlotte, the city’s $200 million bet on racing comes to life this spring with the opening of the publicly funded NASCAR Hall of Fame uptown.
These are hardly hall of fame times for the NASCAR crowd. Attendance is down, TV ratings fell another 7% last season and the sport’s lifeblood corporate sponsorships are harder to come by, too.
Daytona Beach is NASCAR’s headquarters, but the Charlotte region is where its business gets done. The major teams are based here, NASCAR’s licensing and media operations are housed in an uptown tower, and the consultants and marketing firms that rev the sport’s publicity engine also call Charlotte home. All of which made France’s appearance during the annual media tour this month a moment of heightened interest.
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