It's full speed ahead for NASCAR Media Group

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The NASCAR Media Group is not even two years old, but nowhere is the sanctioning body spending more money or more carefully plotting its future.

Over the next few months, the media group will start moving out of its cozy, well-worn offices just south of downtown Charlotte. Its new $45 million home -- $30 million in state-of-the-art equipment, $15 million in construction -- will be adjoining the sparkling NASCAR Hall of Fame building in the heart of downtown, where it will occupy floors 2 through 5 of the 19-story office tower.

Abraham

Inside, the media group will have everything it needs to start its own network, from multiple studios and control rooms, to full graphics and high-definition capability. Even though the Hall of Fame won't open for another year, the office space adjoining the attraction will be ready for occupancy in June.

It will give NASCAR nearly limitless options when it enters the next round of media talks -- its current deals for TV, radio, mobile and the Internet expire in 2014. And the idea of joining Major League Baseball, the NBA, NHL and NFL in starting its own network will be part of the discussion.

"We wanted more control over the process of creating and distributing our content," said Jay Abraham, NASCAR Media Group's chief operator. "This new facility will allow us to evaluate a broader range of strategic options for NASCAR, the industry and how we can best serve the fan."

Whether those plans include a NASCAR network remains to be seen, but it's clear that the sanctioning body is at least positioning itself to go in that direction.

"For NASCAR to consider its own network, I think that's a smart investigation," said Mark Lazarus, president of media and marketing for Atlanta's Career Sports & Entertainment and the former Turner Sports chief.

"It's smart, in terms of controlling their content, but also because of their fiduciary responsibility to the industry, to teams and tracks."

Speed, in more than 75 million homes, serves as a de facto NASCAR network already, with exhaustive coverage through the week and on race weekends. NASCAR Media Group provides content for seven or eight shows a week and calls Speed easily its biggest client.

"With what we're building, with a very small incremental investment, we could become our own network if we wanted to," Abraham said.

"We've tried to look at the world in 2015 and see how we, as a sport, could be best positioned to add value for our media partners, TV, satellite radio, everyone," said Paul Brooks, NASCAR Media Group's president. "We've looked at the future of what those opportunities might be and tried to build backward so we can go in whatever direction to support our partners and the sport long term."

New possibilities

NASCAR Media Group, formed in January 2008 when NASCAR merged its broadcast, digital and Images divisions into one media powerhouse, does plenty of creating and distributing already.

The group has grown from about 50 employees five years ago, when it was solely NASCAR Images, to 175 employees today and produces 75 to 90 hours of content a week. That content ranges from network programming to mobile or web-based projects for its diverse set of clients, including teams, sponsors, networks, ad agencies, Internet sites and feature-film distributors, among others. It also has cameras housed in five team shops and other locations in the Charlotte area to better facilitate interviews and the distribution of news to a variety of outlets, from local news affiliates to websites.

But to Abraham, it's clear the media group has just scratched the surface of its capabilities, especially on the revenue-producing side. When the media group completes its move into the NASCAR Plaza office complex, which will connect to the Hall of Fame, it will escape the limitation of its former headquarters.

That means going from a single cramped studio to a 7,000-square-foot "News Center" that will greet visitors as they enter the Hall of Fame. Another 15,000 square feet are dedicated to two other TV studios and a radio studio. (Continued)