NASCAR and ESPN at impasse

[KC]

In standard practice in television, news shows and networks seek access to various sporting bodies to cover them on their programming. ESPN and NASCAR have reached a stalemate on this. NASCAR wants more coverage on ESPN's sports encompassing SportsCenter program which covers all sports with breaking news and daily scores. NASCAR wants to restrict coverage on ESPN2's RPM2Nite because of competition with Fox's new Inside NASCAR program. ESPN has taken exception to this stance and denies all coverage of NASCAR on SportsCenter without continued coverage on its sister channel. NASCAR feels that RPM2Nite is a magazine show and thus can be restricted instead of a news program.

I find this strange as ESPN and ABC Sports are directly responsible for the popularity of NASCAR in America by televising races when no other network would. I guess it is just a matter of time till NASCAR begins to look, operate and promote itself like Bernie Ecclestone's F1 empire.

[Lee]

Regardless of the fact that I am a hugh fan of stock car racing, and that NASCAR is the biggest stock car sanctioning body in the world, I will call them on it when I feel they have screwed up. NASCAR is wrong here! They want to be able to have their cake and eat it too! Treat ESPN like ****, and then expect them to bow to their every whim! They keep it up, and NASCAR will kill the goose that lays the golden egg!