iNSIDE SCOOP: Real Purpose of the RTA

Now that the formation of the Race Team Alliance is public, there are a lot of thoughts flying willy-nilly about what the group's ultimate goal is.

The RTA stated, through chairman Rob Kauffman, that it was simply a trade group designed to leverage the quantity of the assembled teams to get more efficient on things like hotels, travel costs and parts.

On its face, that makes sense. Why not save the money on stuff that costs a lot but has little bearing on the competition?

But under the surface, it's been sort of a thunderbolt.

Ricky Craven, who has been part of NASCAR on the driver side and is now in the TV world, had some thoughts.

“It’s what I don’t know (about it) that bothers me,” Craven told Sporting News' Bob Pockrass. “It should bother other people or concern other people. You’re talking about some very powerful people that have created an alliance, and I don’t think it’s to leverage against U.S. Air.”

He's right. They will leverage against U.S. Air and other travel providers, but that's not all the group will likely do.

It's the undercurrent that is bugging people.

Much of that centers around the new TV contract with FOX and NBC, which will increase the payout to the teams by an estimated $1 million per car, per season, based on the current split ratio of 10 percent to NASCAR, 25 percent to the purse and 65 percent to the tracks.

According to Pockrass, "the 2015-2024 TV deal will average $820 million a year, which at the current split breaks down to $82 million for NASCAR, $533 million for the tracks and $205 million for the teams. That’s a $47.5 million increase — about $1 million per car depending on where they finish — over this year’s deal. The teams currently get $157.5 million of the current $630 million TV package. That extra $1 million probably can cover three to 10 percent of a team budget." (Read the entire article here.)

That's real money, I don't care who you are. And guys like Hendrick and Penske and Chip Ganassi, et al, know big money. So does Kauffman, who makes his living dealing with even larger sums.

Does that mean they're going to try and alter that split to bring more money to the purse? It's a thought. 

Of course, when NASCAR's sister company (but completely separate, as NASCAR will tell you) International Speedway Corp. is raking in 19/36ths of the $5.33 billion that goes to the tracks, that's a serious chunk of change ($2.8 billion plus). The purse's share of that split--$2.05 billion--is greater than Speedway Motorsports' $1.776 billion share over the same period.

If you do some creative accounting, that means that NASCAR and ISC have $4.658 billion of the combined $8.2 billion jackpot.

Could that be a big target, whittling away at that percentage? I tend to think it might, but there's a way to do that without killing the golden goose. Don't know how it will play out, but there has to be a consensus to avoid the mistakes made by previous players in this situation.

NASCAR is taking the tack that we're all one big happy family, devoted to the cause of advancing the cause of stock car racing. So is the RTA. 

Is there cause to think that might change? Probably, but it's not to the point where we have to do anything but keep an eye on it.

I hope.