ESPN will not have the rights to any NASCAR programming starting in 2015 and how that might affect NHRA will be worth watching.

It could be a positive: The loss of Sprint Cup and Nationwide series races, qualifying and practice sessions could mean increased opportunities for live drag racing coverage. NHRA and ESPN experimented with “live” earlier this season at the SpringNationals. There’s a growing consensus within the industry that the social media instant-information revolution has rendered NHRA’s traditional same-day delayed format outmoded.

It could be a negative: ESPN, having lost Sprint Cup which attracts the largest TV audience of any U.S. racing series, could de-emphasize overall motorsports coverage. With NASCAR gone, Formula One now on NBC Sports Network and the Izod IndyCar series contractually bound to NBCSN to 2018 (ABC televised the Indianapolis 500 and five other races this year), NHRA could be left as a programming oddity at ESPN. The only major auto racing series currently without an announced TV home in the near term is the United SportsCar Series. That’s what the Grand-Am and American Le Mans Series will be called when they merge next year. That tour is expected to include only 10-to-12 races, however, including the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

ESPN will not have the rights to any NASCAR programming starting in 2015 and how that might affect NHRA will be worth watching.

It could be a positive: The loss of Sprint Cup and Nationwide series races, qualifying and practice sessions could mean increased opportunities for live drag racing coverage. NHRA and ESPN experimented with “live” earlier this season at the SpringNationals. There’s a growing consensus within the industry that the social media instant-information revolution has rendered NHRA’s traditional same-day delayed format outmoded.

It could be a negative: ESPN, having lost Sprint Cup which attracts the largest TV audience of any U.S. racing series, could de-emphasize overall motorsports coverage. With NASCAR gone, Formula One now on NBC Sports Network and the Izod IndyCar series contractually bound to NBCSN to 2018 (ABC televised the Indianapolis 500 and five other races this year), NHRA could be left as a programming oddity at ESPN. The only major auto racing series currently without an announced TV home in the near term is the United SportsCar Series. That’s what the Grand-Am and American Le Mans Series will be called when they merge next year. That tour is expected to include only 10-to-12 races, however, including the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

At the very least, the Mello Yello series won’t benefit from “tune-in” promos for its races that currently are routinely included during the NASCAR shows.

This seismic shift on the racing TV landscape comes at a crucial time for NHRA, as its U.S. audience numbers on ESPN this season are alarmingly down compared to last year.

At this point in 2012, final eliminations were averaging a 0.4 rating, 482,708 household impressions and 647,603 viewers. Through last weekend’s Mopar Mile-High Nationals, those stats had dropped to a 0.3 average rating, 386,706 household impressions and 504,690 viewers.

The viewership for qualifying also has declined. At this stage of the 2012 season, qualifying averaged a 0.2 rating, 265,042 household impressions and 351,059 viewers. Thus far this year those average numbers are a 0.2 rating, 235,294 household impressions and 305,300 viewers.

Ratings and viewership can be affected by a variety of factors, such as date, air time and competition from other entertainment or news programs.

NASCAR and NBC made official their new deal, which will run from 2015-2024, on Tuesday. Included are the final 20 Cup races (seven on NBC, 13 on NBCSN), the last 19 Nationwide races (four on NBC, 15 on NBCSN), and an assortment of other properties such as the K&N, Whelen Modified and Mexico series events, Spanish-language rights on Telemundo, Hall of Fame induction ceremony, season-ending awards banquets and streaming rights.

Sports Business Daily reported the contract is worth $4.4 billion to NASCAR, a significant increase from the combined $2.28 billion ESPN and Turner Sports paid for the last eight-year agreement. Fox Sports already has renewed its NASCAR contract, which includes the Camping World Truck series, for eight years and a reported $2.4 billion, about a 30 percent increase.

Rights to three Cup races currently part of Turner’s six-race package and the first half of the Nationwide series have not yet been announced. Fox Sports 1, the new national network which will launch next month (replacing Speed) is a likely destination.

ESPN, suddenly facing more serious competition from NBCSN (formerly Versus) and Fox Sports 1, has been the subject of untypical negative media reports in the last few weeks about declining viewership totals and advertising sales. ESPN has committed billions of dollars in recent years for exclusive rights to such major events as the British Open golf and U.S. Open tennis tournaments, college football bowl games, and moved them off over-the-air (like ABC) TV to cable as a way to increase the fees it receives from local cable operators. It also has worked to expand football programming year-around and added a significant amount of soccer.

NHRA does not receive a rights payment from ESPN, but instead compensates the network for production costs. Industry analysts generally agree that serves as a disincentive for ESPN to aggressively promote its drag racing shows, and that business model would make it unlikely ESPN would more pro-actively hype NHRA even if that became its only motorsports property. As an example, it took Courtney Force’s recent victory over father John in New Hampshire (and her cover appearance in ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue) to produce a rare mention and few seconds of video highlights on SportsCenter. 

According to NHRA’s media guide, this arrangement runs through the 2016 season.
 
Over the last three years (ESPN begins its Cup season this Sunday with the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway), Sprint Cup on ABC/ESPN has fallen from an average 3.0 rating and 4.914 million viewers to 2.9 and 4.574 million.

Even so, there’s little doubt the NHRA “tune-in” reminders during ESPN’s NASCAR shows has benefitted the Mello Yello series.

Another possible ripple effect from the loss of NASCAR might be the availability of announcers (such as Marty Reid and Jamie Little) and production staff currently assigned to stock car racing. 

CompetitonPlus.com asked Jerry Archambeault, NHRA’s vice president for public relations and communications, to comment on how ESPN’s loss of NASCAR might impact NHRA. Archambeault responded in general terms in an E-mail response.

“This year marks our 13th year exclusively with the ESPN family of networks and we look forward to working with ESPN to grow NHRA Drag Racing,” he wrote. “As we have done since 2001, we will continue to work with ESPN on scheduling and promotional opportunities that will benefit the sport the sport, the fans, the race teams, and the sponsors.”

Follow Michael Knight on Twitter: @SpinDoctor500