NASCAR’s Netflix docuseries being held up by charter negotiations?

A second helping of the NASCAR Full Speed docu-series on Netflix might get postponed by the ongoing revenue sharing and charter extension negotiations , according to a report in the Sport Business Journal.

The Journal reported over the weekend that NASCAR Holidings has reached an agreement in principle to produce a second season and that it would air on Netflix but that the teams may not agree to participate without a revenue sharing and charter agreement.

The league and the teams that compete at the highest level have been deadlocked over extending the governing structure of the sport.

Charters grant 36 teams entry into every race and also entitle the holders to certain guaranteed shared revenues from the broadcast rights deal and series title sponsorship monies.

The inagural charter agreement ran over the last seven years, concurrent to the current television deal, and teams have used it to create a de facto franchise model not unlike major league stick-and-ball sports.

Both sides must reach an agreement on how much money NASCAR will share with teams from its recently completed seven year, $7.7 billion broadcast rights agreement with FOX, NBC, Amazon Prime and Turner Sports.

The two sides have also negotiated over new revenue streams such as but not limited to gambling. The teams also want the charter model to be made permanent, as apposed to running concurrently through each TV rights window, while also wanting greater governance rights alongside series officials.

Teams have made charters have longstanding value in that they can be sold, in this market, for $20-40 million even if a team shutters for any reason.

Its a way for owners to be able to cash out on an investment not unlike stick and ball franchises.

As for the Netflix show, which cost $5 million to produce but also appeared on top-10 lists for the streamer all across the globe in its debut week, teams are pushing for a new charter agreement before the playoffs start on September 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

But there is also a degree of willingness to reach some sort of alternative deal for the show even independent of charter agreement.

The point teams are trying to convey in this particular negotiating tactic is ‘what is the Cup Series without the teams and drivers that comprise it?’

That’s both a micro and macro argument from the teams.

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