By T.J. Buffenbarger
The biggest domino to fall in the off season was finalized when Knoxville Raceway and World Racing Group announced they chose to remain with DIRTVision and World Racing Group as their streaming partner for the Knoxville Nationals and weekly programs at the speedway. Here are my takeaways from the saga that took place behind the scenes throughout the summer.
- My view of the contract renewal for streaming the Knoxville Nationals was of the most influential decisions in the sport this decade.
Either DIRTVision or Floracing winning this contract has a lot of underlying impacts on the entire sport that could have influence on tracks and series throughout the country.
For World Racing Group retaining the Knoxville Nationals streaming rights on DIRTVision is a major win for the entire company. It became evident early last year that Floracing was going to make a full court press to obtain the Nationals.
Overtures started in the early part of the calendar year. Floracing increased their presence at Nationals this year with a full off site pre-race show and Michael Rigsby on hand all week was not just about gaining some additional traffic to their platform from Knoxville Nationals week.
As of last weekend I still was as unsure which direction the Marion County Fair Board would take with this as I was mid-summer. If you think about the partners and investors Floracing has, they have deep pockets, television, and a multi-sport platform to offer.
The optics for World Racing Group had they lost the Knoxville Nationals rights would have been more detrimental than Floracing losing as the challenger. Floracing with High Limit Racing has already carved out a much larger presence in sprint car racing than any other challenger to the World of Outlaws and WRG. Losing the Nationals to their biggest streaming competitor could eventually open the flood gates for other major events to change allegiances as well.
Ultimately the decision was made to continue WRG and Dirtvision as the streaming partner that has been a major part of the resurgence of the Knoxville Nationals over the past decade, giving WRG a nice win for the company going into the holidays.
- I’m sure Jason Reed and people on the Marion County Fair Board tasked with making this decision have a sense of relief from this contract period being resolved. This was not just a choice of who would stream the Nationals, but a decision that would have ripple effects throughout the sprint car world.
The enormity of that decision, knowing what it could do for the future of Knoxville Raceway and other people in the business of sprint car racing, makes my brain hurt, so I can only imagine what the actual decision makers were going through.
Reed and the current members of the fair board have done a solid job maintaining the stature of the Knoxville Nationals, and hopefully this new streaming agreement can help increase the visibility of all the other great programs that take place throughout the year.
- Floracing coming this close to obtaining the rights for the Knoxville Nationals shows how much power they have gained since the platform started popping up on my radar in 2017.
While Flosports may have taken a loss in this round, I have a feeling they will be a be even stronger when this new agreement expires. It will be interesting to see what other events and properties Floracing may take a run at with and without High Limit involvement as they continue to grow their portfolio for streaming content.
In regards to World Racing Group, I’m curious how they are going to grow their company to counter Floracing competition. With WRG’s hands in so many other racing entities at a variety of different levels, what other properties might they try to establish or obtain so they can continue to grow and counter their competitor that has a significantly different business model? The next five years is going to significantly shape what sprint car racing is going to look like for the following 10 to 20 years, and for the first time the owners of the World of Outlaws have a real fight on their hands that has lasted more than one season, and it not going away.
- Now that the streaming contact for the Knoxville Nationals, the focus can return to other off-season changes in teams, drivers, tracks, and events. While other outlaws have focused on those tasks, this contract renewal I felt was the biggest “silly season” domino to fall and was the focus of all my off season (and some in season) attention.
Had Floracing won it would have heightened what I already felt will be a crazy off season. Finalizing the contract for streaming the Nationals also will allow schedules to start coming out leading into the Performance Racing Industry trade show in December.