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posted by martyb on Thursday June 11 2020, @01:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the A-See-Change dept.

Many sources are reporting what we can read at ABC News,

NASCAR banned the Confederate flag from its races and properties on Wednesday, formally distancing itself from what for many is a symbol of slavery and racism that had been a familiar sight at stock car events for more than 70 years.

The move comes amid social unrest around the globe following the death in police custody of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis. Protests have roiled the nation for days and Confederate monuments are being taken down across the South — the tradtiional fan base for NASCAR.

[...] The issue was pushed to the fore this week as Bubba Wallace, NASCAR's lone black driver, called for the banishment of the Confederate flag and said there was "no place" for them in the sport. At long last, NASCAR obliged.

"The presence of the confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry," NASCAR said. "Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special. The display of the confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties."

[...] The move was announced before Wednesday night's race at Martinsville Speedway where Wallace, an Alabama native, was driving a Chevrolet with a #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme. Wallace got a shoutout on Twitter from several athletes, including NBA star LeBron James, for using the paint scheme in the race.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:04PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 11 2020, @05:04PM (#1006418)

    While there's a lot of initial anger about this decision, I doubt it will actually make that much of a difference. A lot of NASCAR's increase in popularity was linked to very competitive racing, support for individual drivers, and rivalries between some drivers. Most of the drivers who were around during NASCAR's increase in popularity are no longer involved with the sport. A lot of the tracks that were built during the 1990s and 2000s don't produce competitive races very often, and particularly not right after they get repaved. Hotel prices have increased around many of the more rural tracks like Martinsville and Bristol, making it more expensive for blue collar fans, which is most of the fan base, to attend those races. Banning Confederate flags probably isn't going to drive away a lot more fans. I suspect that many of the people posting that they're outraged about this either weren't going to watch at all, or will continue to watch races on TV, anyway.

    I don't think this will hurt NASCAR financially, especially considering that a lot of NASCAR's revenue is tied to TV contracts and sponsorships. Had NASCAR not made this move, it might have driven away more sponsors in the near future. It might have driven away TV networks who would bid on TV rights when the current contracts with FOX and NBC expire. Networks might have encountered more difficulty finding businesses willing to pay for advertisements during races, driving down the value of the TV contracts.

    I watched last night's race at Martinsville. While Martin Truex Jr. won by a few seconds, there was a lot of close and competitive racing all night. Overall, it was an entertaining race, and one that wasn't interrupted by a lot of cautions. The racing actually is getting better. They're adding a race next year at Nashville Superspeedway. While it would probably be better to race at Nashville Fairgrounds, it still makes a lot of sense to add a race in Nashville, where there is a significant amount of fan interest. There are new rivalries forming between popular drivers like Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott, which in particular has been compared to the rivalry between Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon in the 1990s.

    I don't think NASCAR is going back to the peak of its popularity anytime soon, but I think the decision to ban Confederate flags will help more than it hurts. They're making headlines for doing the right thing at the same time MLB and MLBPA are potentially shutting down the 2020 season over a small fraction of that sport's annual budget. It's worth noting that TV ratings were up a lot for last night's Martinsville race [jayski.com]. I don't know if the ratings increase will extend beyond Martinsville, but NASCAR certainly wasn't hurt last night by the decision they announced a couple of hours before the race.