March 13, 2011
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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We often hear about NASCAR compared to other sports when it comes to our fan base.
Of all the sports out there, we are apparently only second to the National Football League (NFL), and ahead of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Baseball (MLB). But the size of our fan base, and the affect they have on television coverage, is about where the comparison stops.
One thing all of the above share with each other, with the exception of NASCAR, is that their players have Unions, and those Unions have led in one way or another to a season of partial, or no games (or games with “fill-in” players or “scabs”). It happened in 1994 for MLB, in 1998-99 for the NBA, and in 1992, 1994 and 2004 for the NHL. It appears this year, it will also happen for the NFL (which also went on strike back in 1987, leading to the agreement that was in place until this week.)
Back in 1961, the drivers in NASCAR, led by Curtis Turner, tried to form a Union, but were quickly told by Bill France Sr. that if they actually formed a Union, he would make sure none of them ever raced again. A bully tactic, for sure, and one that wouldn’t be stood for in this day and age, but for the last 50 years, drivers have raced week in and week out without a Union standing behind them, relying only on their voice (and occasionally outcries from the fans) to let NASCAR know where they stand on issues like safety and penalties.
Admittedly, there are some big differences between the men and women who we cheer for on the track each week, and those we cheer for in the stands in your favorite arena.
The drivers are considered “independent contractors” who work for their team, which is not a franchise to NASCAR but its own operational entity that can operate or shut down without the blessing of the sanctioning body. However, like contractors, the drivers aren’t provided benefits by their employer (health insurance, 401K or pension, disability, or vacation time), and have the ability to change teams as they desire (either at the end of their contract, or in between if they can come to an agreement with their team owner).
This is where the Unions help other pro-players. They have disability and pension plans: the NFL has the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle retirement Fund, which pays out approximately $60-million a year to retired football players. They also have the NFLPA’s Players Assistance Trust, the NFL and NFL Alumni Association’s Dire Need Fund, and the Pro-Football Hall of Fame’s Enshrinee Assistance Fund to help older players who played before the new deal was put into place. If a NASCAR driver falls on hard financial times, it is up to them to make ends meet.
Unlike other pro sports which are franchises of the sanctioning body, NASCAR teams are their own individual companies –- they aren’t beholden to NASCAR for anything other than purse money and the permission to race each weekend. There are no trades, no draft picks sanctioned by NASCAR. Teams have to operate by NASCAR’s rule book, but NASCAR can’t order Joe Gibbs or Rick Hendrick or Jack Roush to punish or fine a driver because NASCAR doesn’t have any control over the budget and operation of that team.
Unlike the other professional athletes who perform as one part of a larger team and are dispensable or interchangeable, drivers are the financial base for their team. No other sport has one person responsible for the livelihoods of so many people week in and week out as NASCAR does.
If one person in baseball, football or basketball decides they don’t want to play, or they are hurt, the team has other members that can fill the gap. When a driver quits (like Kasey Kahne before the end of last season) or is injured (like Brian Vickers last season), they have to be replaced with someone else from outside of the fold, or moved up from another series, or that team will cease to exist -- lock, stock and barrel.
However, when a player stoppage is involved, the roles are reversed.
When players go on strike, they usually do it because they want more from the league: better benefits, more money, more whatever.
In some cases, it is the ownership that is actually at fault by not being flexible enough in negotiations and wanting to keep the money all for themselves. Somewhere in there, the men and women who work at the arenas and in the front offices for each team are forgotten. If the NFL goes on strike this fall, it won’t just be the players who won’t get paid, but the people who work to put on the game each weekend. It doesn’t matter what side you blame, the end result is the same.
No one playing, equals no revenue, equals a lot of people out of work.
It is the same in NASCAR, but on a much smaller scale. If a team folds, there will be people laid off. We saw it last year when Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) closed down two teams. In other cases, teams merge to become stronger, but in the process, have to collapse to fewer cars to build that strength. But when a team closes, those who are released can often pack up their toolbox and go across the street to another team and find work.
One team closing its doors will not affect how the league can operate, or force a restructuring of how other teams operate. RPM shuttering two teams didn’t affect how the race at Daytona was run, or how many fans turned out in Phoenix or Las Vegas. The races went on, and the fans still turned out.
My point of all of this is the next time you complain about how NASCAR isn’t operated like the NFL or NBA or NHL or MLB, remember that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We are guaranteed to have a race week in and week out during a season, regardless of who is on the track or not.
Other professional sports aren’t so lucky.
Follow Kim on Twitter: @ksrgatorfn
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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