ISC announced on the call that three of its 19 Cup races sold out in 2016 “ the Daytona 500, Watkins Glen and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. John Saunders, president of ISC, said that advance sales for the Feb. 26 Daytona 500 were at comparable levels to last year’s event at this time. ISC is “optimistic” the race will sell out again. Saunders also said that advance ticket sales for upcoming races at Auto Club Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway were “trending slightly ahead” compared to last year.
Saunders noted the impact on corporate sponsorship Monster Energy would have as new series sponsor for NASCAR’s Cup Series. “It is important to note that 2016 was the last year of our revenue-included agreements between ISC and Sprint for various inventory and activation rights at ISC racetracks,” Saunders said. “These agreements were negotiated in the mid-2000s, pre-recession. “While we currently expect to have similar agreements in place with Monster Energy, we anticipate the economics of the agreements will result in a reset for 2017.”Â
In other items:
“Â Three of ISC’s 20 Cup races this year either have the event sponsorship open or yet to be announced.
“Â Three of ISC’s 14 Xfinity races this year either have the event sponsorship open or yet to be announced.
“Â For the full year, the average ticket price for a Cup event at an ISC track was $90.12, an increase of 5.4 percent. ISC officials cited Daytona’s pricing as a reason for the increase.
“Â Also, Dover Motorsports Inc., issued its earnings report Thursday. Dover also reported lower admissions revenue. The company plans to spend about $300,000 during the first quarter of 2017 to remove portions of the grandstand. The company also announced that the closing of the sale of Nashville Superspeedway should take place in the second quarter of 2017.(NBC Sports)(1-27-2017)