NASCAR is approaching new television deals with NBC and Fox that are worth billions, and now the sport's movers and shakers have formed a "business association" that some feel resembles a union. The association is called the Race Team Alliance; Robert Kauffman, co-owner of Michael Waltrip Racing, has been elected chairman of the RTA that also includes Chip Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Team Penske.
Kauffman has already gone on the offensive and said the RTA is not a union. "Calling it a union would be incorrect. A union would be for employees," Kauffman told the Associated Press. "The right way to characterize it would be a 'business alliance.' Unions are about employees directly trying to negotiate something. The RTA is pooling together to look at things we can be doing better.
"No one is looking to start a fight or be controversial."
NASCAR chief communications officer Brett Jewkes had little to say about the RTA's formation, citing a lack of specifics at this point in time. "NASCAR's mission, as it has always been, is to create a fair playing field where anyone can come and compete," Jewkes said in a statement. "Our job is to support and strengthen all of the teams, large and small, across all of our series and we'll continue to do that. NASCAR is a unique community with hundreds of stakeholders. They all have a voice and always will."
Kauffman said the RTA's purpose is not to re-negotiate the cuts of the teams regarding NASCAR's huge TV deals, spelling out their objective in a statement. According to that statement, the RTA "creates for the first time a single entity to engage with stakeholders on creative ways to market and experience the power of the sport's teams and drivers. As part of its focus, the RTA also plans to explore innovative ways to harness the combined purchasing power and scale of the teams' operations to drive efficiencies in costs."
The door wasn't completely shut on discussing the TV deals however. "We're going to focus on things we can do ourselves and doesn't require a lot of outside help," Kauffman said. "Some of those topics are behind our control. If some of those stakeholders want to have conversations, we'd be happy to do that."
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