MRN, PRN battling over New Hampshire races

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

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Speedway Motorsports Inc. and International Speedway Corp. are suing each other over the radio broadcast rights at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

ISC has had a long-standing contract with the track to broadcast the races on its Motor Racing Network. SMI, which bought the track in January, wants the races on its own Performance Racing Network.

The current contract awarding MRN the option to broadcast races at the track was signed in 2000 and required a three-year notice of termination. MRN agreed to give the track 25 percent of its advertising revenues from the events it broadcasts, and in the last seven years, MRN has paid the track more than $750,000, according to court documents.

According to court records, SMI claims the contract is not enforceable and that MRN didn't exercise its option in time to broadcast the Nationwide-Cup weekend June 28-29 and the Cup race Sept. 14.

"MRN purportedly took the 'exclusive' right to broadcast all NASCAR events held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway," SMI Chairman Burton Smith wrote in a Feb. 7 letter to ISC that is part of the court file. "However, in this very same document, MRN left it open for itself to choose whether or not it would, in fact, broadcast any such events. As a result, there is no mutuality in the Agreement, and, the Agreement is … unenforceable and void.

"I cannot in good faith allow New Hampshire Motor Speedway or SMI to be subjected to this one-sided document which leaves them in limbo, subject to the whims of MRN."

An ISC letter in response to Smith, written by NASCAR Chairman Brian France as part of his role as a member of the ISC board of directors, states:

"MRN has a three-year binding contract to produce those events, and it is impossible for them to simply walk away. Additionally, they have already started packaging and selling advertisements to these events."

MRN claims it has contracts with advertisers from at least 11 major companies for New Hampshire broadcasts, according to court documents.

ISC spokesman Wes Harris said Monday that "Just because the facility has changed hands doesn't mean that agreements are not supposed to be honored" and that time is of the essence. MRN has more than 500 affiliates for some of its Cup races, while PRN has more than 750 affiliates.

"There's a lot of confusion in the marketplace, with these sponsors and affiliates," Harris said. "We need to get it resolved ASAP. … It¹s not just impacting MRN and New Hampshire Speedway, it's impacting all these affiliates, it's impacting the various sponsors and advertisers. It's definitely a challenging situation."

The lawsuit PRN filed is pending in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire with no hearings currently scheduled. The lawsuit MRN has filed is pending in Florida state court in Orlando, with a hearing for a temporary injunction scheduled for Wednesday.