What’s really behind the France/NFL rumors

It seems the rumors of Brian France buying an NFL team and leaving NASCAR are not true, but why is he even talking to the NFL? Because he wants NASCAR to piggyback on the NFL's popularity. NASCAR has sold itself to potential sponsors by comparing itself to the NFL. NASCAR CEO Brian France, instrumental in crafting a $2.8-billion deal with NBC, TNT and Fox in 2001, had long wanted the season-ending Nextel Cup race to be a prime-time, made-for-TV show like the Super Bowl. He apparently got his wish when Homestead-Miami Speedway, host to the final weekend, received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to erect lights for a twilight race.

With a planned 4 p.m. start and early evening finish at Homestead the race could run into pre-game NFL shows or an 8 p.m. kickoff, which would boost NASCAR's ratings even higher in the final hour. NBC's NASCAR deal ends after 2006, but NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said he expects a deal will be worked out whereby NBC will show the NASCAR finale and then have it lead right into the NFL game on NBC that night. Piggy-backing with the NFL can only help NASCAR, Hunter said, in luring fans of both sports.

"I think there's a tremendous amount of crossover," he said. "That's why we think it's such a plus. We make the transition from one exciting sport to the next exciting sport. People have always asked the question if we'd like to replace the NFL. We don't even talk about that, we just say we'd love to have the number of people watching our event that the NFL has and that's something, certainly, to aspire to." Conclusion – Brian France buying into an NFL team is just his way of making friends with the NFL so he can piggyback on them without too much resistance.