By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
Executives at Speedway Motorsports Inc. reported on Wednesday their second quarter 2018 total revenues.
During the second quarter of 2018, SMI tracks–Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, and Texas Motor Speedway– hosted five Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series weekends, three NHRA weekends and one Verizon INDYCAR Series weekend.
During the second quarter, SMI reported revenues of $165.8 million with net income of $31.9 million. The organization saw admissions revenue fall 12.8 percent from April to June, but down 17.4 percent through June. Broadcast revenue is up four percent.
Executives at SMI believe the drop in revenue is due to poor weather surrounding NASCAR weekends at Bristol, Texas, Charlotte and Sonoma. Executives at SMI believe that the revenue categories are negatively impacted by changing demographics, evolving media content consumption, lingering effects of lower consumer and corporate spending, and underemployment in certain demographics.
During the conference call, SMI executives stated that all race entitlement sponsorships except one NASCAR Xfinity Series event have been sold. Executives also reported that 11 of 13 NASCAR Cup races in 2019 have entitlement sponsorship sold, while the other two are in contract negotiations.
“Despite the exceptionally bad weather, SMI’s second quarter and year-to-date results for 2018 were within our expectations,” stated Speedway Motorsports Chief Executive Officer and President Marcus G. Smith in a statement. “While adverse weather conditions have negatively impacted our admissions and certain revenue streams at all six of our NASCAR Cup weekends and certain smaller events, our results reflect higher sponsorship and ancillary broadcasting revenues on a comparable year-over-year basis.
“Our aggressive sales and marketing teams have sold all NASCAR Cup, Xfinity (except one) and Truck series entitlements for 2018, and many for several years beyond. We are increasingly optimistic that our innovative marketing strategies, including focus on broader use of our first class facilities in premium markets, are resulting in long-term opportunities for increased revenue streams and profitability. We continue to build financial strength through execution of our long-term strategic goals of debt reduction, share repurchases, and restrained capital spending, and benefit from lower cash taxes under the recently enacted federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“Anticipation continues to build around our upcoming inaugural NASCAR Xfinity and Monster Energy Cup Series playoff races on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s new 2.28-mile ROVAL™ September 29-30. The ROVAL™ is NASCAR’s ‘newest track’, a combination of Charlotte’s legendary oval and a world-class road course. It will provide fans a unique opportunity to see all of the road course action without the race cars ever leaving their field of vision. The Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 weekend will feature the first road course races in NASCAR’s Monster Energy Cup and Xfinity Series playoffs. The competition should be outstanding entertainment for our fans, and could set the stage for similar racing at other motorsport facilities. This is another chapter in SMI’s long history of delivering innovative, unparalleled entertainment to our long-time loyal and next generation race fans.”
When it comes to the rumors of NASCAR being for sale, SMI executives had no “strategic thoughts” on the issue.