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In a shocking move, NASCAR has announced a switch in its ticket provider for tracks such as Daytona, Talladega, and Phoenix. These tracks that NASCAR owns in-house currently use Tickets.com but are changing to Ticketmaster this coming season. While this move adds NASCAR to a notable list of Ticketmaster partners, it raises several questions as to the actual benefits of NASCAR changing.
NASCAR’s tracks are currently owned by two groups: NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports LLC.
As far as ticket sales go, NASCAR’s tracks currently use Tickets.com. Tickets.com has a sizable list of notable brands that sell tickets through them, including MLB and Medieval Times.
However, by partnering with just NASCAR’s tracks, Tickets.com lacks the entire NASCAR schedule in one marketplace. This difficulty is due to Speedway Motorsports, the owner of 11 tracks on the NASCAR schedule. SMI, as most fans refer to the company, uses Ticketmaster rather than Tickets.com.
For the early majority of NASCAR history, independent owners owned the tracks. However, two companies, Speedway Motorsports and International Speedway Corporation, bought up tracks throughout the late 20th century. NASCAR’s founding family, the Frances, were also the founders of ISC.
ISC operated its fleet of 13 to 17 tracks until 2019 when NASCAR itself bought ISC and shuttered the company as a whole. SMI, however, is still open and operates a collection of 11 tracks across the U.S.As confusing as this is, there is an easy signifier of who owns what track.
Most tracks in the ISC fleet had the descriptor International, Raceway, or Superspeedway in their name. Tracks in the SMI fleet typically have the tagline “Motor Speedway” attached to a first name. While most tracks use this naming system, in some cases, like SMI’s Nashville Superspeedway, this informal system goes by the wayside.
This arrangement creates complications and confusion for fans and NASCAR. However, that changed on Thursday when NASCAR announced it was switching its tracks to Ticketmaster for 2025. Both NASCAR-owned tracks and SMI tracks will be united under one ticket vendor.
While many major brands use Ticketmaster, this change has already caused controversy and online outrage for NASCAR.
Ticketmaster, which leagues like Major League Soccer and notable concert and sports venues across the country use, is known for its high purchasing fees and relatively panned user interface. These common opinions came to the minds of NASCAR fans on X, who immediately joked about the financial implications of this move.
However, Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, are currently facing a larger battle than just fan outrage. On May 23, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation-Ticketmaster. The DOJ states that in conducting their business, Ticketmaster and Live Nation “unlawfully exercises their monopoly power.”
The sheer size and volume of Ticketmaster and its roster of venues have long been a cause for complaints from ticket buyers. The DOJ, the District of Columbia, and 29 States originally filed the lawsuit. However, on Aug. 19, the suit worsened for Ticketmaster as ten more states joined, bringing the suit to 39 states.
So, with this much drama surrounding NASCAR’s new partner, are there any positives to this move?
Even though NASCAR has not implemented the service yet, there are many complaints. However, fans should not brush aside NASCAR’s reasoning for the change.
“We partnered with Ticketmaster as our new ticketing solution based on their advanced capabilities, deep industry insights, and proven best ticketing practices in sports. Their expertise will be key in consolidating all NASCAR-owned race events onto one efficient and accessible platform, improving our overall operations,” — Kari Gritton, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Consumer Strategy
This change puts the entire NASCAR schedule under one ticketing umbrella.
For example, major racing markets like North Carolina and Virginia have five tracks within close range of each other. Fans from all over the region visit all these tracks on a yearly basis.
However, in recent years, these fans have had to use both Ticketmaster and Tickets.com to attend races at all four tracks. This is because SMI owns the two tracks in North Carolina, while NASCAR owns the Virginia tracks. Now, these fans have that option under one umbrella.
Furthermore, NASCAR fans did not complain as much about SMI’s past use of Ticketmaster, and that shouldn’t change with NASCAR’s tracks joining them.
While we don’t know how this change will bode for NASCAR, it might help race fans and, in doing so, help unify the sport. However, in doing so, NASCAR places its ticket sales under the umbrella of a company with a bad reputation.
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