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ESPN's Policy Reversal
With Brad Daugherty buying into a race team and Rusty Wallace already owning one, ESPN has rescinded its policy preventing their analysts from being directly involved in an active team. According to an article on SceneDaily.com, “When Wallace started as a race analyst in the booth for the Indy Racing League in 2006 and then for NASCAR in 2007, he said he was not allowed to have ownership in a Cup team. He wasn’t even allowed to be a consultant/driver coach for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Juan Pablo Montoya in 2006 and 2007.”
When calling a race, is it appropriate for a member of the broadcast team to have an interest in a race participant? Let’s look at the potential advantages they could gain:
1. By talking more about their car/team they could increase the relative value for sponsors.
2. They could employ the bully pulpit to advocate for rules changes/interpretations that would be of benefit.
In some ways, though, the actual conflicts cited above are secondary to the perceived conflicts. Color commentators are not journalists and, therefore, do not have to maintain a similar level of objectivity. They do, however, have to maintain a certain level of credibility. I believe that Kyle Petty, Rusty Wallace, Brad Daugherty and Ray Evernham are in a no-win situation. When they avoid talking about their teams from the booth, it always strikes me as awkward and conspicuous. When they do refer to their own teams, the perception of self-promotion is unavoidable.
Dr. Jerry Punch sold his interest in a team he owned with Dale Jarrett when his broadcasting career took off. Until Dale Jarrett won the Daytona 500, his father Ned assiduously avoided anything in the booth that could be interpreted as favoritism and he didn’t even have any business interests in Dale’s ride. ESPN’s policy reversal is a slippery slope. I don’t necessarily think that there is some great attack on journalistic integrity being perpetrated here, but I also don’t think that these sorts of conflicts-of-interest are a good idea.
~Cutler
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I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, yes, it seems like there's no way to be totally "objective" when you have a stake in a team. But on the other hand, it's sports, and these guys are color commentators. There's a lot of money in the sports business, but is there really any harm there. It would bother me more if it were the play-by-play guys . . . maybe that's not consistent.
- Bass Masters
- 12:19:40 07-24-2008
Fox has had Darrel Waltrip in their booth from day one and while he didn't own a cup team he's done more pimping for his brother and Toyota than any real race analysis.
If they want to limit Rusty's commentary then do it because he doesn't really have much to offer. I give Daughtery credit, he seems to have a lot of insight and asks intelligent questions.
- Jeff
- 15:49:24 07-26-2008
2008 Cup Races
08-31-08 — California 500
08:00PM ESPN, California Speedway
09-06-08 — Chevy Rock and Roll 400
07:30PM ABC, Richmond International Raceway
09-14-08 — Sylvania 300
02:00PM ABC, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
09-21-08 — Dover 400
02:00PM ABC, Dover International Speedway
2008 CUP STANDINGS
