Nascar CEO Steve O'Donnell Talks Reshaping Business

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All right, we want to get across to Bailey Lipshultz now, who has a very special interview along with Randall Williams. Bailey.

Bailey Lipshultz (0:13)

Yeah, very special interview. Vani Wilson's taking the wheel at Nascar in April. Steve O'Donnell has been reshaping the business this year. Admissions are up 9% while trackside sales have jumped nearly 27%.

The boom comes as sports valuations soar around the world. Joining us now is the man himself, Steve O'Donnell, Nascar CEO and Bloomberg Senior Sports Reporter, Randall Williams. You took over the job just a number of months ago. The world of media consumption in sports has been being reshaped as we speak. What do the next five years look like? What's mission critical look for you?

Steve O'Donnell (0:47)

Yeah, great question. So we kind of are referring as Project 2032, right? And so we've got some, as you saw by the numbers, there's some good momentum. We're not going to just kind of sit on our laurels and see what happens. So my job right now is really to bring the industry together. Where do we want to be five years from now? And what does media look like? You know, we've got great partners right now, but we need to really go to where the younger viewers are also. You know, how do we own Monday through Friday? What can we do on YouTube and some different social media platforms? So really taking a look at what the best way to do that is, expose new fans to the sport.

Once they get to a racetrack, they're going to love it, so we just got to get them there.

Randall Williams (1:26)

So one of the things that's most interesting about this season in particular is it is very, very competitive. I mean, the top five teams, I believe, are all separated by less than 100 points. Talk to us about the way that tough competition drives fans and fans eventually drive viewership, and viewership, of course, drives business.

Steve O'Donnell (1:43)

Thousand percent. We've got to get it right on track. And our competition department working with the teams, I think, is the best in all of racing.

Fans are going to tune in, but when they do, they better know that what they're seeing, there's rivalries, there's fierce battles going on out there. And you're seeing that this year, to your point. We've got the chase that came back for our, quote unquote, playoffs. We just finished the first race in Darlington. Really tight battle with nine races to go. So, you know, anybody can win it, which is fantastic this year. And I think fans are buying into that. They see the competitiveness. Every lap matters for every race. So it's also been fun. We're trying to bring a little bit of fun back to the sport as well.

Randall Williams (2:19)

Well, I do wonder, with you being the first non-French CEO in Nascar's 80-year history, I believe, how much of that means something to you personally as you take on this new role and, you know, a new chapter for Nascar. How are you thinking about it internally so that you can put out the best product externally?

Steve O'Donnell (2:37)

Yeah, it's certainly an honor, you know, and I spend a lot of time still with the France family, you know, on the board and making sure that we're going in the right direction. But I look at my role. This is my 30th year in Nascar. So, even with 30 years, I don't know everything, right? I'm learning every single day, and we have some of the smartest people in the industry. So, you know, looking at all of those folks, whether it be a driver, team owner, one of our OEMs, the tracks, what are the best ideas we can put together? So I know in the next week, two weeks, we're going to put on great races, but where do we all want to go five years from now? And if we can get everybody rallied around the momentum that we have right now, I think we can just have incredible success in the future.

Bailey Lipshultz (3:17)

I have to imagine a big part of that, though, is attracting a younger viewer. How are you thinking about attracting the youth who maybe spend more time on things like TikTok, or as you mentioned, YouTube versus wanting to go to products?

Steve O'Donnell (3:28)

Yeah, the good news for us is the media package now, we're seeing some of that, right? We're seeing that younger demo come in, but we've got to get folks where they are. And so is it TikTok? Is it social media? What are the different things we're doing around YouTube? And then what are we putting out there? So people have shorter attention spans. Do we look at race lengths in the future? How can we shorten up cautions to make sure? What are the highlight packages we can put out each and every week? So we're looking at a lot of that, but we still want to be authentic to who we are. So I think fans buy into that if they see, hey, Nascar is doing it and trying it, but in an authentic way, I think they'll come and experience the sport.