NASCAR Will Take Back Control Of Digital Ad Sales From Turner Sports

NASCAR is "bringing digital ad sales back in-house from Turner Sports after this year and will create a new ad sales group" headed by NASCAR Digital Media Chief Revenue Officer Jon Tuck, according to Adam Stern of Sportsbusiness Journal.

This is the "next step in the sanctioning body’s quest to create a more integrated digital model." Turner has "handled NASCAR’s digital ad sales" since '00, when it also "began a 13-year run controlling the organization’s digital rights."

The move "was long expected, and business ties between the two have been receding since NASCAR paid an eight-figure sum to bring digital rights back in-house" starting in '13, a year early. NASCAR COO Brent Dewar:

"It was a major strategic initiative to bring the digital assets in-house … but the transition work (to keep ad sales with Turner through 2016) at the time was very important by helping us maintain the ad sales as we were learning to operate the site."

Stern reports NASCAR would not "confirm how many positions will be added to the new sales group, which will sell only digital media and will be announced this week." Tuck, who started July 7, reports to NASCAR VP/Digital Media Colin Smith. Dewar noted that Tuck "was also a top sales executive for SI" from '12-16, during which time SI "brought its digital rights back in-house from Turner" Adam Stern/Sportsbusiness Journal