NASCAR breaks ground on a new production facility in Concord. Why that matters
On a grassy plot of land in Concord, North Carolina, on Wednesday, NASCAR celebrated a milestone.
Company executives and regional leaders came together to mark the beginning of construction on what will one day be “one of the best production and broadcast facilities in the country,” leaders say.
The news is significant because it expands NASCAR’s presence in Concord, already home to the company’s research-and-development headquarters and several team offices.
“The facility itself, we could not be more excited about,” said Brian Herbst, NASCAR’s senior vice president of broadcast and productions. “I think we’ve been really thoughtful in laying out, not just where our production and content business is today, but where it’s going to go in the future.”
The 58,000-square-foot facility will house about 125 employees — from NASCAR productions, MRN and NASCAR Studios — and will be designed with future expansion in mind. The new building will relocate many of those employees out of Five Fifty South, formerly called NASCAR Plaza, in Uptown Charlotte.
The facility is set to open in 2024.
Constructing a facility like this represents an investment in technology that brings fans and supporters “as close to the action as possible.” In a world where live production — races, live entertainment, etc. — is at a premium, NASCAR needed the technology and space to cater to that, Herbst said.
“If you think about how content consumption has shifted from linear TV, traditional TV, to direct-to-consumer — that’s more production work for us,” Herbst told reporters after the event. “As that business has grown and as the technology enhancements have grown as well, we needed as a sport to be positioned for the future, in order to keep up with where those innovations and technology advancements were going.”
NASCAR’s current media rights deal with Fox and NBC is set to expire in 2024, and exclusive negotiations for a new deal will reportedly begin in 2023. One of the biggest unknowns around the media rights deal involves how much money will be geared toward having races/events on digital streaming platforms.
NASCAR president Steve Phelps, in reference to the impending new media rights deal, said that it’s “very exciting to have this facility at the heart of what that’s going to look like from a production standpoint.”
“Many of you have heard me say before that our sport is growing because of two principles: being bold and being innovative,” Phelps said. “I think this project itself is emblematic of that, as much as it was looking at things like diversity, equity and inclusion, schedule changes or sustainability — all important things for the growth of our sport.
“This facility is going to do the same.”
Setting up shop in Concord is advantageous for NASCAR, too. Rent is less expensive than in Uptown Charlotte. The new offices are also in the “competitive heartbeat” of the sport, next to research and development facilities and team headquarters.
Many Cabarrus County and Concord city leaders were present on Wednesday. They all echoed the same sentiment — that they have and will continue to embrace NASCAR’s expansion in the area.
“In Concord, there’s no denying the significant role that motorsports have been playing in our lives, in our history,” Concord Mayor Bill Dusch said, “and it’ll continue to grow and succeed.”
This story was originally published September 1, 2022 at 6:23 AM.
