NASCAR, ISC still covet NY market

NASCAR and its sister companies' hopes for a major speedway and aa greater marketing presence in the New York City market apparently still have a pulse.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday created a commission to find ways to fix New Jersey's troubled gaming, sports and entertainment industries, which have been losing money for years.

Among suggestions: Might the Meadowlands be redeveloped for NASCAR racing, creating a public-private venture to market Atlantic City as a destination resort?

NASCAR and International Speedway Corp., along with ISC's subsidiaries, have worked for years to gain a better foothold in the New York metropolitan area, one of the United States' major media markets.

NASCAR is privately owned by the France family of Daytona Beach, Fla. ISC, a publicly traded company with numerous subsidiaries, owns speedways and is involved in the promotion of NASCAR racing, marketing and other interests.

While many of the companies' business interests have long been well-represented in New York, stock car racing has not captured any significant attention with the market's audience and media.

Attempts to develop a track on Staten Island in recent years hit political, legal and financial walls and ultimately failed. And after years of lukewarm public support, NASCAR in 2009 moved its annual awards ceremonies from New York's venerable Waldorf Astoria Hotel to Las Vegas.

The New Jersey Gaming, Sports and Entertainment Advisory Commission must deliver its recommendations on a potential NASCAR-ISC partnership, among others, to the governor by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

"The days of subsidy by the state are coming to a close," Christie said.

The panel will examine what to do with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which oversees the Meadowlands sports complex and the Izod Center, and the Xanadu retail and entertainment complex, as well as the state's horse racing industry.

"All of these things were at one time enormous assets to the state of New Jersey that contributed to the bottom line, both from a tax perspective and an economic perspective," Christie said.

"We need to return those to the positive side of the ledger and away from the negative side of the ledger. That's the way we'll determine success here."

The NJSEA had a $38 million deficit for 2010, after the state spent $160 million in rent prepayments at Xanadu, a horse racing industry projected to lose $22 million this year. There has been declining revenue at Atlantic City casinos, which last month posted their worst financial returns since 1997.

Meanwhile, lawmakers will also undertake their own examination of the NJSEA, starting with a Feb. 25 hearing.

The NJSEA, created in 1971, operates the Meadowlands, which including the stalled Xanadu retail and entertainment project and the new Giants and Jets football stadium, as well as the nearby Izod Center, the Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, and the new and historic Atlantic City Convention Centers.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.