Since 2007, the entire NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule has aired on ESPN, ESPN2 & ABC, complete with lots of promotion to go along with it. Might the ESPN family of networks be cutting back on its NNS coverage in the near future?

Although talks have yet to start between ESPN/ABC & NASCAR, Sports Business Journal reports that the "Worldwide Leader's" bosses have had internal conversations about only bidding on the NNS schedule that coincides with its NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule in the second half of the season.

ESPN isn't commenting on the SBJ story, but the reason may have more to do with production costs than ratings. From August to November, ESPN can use the same production crew for BOTH its NNS & its NSCS races on the same weekend. It turns out it's much costlier for ESPN to produce the NNS races on many of the same tracks that FOX Sports & Turner Sports respectively use on those same tracks on the weekend for the first half of the season.

As for what NASCAR might do should ESPN/ABC cutback on their Nationwide Series schedule, this link might explain where those races could possibly go in the future:

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Jour ... nwide.aspx