Following the U.S. Civil War, the Confederate Flag was adopted by a faction as a symbol of Southern heritage. Throughout history, it has represented controversial concepts such as slavery and white supremacism. This is why NASCAR, also born in the South, banned its use in all its events and race tracks in 2020. How well has the ban held up?
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The promotion stated in its official release at the time of the ban that the flag ran contrary to its mission of making stock car racing inclusive and welcoming for all. This decision was bound to take away several fans from the sport.
However, the officials in charge did not seem to mind the deficit for they knew that the younger generation with a more modern mindset would fill the gap.
This photo was taken at the nascar pre race tailgate…. notice all flags are confederate or trump related. The lone American flag still has a confederate flag sewn in. If this doesn’t show that these people don’t care about AMERICA and instead are gleefully racist. Idk what will pic.twitter.com/FTsueiAFo0
— DrewStarks (@drewdrewstarks) June 22, 2020
That is precisely what appears to have happened. Veteran reporter Jeff Gluck spoke about it during an interview with Awful Announcing last month. He elaborated on how the ban has been enforced, “They’re pretty strict about it. I mean, you’ll see signs and it says, ‘The Confederate Flag is Not Welcome Here.’” Fans are not even allowed to wear t-shirts bearing the symbol anymore.
He continued, “They realize that is an offensive symbol and that’s not the audience they’re trying to go for. They’re trying to make it welcoming for everybody and appealing for everybody. The message that [the flag] sends is that we’re not welcoming everybody.” NASCAR has been struggling to attract younger fans in recent years. The ban was a crucial move in helping with that.
NASCAR does not mind losing fans who display Confederate Flags
NASCAR President Steve Phelps was clear about his stand when announcing the ban. He said, in response to how the sport would balance the loss of the traditional fans, “I knew we were gonna lose a minority of folks who just… this isn’t their cup of tea anymore. I understand that.”
“But I was certain that we could bring others to the sport. You know, younger, more diverse people into the sport.” His adamancy ended up working hugely in benefit of the promotion. NASCAR became one of the fastest-growing brands among the younger crowd and continues to see its stock rise.
Gluck continued to reiterate the same. He further mentioned that anyone who loves NASCAR ought to want to see the sport grow bigger and gain more followers instead of wanting it to cater to a specific subgroup.
