Speedcafe can reveal Supercars boss Barclay Nettlefold made a long-awaited pitch to team representatives during the Townsville 500 weekend.
Supercars owner RACE is in the uncomfortable position of needing to renegotiate or replace its Teams Racing Charter to avoid the calendar shrinking to 12 events.
The teams are being represented in the critical talks by a four-man panel, which was first assembled last year specifically to handle TRC discussions.
That panel consists of Brett Ralph (Dick Johnson Racing), Ryan Walkinshaw (Walkinshaw TWG) and eponymous team owners Matt Stone and Brad Jones.
The pitch had been delayed by months in the wake of the sudden exit of former CEO James Warburton in April.
Nettlefold finally presented his plan to the group last Thursday afternoon ahead of a meeting between all team owners the following evening.
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The group declined to share details with their fellow owners in that meeting while they undertake due diligence on the numbers.
Speedcafe understands Nettlefold’s plan involves creating a pathway to a 15-event championship, aiming for 14 in 2027 and 15 the following year.
Phillip Island appears increasingly likely to join the 2027 calendar in a late-season slot, tipped to be at the expense of Queensland Raceway.
RACE hopes to have its calendar out within the next month, but must first change the TRC to ensure it can afford to exceed 12 rounds.
The TRC was devised when RACE bought the business in 2021 and determines what it must pay the teams each season.
That is stipulated as a base payment for 12 events and an additional fee per event beyond that, with the amounts owing resetting in five-year blocks.
The base was set at $650,000 per TRC from 2022-2026, while additional event payments are the greater of a set figure ($63,000 per event in 2026) or a revenue growth share.
That revenue growth share is calculated each year as 0.75 percent of the amount by which RACE’s revenue exceeds its 2022 revenue.
Teams are understood to have agreed a figure marginally below that owed to them for this year in order to ensure an expansion to 14 events.
From 2027, the base payment resets via a calculation known as TSNER involving RACE’s 2026 revenue from media rights, digital media and sponsorship.
The new media rights deal is expected to result in a healthy increase to the base payment.
More crucially, the payment for each event above 12 is required to be the greater of 9.2 percent of the 2027 base payment or the team’s revenue growth share.
The latest growth share number is said to skyrocket the amount owed for additional rounds, potentially to as much as $200,000 per extra event.
That would make a calendar above 12 rounds unviable for RACE.
Teams believe that leaves them with great leverage to negotiate a new deal that resets the base figure to cover a higher number of rounds, chasing up to $1 million per TRC.
Locking in a greater fixed revenue from RACE will reduce the current pressure on teams to cover the vast majority of their costs with commercial sponsorship.
RACE, though, wants teams to compromise so that it retains the capacity to invest in the growth of the business, which will drive up long-term TRC values.
Both sides view a 12-round calendar as an undesirable outcome that will hurt the sport, leading to optimism that a compromise will be reached.
Adding to the complexity is the fact teams have differing business models and financial structures, and varying views on what figure will be acceptable.
A one-year amendment to the TRC would require a 75 percent special majority among owners, while a totally new TRC would need 100 percent agreement.
The make-up of the panel representing teams is designed to give a cross-section of views and experience.
Ralph and Walkinshaw operate their teams amid larger business empires, with the former involved in various other sports including rugby league and baseball.
Achieving a deal for the teams that is commensurate with the percentage incomes delivered to competitors by other sports has been a mooted mission of the group.
Stone and Jones meanwhile operate their teams as their primary businesses and have in-depth knowledge of the TRC and the history of Supercars.
Only the latter pair was present in Townsville, with Ralph and Walkinshaw overseas and chiming into meetings via video link.
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