The economy is tanking. No news there, of course, but, in the midst of all this financial chaos, I wonder if good things might come out of it for the sports gaming industry. Take NASCAR, for example.

　　Now, you know the real sport of NASCAR is in trouble when the Daytona 500, the biggest event on the race series' calendar, doesn't manage to sell out until the night before the big event. Television ratings are down and the series as a whole has seen teams contract and combine, with further downsizing a virtual certainty. The latest NASCAR casualty looks to be EA Sports' NASCAR games. As reported on ESPNand Sporting News, it seems like the recently released casual game NASCAR Kart Racing for Nintendo Wii just might be the last EA Sports NASCAR game for the foreseeable future. NASCAR's license with EA Sports ends this year and, with no NASCAR 10 on the way in 2009, it's at least possible that we've seen the end of the long-running stock car racing series from the publisher.

　　EA Sports NASCAR games have been anything but consistent. Game approaches have ranged from the straight-ahead hardcore sims like NASCAR SimRacing for PC, to the occasionally bizarre "kitchen sink" approach of features like "total team control" in NASCAR 06 or the addition of production cars you could win in street race showdowns with NASCAR drivers in NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup.

　　While a licensing renewal between both parties is a possibility, it seems like NASCAR might be looking to spread its licensing wings. According to the Sporting News, it seems like NASCAR itself, which has been exclusive to EA since 2003, is looking to go non-exclusive. A few of the obvious candidates who might have interest:

　　Activision: The publisher isn't afraid to spend money and has been developing its racing pedigree of late with the acquisition such as former Project Gotham Racing series developer Bizarre Creations.THQ: Like many other publishers, THQ has its share of money woes lately but, the introduction of last year's Baja proved that the company isn't afraid to throw its weight around in the racing genre. A big licensing win like this would prove the publisher is serious about sports other than beach volleyball and professional wrestling.Codemasters: The well-regarded racing developer locked down the F1 license last year, giving it exclusive access to the world's most prestigious form of racing. Nailing down the most popular American genre of motorsports would be another big feather in the company's racing cap.Despite the inconsistent nature of EA Sports' NASCAR series, the prospect of no "real" NASCAR game this year isn't good news. That said, with NASCAR's execs looking to rethink the need for exclusivity, you can't help but wonder if the state of the economy will eventually mean a turnaround in exclusive licensing partnerships for sports games.

　　Did the exclusivity deal with NASCAR actually hurt the series financially over the past six years? If NASCAR decides not to re-up with EA Sports, the writing may be on the wall. Extrapolate that out further and you have to wonder if similar exclusivity deals--such as EA Sports' deal with the NFL and 2K Sports' deal with MLB--could also be seen as financial anchors around the league's necks. After all, multiple publishers bidding on your license on a year-to-year basis can't necessarily be a bad thing for the bottom line.

　　Could the current economic doldrums actually return sports gaming licensing to its competitive roots? It's something worth thinking about…