2019 Robby Gordon Headquarters
#NASCAR Attendance and Ratings ~ Do They Matter?
Alleluia! Mike, disregard last letter! I am finally able to access things on the Ning Network again, though I've yet to have them acknowledge that I exist.
For your reading pleasure, here's a new one, just out today, and you can read it by clicking right about here.
Also, because I've been away and stewing for a while, I have another that didn't post here either. This is one of my classic tributes; this time to Davey Allison. If you'll be so kind as to click here, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
So glad to be let back in the door!
~ PattyKay
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by WJM on
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Ad buyers notice the empty seats. Sponsors notice the empty seats. I find it interesting that just recently the broadcast partners tried to avoid camera angles and wide shots that showed the grandstands. Now they don't seem to care.
This should be the death nail for Xfinity at the speedway. The race needs to go back to IRP.
Brickyard 400 attendance has been in free fall since the tire mess in 2008 when competition yellows had to be thrown every 12-14 laps. That drove ticket buyers away much like the tire debacle did in 2005 to F1 and the USGP.
My suggestion is to have a race weekend similar to the Indy 500 where the three most popular venues in the immediate area are showcased:
Friday: CWTS on the dirt at the fairgrounds. We know Eldora has become the most popular truck race of the year. Capitalize on it.
Saturday: Xfinity at IRP (or whatever they call it now). Good ol' Saturday night short track racing.
Sunday: Brickyard 400
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Permalink Reply by PattyKay Lilley on
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I'm not in the business of fixing it. I'm just a very aged lady feeling bad for her favorite pastime. I wouldn't touch the trucks at Eldora and at least for now, I wouldn't add to it. Hey, it's the only thing that's working! Why take a chance on screwing it up?
It's not just the track that's killing the Xfinity; it's the simple fact that it's become nothing more than an extra Cup practice session for the most affluent teams. The poor need not apply.
Cup still has a ghost of a chance, with the talent coming up... Elliott, Larson, Blaney... but they can't fill the ranks alone, and the limited fields in Xfinity are not providing more. What they could use, more than anything else, is a sponsor in the mold of RJR. Someone that knows marketing and understands racing, all in the same breath. Someone that will extend the sponsorship to the lower series around the country and get that feeder system going again.
I guess as long as BZF breathes, there is no way of dumping that phony Chase thing, which singularly has driven away the most fans. I'm not sure at this point that it's possible to save it... or if it's worth saving. I never thought I'd say that. :(
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Permalink Reply by GLuce on
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"The poor need not apply"
Please. That attitude is the same one that ruined rjr in the first place. rjr didn't have some magical marketing skill that nobody else can recognize, they had a popular, albeit unhealthy, product that they sold a lot of. Now all those funds go to balancing state budgets across the country. A good gauge of what it takes to run in the Xfinity series will be seen with the SADler situation.
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As you like it. I'm not here to argue. My opinion was asked and I gave it. Your results may vary.
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Permalink Reply by Vlad Rogers on
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In the twelve years since the Chase began, I think I have heard, MAYBE 10 people say they like it. The overwhelming percentage of fans hate it. It mystifies me that NASCAR won't listen to their fans.
They changed to the Chase when NEXTEL became title sponsor, maybe they will change back in 2018 (?) when the new sponsor comes on board.
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Everything that went wrong began in 2004, and not coincidentally. I can't imagine how Nextel could be to blame for that, as they set about immediately proving that they knew less than nothing about racing, and they were strictly in it for the money. Perhaps that sponsorship was their final but failing effort not to be scooped up and absorbed into one of the larger cell phone providers. They lost, and are now a small part of Sprint, which itself has been eaten alive by SouthBank, a Japanese company that for sure knows nothing about racing and wants no more part of it.
It seemed to be a fad in 2004, to be surrounded by those that knew nothing about racing, and the most important of those is named Brian France.
The Chase was entirely his idea, no doubt provided by some Wall St. firm that knows even less about the sport than he does. I think your numbers on those that actually say they like the Chase are just about spot on. If anything, you might have given it an extra supporter or two. The only person that really likes it is Brian Z. France. Alas, he also owns the joint and gets to make the rules.
The "fans" have answered him loudly and clearly. The evidence is in the empty seats we see weekly, even after most of the tracks have ripped out thousands upon thousands of seats. Those that have yet to do so now cover empty sections with advertising placards or simply with tarps. To say that what the man has done to all the two generations before him worked hard to accomplish is a tearful shame would be an apt description. Yet, he keeps on grinning that demented smile and wearing his rose-colored glasses. I'd say where to place the blame is clear. I only wish the way to repair or undo it all were half as clear.
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Permalink Reply by sabreguy on
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This is just MHO but what I believe to be the beginning of Cup's downfall was when they allowed the teams to have more then two cars. I know that they were going around the rule by saying wifes and others owned cars, but I believe if NASCAR would have went the other way and enforced the two car rule you would have more cars now that are competitive. Then again I could be wrong.......
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That probably didn't help anything, but as you note, the law was a joke as it was unenforceable and NASCAR chose to look the other way in almost all instances. Asking NASCAR to enforce a rule is much like asking the rain not to fall. In each case, no one pays attention to you.
My assessment, which comes from 60 years in racing, is that there were three major contributing factors to the downfall and impending implosion of NASCAR. No one could argue that the death of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona in 2001 was the first staggering blow. It was truly a shock felt 'round the world. Next, despite comments to the contrary, was the departure of R.J. Reynolds. Ralph Seagraves and T. Wayne Robertson were the driving force that built the empire that was NASCAR in the 1980s and 1990s, when it seemed the growth and success would go on forever. Last was the debilitating and terminal cancer of Bill France Jr.
By the time he was forced by weakness and ill-health to step aside after the 2003 season, the "Good Ship NASCAR" as I like to call it, was adrift in a choppy sea and desperately needed a steady hand at the helm. Instead, she got Brian France. The rest can be charted and proven. It was all downhill from there.
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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As always, I enjoyed the stories! The Davey Allison article had me reaching for the tissues. I often asked myself the same question you asked in the article; how much could one man (Bobby) or his family deal with at the time?
As for Nascar today... well if you don't have anything nice to say... Just hand me another tissue as I am feeling nostalgic and missing the good ol' days. Changes are inevitable. I just don't find much to get excited over anymore.
Thanks PattyKay!
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So many of us miss those days Sarah. We found something so wonderful in which to become involved. Everyone at a race was your friend, or family, if you will. We all belonged to the "racing family." Today, it's like we somehow went through a divorce and the family, like the racing, is broken. Those empty seats are really heartbreaking when compared to the sell-out crowds we thought would last forever. The hardest part is that the man running the show doesn't seem to see or care.
Thanks for reading Hon. Appreciate it!
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Permalink Reply by GasOnRobby on
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I too am a long term racing fan and I no longer find NASCAR exciting.
I'm all for safety improvements where they make sense. I'm okay with pit road speed limits because no one wants to see crew members hurt.
The push for parity and over regulation has killed it for me. Closing pit road during cautions is stupid. I used to mix up the field which caused excitement. I'm no JJ fan but a drive thru for a crewman pushing down on the quarter panel, give me a break. I miss racing to the caution flag. How many drivers were actually hurt because of racing to the flag?
They have killed innovation. No longer can a little guy with a good idea come on to the scene and make a difference. He probably cannot make the field without a guaranteed spot.
They seem to believe the fans want managed competition. They make up rules as they go for sponsors ($$$) and ratings which I believe has the opposite effect. I think the low attendance and ratings show that I am in the majority.
The Chase, double style restarts, lucky dog, and wave around are all just bandaids trying to hide the real problems. The loss of innovation and open competition.
Let them race!
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