TV Times – Will NASCAR Ever Get Back The Fans They Once Had?
Knowledgeable sources in the motor racing community here in the USA and elsewhere believe that motorsports’ best days are over.
Even before the actual fall-off, there were indications of an erosion in the making. Ticket sales began to tank while low TV ratings mirrored displeasure by hard core NASCAR fans. The fickle ones left for brighter pastures, and the reasons may be many.
In NASCAR’s case, they chased away faithful old timers when the sanctioning leadership chose to focus on a potential 18-35 year old group. These targeted fans must have been involved in other forms of entertainment because they simply weren’t interested in racing. Going to a race and seeing empty seats, one could think, “What am I doing here?”
Those watching on TV saw the empties and asked themselves, “Why should I be watching racing when no one else is interested?” And those empty seats impacted the sale of advance tickets significantly. Why tie up money when good seats can be available right up til race day?
After a dozen years of high flying racing popularity, more than likely the gloomy economy also added to the downturn of sales for tickets. Like a “perfect storm”, NASCAR, the 800 lb. Gorilla, started to sink under it’s own weight. Also a large chunk of young males today have fallen out of love with both watching automobiles race as well as fiddeling with them, hoods up, in their driveways like we once used to see.
An expensive computer is necessary nowadays. That results in their having to take their already pricey cars to a dealer who has all the required pricey equipment. At one time, these young men working on their cars could relate better to NASCAR, Indy Car and Formula 1 pit crews servicing race cars at the track.
Today’s young folks seem to be preoccupied with their ipods, droids and the like. Social communicating via these electronic aids seems to be obsessive. Go into any fast food restaurant and there they are, banging away on their keyboards. And drivers of vehicles in traffic are engaged on their cell phones. We’ve all read of how this and texting have caused serious accidents.
NASCAR, in the meantime, is trying to make changes to respond to fans that’ve left them and to woo them back. The question is, “Is it too late?
Today and tomorrow catch the SCCA RallyX from Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut at 9 a.m.(end)
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12 thoughts on “TV Times – Will NASCAR Ever Get Back The Fans They Once Had?”|
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Agreed, they do not have huge stadiums to fill. But they do show that there are car/race fans out there. They are looking and finding something that they are not getting in NASCAR. Even the truck series has seen positive numbers in recent years. They have their share of wrecks over there but I contend the attraction is the cheaper ticket AND the fact that there is a natural attraction to the trucks since they still look like production trucks.
Even the NFL doesn’t have stadiums that huge to fill. Even if Indy is half full, it is still more than go see a typical NFL game.
Chuck, Your right on about something wrong within the walls of NASCAR. And yes they need the younger audience to keep the sponsors. That was one of the questions on the sponsors minds when Fox signed their new TV rights contract. But, Fox signed it anyway probaly based on the fact that Brian France has reversed all of the changes. That in itself is an admission that he was wrong when he did it. Yes NHRA and drifting has come alive. But, the big difference is that those venues don’t have 150,000 seats to fill like a lot of NASCAR tracks Thanks for sharing your comments and insights.
I think there is something wrong within the walls of NASCAR. Some motorsports have seen a resurgence as in NHRA, drifting, etc. The “kids” are still plucking away at their cars, just if different ways. But it is true that it isn’t always as necessary to do it all yourself as it was back in the 50s and 60s and it isn’t always possible given the technology. I am still baffled by the empty seats at Bristol and venues that once seemed indifferent to the economy. Something has happened and I can’t put my finger on it. NASCAR NEEDS a younger audience to fill the gaps left by an aging core market. Maybe it is just as simple as racing fans have a lot to choose from these days, more than ever. The season is incredibly long and it is nearly impossible to sustain that attention in the longest season in sports. It is even hard for die hard fans to keep focused.
John, Thanks for your comments. Obviously you are one of the disenchanted fans who fled the NASCAR scene. But, you still are involved in racing somewhat through the efforts of your nephew.You also reinforce my points.
I am 58 yrs old. I gor into the New England short track scene as a result of watching the early broadcasts of NASCAR races. I t was a love affair that lasted some 30 years.
Along the way I had a lot of fun, consumed a lot of alcohol, then sobered up. In later years, i wrote both locally and nationally.on the web.
My early heros are all gone. Some died racing and some retired. I watched Richie, Fred and Geoff batttle in the mods. I saw NASCAR North at Monadnock and the dirt at Lakeville. I got a lecture from Anthony Vendetti and hung around with the late Rev Pat Evans.
Marriage got me out of the sport to begin with and thenthe thing that killed racing for me can be summed up in one word. Toyota! Call me what you will but to me nASCAR should have stayed true to its roots. Have you ever seen a V8 powed Toyota on the street? You never will. My time in the sport is gone now. I may watch a race, or read a column, but my next race will be to watch my grand nephew in his quarter midget.
Adio0s nASCAR!
Editor’s note: The article was just edited for clarity by Mr. Modestino.
Russ, You make a lot of sense. It remains to be seen if there will ever be a renewed interest in NASCAR. Thanks, again, for your comments.
A point I failed to ask yesterday was this. The older people have been exposed to Nascar and stock car racing for 50 years. If they are not fans by now they wont be in all probability.
Younger people are much more interested in technology and communication than they are in automobiles. Part of this of course is the fact that cars are no longer looked upon as being an extension of oneself, rather they have become tools. Does anyone seriously think that they will be interested in, on a longterm basis, a few Fusions and camry’s going around in circles? Perhaps but dont you think that is a bit optimistic?
Andy, Thanks for your comments. We will be double checking everything from now on.
Your first two paragraphs don’t make sense.
think that motorsports has seen its best days behind it.
But shortly after that, the fall off started. In fact, there were already indications of an erosion beginning even prior to that
You say that shortly after experts proclaimed that motorsports had peaked, it began to fall off. Duh! You say that just prior to the declaration, there were indications that all was not well. Gee, I wonder if that’s why they claimed it had peaked?
The rest of your article is fine, although some phrases are a little bit clunky. I’ve been reading your stuff for decades and I know that you’re a skilled writer. I think this article may have been the victim of bad editing.
Russ, The marketing has always been a problem with the Talking Heads ever since 1979 when they first got on TV via CBS. NASCAR has always been a marketing machine. On the length of the races the fans all know that the best time is the final 50 laps and that’s when they really pay attention to what’s going on. NASCAR has also got a lot of flak about it. Newer races added have been shorter. And didn’t I see that Pocono is cutting back their two 500 milers to something less because of all of the complaints. Thanks for your comments.
Good article, addressing most of the points that I see affecting the sport. The one that I would add is the incessant and oh so obvious marketing. This perhaps has turned off some of the fans.
While I think the change to the new cars is good I doubt that that will bring back masses of people in a sustained fashion.
Nascar is at a crossroads in my opinion. What they do for TV, i. e. shorter races, is the opposite of what is needed for attendance at the tracks. After all drawing fans from a large region is what gave the numbers to begin with. At what point is it not worth driving hundreds of miles for say a two hour race?