Are Falling TV Ratings A Sign Of Bigger Problems In NASCAR?
Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR
It’s no secret: we all know the economy sucks right now – and probably will continue to do so for a long while still to come.
That’s why it’s not hard to understand why at-track attendance at NASCAR races is down appreciably. From Fontana to Atlanta, we’ve seen tens of thousands of grandstand seats go unsold and unoccupied.
But when an average ticket for a Sprint Cup race is oftentimes north of $50 per, it’s understandable if cash-strapped folks have tightened their spending habits – and not going to NASCAR races is part of that.
No surprise there.
But you would think that if fans can’t afford to go to races in person, they’d do the next best thing and watch those same races on television.
FREE television, for the most part, if you’re watching on either Fox during the first part of the season, or ABC during the final 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.
And with that free TV viewing comes one hell of a price tag: fans don’t have to worry about being stuck in traffic for hours coming and going to/from the track, don’t have to wait 50-deep in lines to go to the bathroom, don’t have to worry about drunk and obnoxious fans and especially don’t have to pay exorbitant concession stand prices.
Logic would tell you die-hard NASCAR fans would be flocking to their family rooms in droves to watch Saturday night or Sunday afternoon racing.
But they’re not. Ratings and viewership are both down more than 11 percent from last year and down roughly 25 percent over the last few years.
Now, in a VERY uncharacteristic move, NASCAR is “looking into” why its TV ratings have fallen so much so far, and threaten to continue falling.
Could NASCAR actually be starting to panic, that much of its cash cow gravy train is beginning to dry up?
I mean, other than injecting the chance for a viewer to win a million bucks if they tune in to this week’s race du jour, I really don’t see how NASCAR can change its ratings problem.
If anything, fan viewership habits and interest have to change – and they already have if they’re not watching race telecasts any more.
There’s no magic bullet or solution that is going to convince fans to start watching races again.
Frankly, there’s really nothing for NASCAR officials to “look into.”
Instead, for guys like Brian France and Mike Helton, crying might be a bit more appropriate right now.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/12 at 11:09 PMI think fans are tired of plastic corporate talkbox drivers. Jimmie Johnson is a hell of a race car driver, but such a bore as a personality.
At least Jeff Gordon has some attitude to him.
I used to like Carl Edwards as an interview, but anymore he’s tiring me as well.
On the other extreme we have Kyle Busch. Again, he’s a hell of a driver, but you can’t help but cringe when he’s being interviewed. He rarely accepts blame, and is the biggest crybaby in the sport. He’s exciting to watch - when he’s driving.
We just don’t have the personalities of the past - the DW’s, the Intimidator, Cale, the King….where have all those types gone?
Another thing they have to look at is the the length of the races. It would be interesting to see a ratings chart throughout the course of a race. We live in a world today where anything we want is a click away on the internet, and digital TV options give us 300+ channels from our couch. The fact is a 500 mile race - from the couch - costs 4 to 5 hours of commitment. Look at all the caution flags this year and its easy to see how folks are losing their focus on the races. Our attention spans aren’t what they used to be.
Undoubtedly the race in person is more exciting and keeps fans entrenched, but the cost of going to a race is to the point most families have to make a vacation out of it. Its just too much.
NASCAR has got some work to do.
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