Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR
Sure, Kyle Busch and Mark Martin put on one heck of a show – a clean show at that, with neither trying to take out the other to get to the finish line first – in Saturday night’s Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
But as entertaining of a finish as the Busch-Martin battle proved to be, there was something else that caught my eye which ranks right up there with the exciting outcome of the race.
Were you at BMS? Or, did you watch the race on ESPN?
Tell me, if you noticed anything unusual.
Okay, time’s up. The answer is simple: for the first time in a long time, the stands at a Sprint Cup race were virtually completely full.
That’s saying a lot in the current economic time. Remember how BMS failed to sell out for the spring race earlier this year, and how there were several holes of empty seats when we watched the race on Fox-TV?
But nary a seat went unfilled Saturday night, which is quite heartening to myself, BMS and NASCAR officials.
I know it’s only one race, and perhaps the most popular night race on the NASCAR schedule at that, but perhaps Saturday’s event was a harbinger that the worst of the economic struggles we’ve faced for more than a year is over. At least I’d like to think that.
Other than the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500, no other track can boast the attendance that Bristol gets. What’s more, no other professional sport in this country – not even the Super Bowl – can ever claim it crammed 160,000 people into a stadium.
They’re not even close.
So, when I turned on my TV set and started to watch the race, I was quite proud of my fellow race fans for turning out en masse for Saturday’s race.
It showed that people are willing to spend good money – including money that could go for other purposes – for good entertainment.
I don’t think anyone can dispute that Saturday’s race was indeed good entertainment.
Let’s just hope as we go forward in two weeks at Atlanta, then Richmond and then on into the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, that we start seeing more and more tracks with packed grandstands.
Given all the downturns NASCAR has endured the last few seasons, it’s time for some upturns now, don’t you think?
I was pleasantly surprised to see such a full venue on Saturday night; the Friday night NW race was a different story. I was shocked to see the “normal empty seats” on Friday night, this is Bristol after all. This started a discussion between me and friends about the attendance at races, and the dropping viewer ratings on TV. We didn’t come up with any earth shattering conclusions but did have a few observations.
One: The racing, though getting better, was lame when the COT was first introduced. This, in turn, drove away many of the casual fans.
Two: Track owners / operators, for the first time, had to “work” to sell what used to be the easy ticket. The inability of the owner/operators to identify with their patrons, and kept things “business as usual” further impacted the event attendance.
Three: The economy. – Enough said.
The best debate we had was just how much of an impact the economy has had, or was there another trigger. Since most of the race attendees have season tickets, and since the tickets are paid for as much as 6-8 months earlier, the discussion turned to a combination of cost vs. content. The season ticket holders are already out what they have paid for the tickets to attend. The added cost of food and lodging is what we are really talking about. I, having attended the race in KS for the last 5+ years, can attest that we spend more on the season ticket package then we do on the food and lodging for the race weekend. So it comes down to the cost vs. content. Is the show that will be put on, worthy of the additional expenditure, or do we just bite the bullet, lose the money already spent for the tickets, and stay home.
Like I said, we didn’t come up with any earth shattering conclusions. What ideas does everyone else have?
Taglia
If NASCAR put on a good show, fans would respond. My friends and I, long time race fans, decided against going to the Night Race this year after attending the very uninteresting spring race. It is not only a question of money. The time investment is huge. If the show is not worth it, why go?
Matthew Mark
See, Cost Vs. Content
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