As the rain fell down this weekend at Martinsville I had a chance to get out and walk through the midway area. I am a big fan of people watching and where is there a better place to do that?
As I rounded the corner on the last row of trailers I couldn’t help but notice the people, four and five deep, lined up in front of the Fox souvenir hauler. Naturally I was curious what they were all standing there for. Do you know what this trailer was full of? Digger merchandise. Stuffed animals, t-shirts, bobbleheads etc. I was shocked.
Now this isn’t the first time I have heard of this. Reader Rossanna emailed us after Las Vegas saying it looked the same there. I had completely forgotten about it until this weekend.
From the comments we have gotten around here and stuff I have heard from fans elsewhere, everyone seems to hate Digger. I really don’t know what to believe. Either they don’t speak for the majority or, everyone is a closet Digger fan. Whatever the case the folks at Fox might just be genious’.
Sponsor Tents
Another thing I noticed at Martinsville this weekend was the sheer lack of corporate hospitality tents (I hadn’t yet noticed it this season). Normally the area that houses them is a sea of white. It is bouncing with music, food, people and sponsor shmoosing. This weekend though I counted two tents. It looked like a ghost town.
We got a tip this past week from a reader who said they heard from a friend at SMI that only four tents were sold at Bristol. The reader said the track normally sells 20 times that.
As they put it, definitely a sign of the times. I guess it doesn’t look very good to shareholders (and perhaps the government) if you are spending money on excesses like hospitality tents. Not to mention it is an easy thing to cut from a budget.
While they’re certainly good for creating and/or maintaining customer relationships and building your presence in the sport, there are other, cheaper ways to reward those involved with your company.
As this recession drags on, expect to see these cost cutting measures reach other marketing activities.
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on Mar 30th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Maybe fans want to secure Digger Gear as collector items before he is exterminated. As far as Digger’s lack of popularity and other TV broadcast gimmicks in general on this site, I attribute that to educated blogger’s need for racing in its purest sense. More racing and less fluff.
on Mar 30th, 2009 at 9:53 am
I don’t get all the Digger hyper personally. The shots from the “digger cam” are dark, dirty, and pretty much pointless. At the Iowa speedway they have camera’s embedded IN the track so you see the cars going right over the top, now that is cool. I’m not sure if it’s the racetrack that did it or if it’s ESPN, but I like it.
I don’t even watch the Fox pre-race show anymore. It’s way to long and pretty much pointless. When Fox took over the broadcasts it was the best coverage Nascar ever had, they need to go back to that. I really wish the network would drop all the crap and let the boys talk about racing, that’s what they know, and it used to be great. I’m tired of all the Aflac crap, the Claritin clear to drive crap, allstate good hands crap. It’s become a joke.
One thing I give Fox though, they had the foresight not to hire Wally “fallenback”. NBC race coverage is the biggest joke in broadcasting.
on Mar 30th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I wonder if the people at the Digger trailer are buying for their grandkids. I certainly hope so as the cartoon thing makes sense for anyone under 5. But then those 5 yr. olds might like DW too, which could be a stretch even for them.
on Mar 30th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Nasacr continues to ruin its image with this Digger crap. This, combined with the professional wrestler garbage for the all-star race, how’s anyone supposed to take it seriously? Sad, just sad, I become less interested in Nascar everyday.
on Mar 30th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I think Digger just might be bringing the child out in everyone. I think it’s lame, but I love it. haha If that makes any sense. [[Considering I am 18 years old and still watch the Disney Channel.]] I think that the Digger cam can be pretty cool at times. But I think NASCAR should have just left it as a cool shot of the race, they didn’t need to create a cartoon with it.
And as for the hospitality tents, that’s just sad. I’m sure that the sponsors loved that. And it kinda sucks for them that they get thrown on the back burner. Sponsors are what make up NASCAR, I think that the tents should have been one of the last things taken away.
on Mar 30th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
I can only guess those of use who blog or avidly seek info on the web see Digger as an annoyance, those fans who are not as fanatical (for lack of a better word) think he’s cute, and lets face it perhaps the perfect gift for the little ones that haven’t picked a driver to follow.
on Mar 30th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
I think there’s a different demo that hits the trailer vs. the one online. It’s sad to me since I’m of the “who the F likes this junk” side, but I fear that’s the case.
As for the corporate tents, it seems to be like that at all the tracks. I actually work for a large corporate sponsor, one of the few left still activating on the hospitality. And I was surprised how few companies were at Las Vegas and Atlanta. Daytona was smaller than usual, but still OK because it was the 500. At Vegas, however, it was a ghost town. Atlanta, where you normally have a couple of dozen sponsors, there were 6 tents. Crazy.
But it makes since. Advertising is usually purchased way in advance, as is sponsorship. Hospitality, though, can be fairly easily dumped. Even if you have the eat the costs of some tickets you still save money by not purchasing catering and other add-ons.
Like Digger, said but true.
on Apr 1st, 2009 at 1:24 am
Hi Guys! Love the blog and don’t know why I chose this post to comment on first, but too late now!
At the California race, they had more of a little shack style Digger booth that I admit I wanted to get a look at, but not to buy things. I hadn’t seen that they turned the cute 2-D cartoon Digger into a 3-D cartoon yet and so all these new characters seemed like overkill to me. It could be that this mass of people just wanted to get a look at what they had to offer, but that sure seems like a big crowd out of curiosity. I have to agree with everyone else that it would be a great gift for the little ones.
Keep up the great posts! Love them!
on Apr 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Over the last few years, the tracks have been trying to make up their lost ticket revenue by increasing the prices for corporate hospitality.
That strategy has backfired and as those multi year contracts (that the sponsors were forced to sign) begin to run out, you’ll see even less tents at places like Chicago and KC.
ISC and SMI have killed the goose by being way too greedy and overcharging their customers for hospitality.
on Sep 3rd, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Corporate (hospitality) tents are MUCH TO EXPENSIVE for the common folk……. this year $150 per person at NHMS!!! Way too much…..