I think I should probably just start a problem series. I have been writing about it a lot lately. But I digress…
At the beginning of the season many in the media would have had you believing the world was crashing in on us. They were predicting empty race tracks, fleeing sponsors and failing teams.
Well six months into the year and four months into the season, things aren’t quite as bad as many predicted. Sure a couple teams have folded (the No. 8 car and No. 28 car), the independents are starting to struggle, and sponsors aren’t quite clamoring to spend tens of millions of dollars in the sport, but are things really that bad?
For the last several months everyone has been screaming about television ratings. Yeah they’re down, but if you look at them compared to other sporting events and programming, the sport really isn’t doing too bad. I unfortunately don’t have easy access to the Nielsen ratings, so I am working with what I can find online, but consider this: an average NASCAR race (not the 500 or another big race) does just as well as the NBA Finals did last year. They averaged about 9 million viewers.
That number is also big enough to beat a lot of primetime programming on major networks (not including Greys Anatomy or CSI of course). It also beats the hell out of the top rated cable programming.
Take a look at some older Nielson ratings and compare it to NASCAR this year. They’re down, but they’re no means bad.
The Chicken Littles are also pointing to the down attendance at the tracks. Now if you take the track estimations and subtract 30 to 40,000 (which is probably closer to the truth at some of these places) they are still nothing to scoff at. Any sport would give anything to have 100,000+ fans at their events every week. NASCAR is crying about it.
Sure it’s not the sell-out crowds we got just a few years ago, but still it is very good. The Super Bowl this year had just over 71,000 in attendance. With the exception of some of the smaller tracks, NASCAR easily beats that week in and week out.
Now I know what you’re saying, if there was a football stadium big enough (the new Cowboys stadium perhaps) they would have NASCAR-like attendance for the Super Bowl and that’s probably true (NASCAR couldn’t hope to have the TV viewing audience though), but the fact that NASCAR does that good every week is a very good thing.
So now that we’ve established things really aren’t that bad, I ask you, what is different between this sport and others?
The answer is the negative media attention on the sport.
Baseball attendance has been down and NHL and IndyCar TV ratings have been mediocre on Versus, but you don’t hear their respective press corps bashing the sport. In fact it’s quite the opposite. I have read several stories about how positive everyone is about the Versus ratings despite the fact the ratings have been cut in half for some events and how MLB is looking forward to a jump in attendance once the summer hits.
I feel like this sky is falling mentality has created a very negative perception of the sport by not only the general public but by the fans. I think much of the anxiety fans are feeling and another reason why they aren’t tuning in is the fabricated negativity. When you are reading every other day about how bad things are, or how bad things are going to be you’re going to start to believe it. I know NASCAR is attempting to combat this, but they can only do so much.
Things aren’t quite as great as they have been in previous seasons, there is no denying that, but are things really that bad?
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on Jun 1st, 2009 at 11:35 pm
The biggest problem I see in NASCAR right now is Hendrick Domination. 4 of the top 5 cars in the standings are running hendrick motors, with a 5th car rounding out the chase in slot 12.
that’s almost half the chase field all from one engine shop, and if Dale Jr turns things around, we could end up with half the field being Hendrick-made cars.
I am not a Hendrick hater, but there seems to be a competition problem here.
on Jun 1st, 2009 at 11:35 pm
half the chase field, that is.
on Jun 2nd, 2009 at 2:30 am
Journo,
I think you’re pulling a “straw man” argument when you compare the attendance of a single race to Super Bowl attendance. For one thing, the Super Bowl is played in venues which don’t seat near as many as NASCAR speedways. If you’re comparing percentages, however, last I saw, the Super Bowl actually sold out for the last 3 decades or more, unless I’m mistaken.
I think, in an odd way, you’re pointing out one of the major drawbacks of NASCAR, that the season is way too long. NASCAR journalists have to have something to report about, and non-sell-outs are news.
I can tell you my interest is waning, and my commitment to the sport and season is not nearly as strong as it was a couple of years ago. Part of that is due to a new job in retail which often keeps me away on Sunday afternoons. But I’m finding too that if I don’t have the time to watch the race on my DVR, it’s not a burning loss to me. There’ll be another race next week.
I hope there’s a new champion this season, even though Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, and Rick Hendrick are all deserving of success. I like ice cream, but too much vanilla is too much. Now if Smoke starts winning some races…
West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
on Jun 2nd, 2009 at 3:56 am
Spot on Journo.
Media “anti-hype” is running rampant throughout all the various media types and damned if I know why.
A good example is when the Mayfield story broke, I saw 3-4 headlines that made the implication NASCAR “let him drive at 172 miles per hour knowing he was “dirty.”
The reality was they had no choice until the second and confirming test came back. That mattered little to these so called “journalists,” what did matter was a sensationalistic headline with an eye on the bottomline, not the truth.
on Jun 2nd, 2009 at 6:56 am
I can’t help but think that the racing media’s focus on how bad things are in NASCAR, especially how it was often the lead story early in the season, has led to all of this. Yes, it was, and is, a story, but it was hyped so much that it has grown its own legs and run all over the place.
But, since we are fed an almost constant “gloom and doom” message on the news in general, why should it be any different when it comes to NASCAR?
on Jun 2nd, 2009 at 9:56 am
The high car counts have surprised me. Especially the 45 cars entered for this week’s race at Pocono. I thought that after Charlotte, many of the independent teams would be folding as their funds start to dry up.
on Jun 2nd, 2009 at 10:42 am
It seems to me one big problem is there are just TO MANY journalists sucking on the Nascar teat. They all have to come up with something, and it can’t be “everything is OK” week after week. So they are like the Bush administration was, make something out of nothing to get people to listen.
on Jun 2nd, 2009 at 12:00 pm
IMHO All sports suffer these days from having to transition from true “sport” to more heavily “entertainment” based. We have so come to expect visual stimulation in our lives that just being at the gig is not enough. So traditional sports have come to, whether by choice or necessity, manufacture the outcome to capture viewers attention. Gone are the death defying, swashbuckling, gun sligging, lay it all out on the field (track) athletes of yesteryear that competed for the sake of competition, not so much the big check and guaranteed spot.
I heard comments on Speed TV from Dover about how ratings rise and fall on how Earnhardt JR performs. That’s sad. I don’t care if it’s the driver I dislike the most winning the race, as long as it is a dogfight.
There was a post on TNI months back by a new NASCAR fan asking for advice on attending a race. In short, the root of the responses revolved around take in the sights, sounds, tastes and especially the smell “at” a NASCAR race. Senses you just really can’t tingle while watching on TV. Years past I would not dare miss an Atlanta race. Now, I ask myself is it worth devoting a whole day or weekend and a bunch of coin to hope for an exciting start and finish? It been rightly said that “bullfighting, mountain climbing and auto racing are sports, all others are just games”.
on Jun 2nd, 2009 at 1:49 pm
“The high car counts have surprised me. Especially the 45 cars entered for this week’s race at Pocono. I thought that after Charlotte, many of the independent teams would be folding as their funds start to dry up.”
I was surprised at how few cars there were for Charlotte, only 47 for a race that’s right in most teams’ backyards.
on Jun 2nd, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Measure – “The biggest problem I see in NASCAR right now is Hendrick Domination. 4 of the top 5 cars in the standings are running hendrick motors, with a 5th car rounding out the chase in slot 12.”
Did you feel it was a problem when Roush had all his cars in the Chase? Or when Petty won 27 events in a single year, the Chrysler 300’s dominated and the Hudson Hornets decimated the field?
In short sh*t happens, get over it.
West Coast Kenny – “I think, in an odd way, you’re pointing out one of the major drawbacks of NASCAR, that the season is way too long.”
How does that explain all the time when NASCAR attendance and TV ratings were raising AND the sport was also running a 36 event schedule?
on Jun 3rd, 2009 at 7:01 pm
It just seems to me marc when a Dodge or Ford or anyone but a GM is dominating Nascar they change the rules faster!
The Chrysler 300 deal didnt last to long, Richard Petty won that many races when their was apox 60 races a year!
Terry Labonte has won as many point titles as Roush!
Let see after Dale SR and Jeff Gordon dominated in the 90s they got a new SB2 engine, then when GM totalally dominated in laps led,wins, 70% of Daytona 500s and Talledaga Titles in the 2000s 2006 got a new RO7 engine, I mean Chevy has great drivers and teams but where are the competition directors? They will never let another brand dominate like that!
on Jun 3rd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
A few things. First, a quibble. I think the Super Bowl comparison is off. The better comparison is a “regular season” NASCAR race weekend with a regular season NFL weekend. With as many as 16 games a weekend, the NFL could put a million or more people in the stands. That’s almost five times Daytona’s capacity.
Second, a bigger point. I think NASCAR brought on a lot of the negative publicity itself by touting itself as the biggest and most exciting thing in sports entertainment since the Sox traded the Babe. The same thing happened to the NBA in the 90’s. When you run around promoting yourself in, frankly, an arrogant fashion, the press will inevitably be all over you when you slip up. The press is not all over the NHL or IndyCar because neither has over promoted itself like NASCAR. But, the bigger you are or, more importantly, the bigger you claim you are, the harder you fall.
Third, I have been going to Dover for ten years now and this weekend was, by far, the lowest attendance. Large swaths of the stands were empty. In fact, the track even turned big blocks of empty seats into billboards. This has to be costing the tracks some real money. I estimated the billboarded seats represented about $300,000 in lost ticket revenue. There was, however, an upside. Never got in or out of the track as fast.
on Jun 4th, 2009 at 9:41 am
I realize that the negativity is not just with the NASCAR media, it is with the fans. Just look at the above comment posts and it proves me correct. Instead of commenting about the purpose of the article, comments are directed at the aritcle itself. Let me explain, the Super Bowl was used in the article, and in my opinion, very nicely used. However, several comments indicate that should not have been used. We all have an opinion, that is our right, but instead of using the time to comment on the entire article, some of the comments are directed towards what they did not agree with in the article. Therefore, spending their time on negative items. So, it is not only the media, but the fans negativity that have become a problem.
I am not trying to upset anyone, or point fingers and ruffle feathers, just trying to make a point.
Stacy
on Jun 6th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Journo/TC – I agree with you that, just like the general media, the NASCAR media grabbed onto this story and beat it to death. Going back to the Natalie Holloway disappearance a few years ago. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of girls/ladies that go missing every year across the US. For whatever reason, it was deemed she was special and the coverage was insane. Now it is the bad economy.
Yes, the numbers are still big numbers. But just like the Indy 500 (and their pole day & Carb Day), there are still a bunch of people there. But the numbers are down.
Anyway, I agree in large part with mert, when you tout your size, growth, loyalty, etc… and then you stumble; people are more apt to point out your stumble. Ratings/Attendance are/have been down for a few years. As a friend of mine used to say, “they are post-peak.”
Another old saying, “apples and oranges.” There are just too many differences to truly compare them. You cannot directly compare ratings/attendance of NASCAR/NBA/NFL/MLB/NHL/Stars on Ice/Etc.
You can compare ratings of NASCAR and their increase decrease of say 10 years. Then compare the ratings of NFL over that same 10 year period. Did NASCAR increase/decrease more/ less than NFL? Anything else and a good mathematician/statistician can take the numbers and spin them until their sport looks much better than the other.