NASCAR Remains Popular Despite Declining Attendance
Column By: ERNIE SAXTON / FIRST DIGITAL MEDIA
Photos By: RACERSGUIDE.COM PHOTO STAFF
Daytona Beach Fla.- February 17, 2017- More and more I hear from people that read my columns and want to share their thoughts. Many feel that NASCAR racing is just not what it used to be.
Here where I live several months each year, Ormond Beach, Florida, I listen to people tell me that they just don’t go, that auto racing just does not have their interest any longer.
Not surprising that most of the complaints I hear are in regard to NASCAR Cup Series racing. It is the most popular form of motorsports despite declining attendance and lower TV ratings. You would think that the TV ratings would be up since fans are not showing up at the track like they used to.
In all fairness to NASCAR the attendance for their Cup events and the TV ratings are still good enough that most other sports would love to have them.
However I did see an article recently that listed the top 100 sporting events on TV in 2016. Not surprising is the fact that the Super Bowl is on top of the list. What is surprising is that NASCAR, not even the Daytona 500, did not make the list. And the Indianapolis 500, with the most interest shown in years last year, did not make the list.
Often times I hear from people, who are fans of the sport that tell me they just can’t afford to go. The cost to attend a Cup event is more than the family budget can handle. I saw the other day that the average ticket price for a Cup race is now at $95. However we do see that most tracks offer specials that have tickets available at bargain prices. Fans just have to pay more attention.
And then you add the cost to get there and the cost of lodging. The Capitalist way is in place as room rates triple or more when a Cup race is being run. But in Houston, Texas this past weekend room rates were out of sight for the Super Bowl. One hotel, bugs included, normally had a room rate of $79 a night and for the Super Bowl the same room cost $700 a night with a three night minimum. I won’t even get into what a ticket cost.
At Daytona Beach when the “500” is being run there are hotels that triple their rates or more and require a five night stay. Some restaurants bring out their special menus for the Daytona 500 and the same happens at other towns where Cup races are being presented.
And how about having a hot dog and a beer? Plan on spending about $15 for just yours. Multiply that by the number of family members that you are responsible for.
Just brought to my attention is that parking, which had been free at most speedways, is now being charged for, especially in the lots that are within walking distance of the track. That is not true at all tracks but it is trend that is growing.
Add it all together and it is out of the reach of the average family.
With many NASCAR events coming up starting on February 18th in Daytona Beach NASCAR has announced that they are running the events in their three major series in segments, two short segments and then the feature. While other sports are taking steps to shorten their events, this looks like a step toward having their events take longer.
Not a move in the right direction, at least in my thinking. However the segment racing will probably take fuel mileage events and a lot of the tire problems out of the picture.
However we are told that there is the possibility that some of the of the Cup events will be run all in one day. That means qualifying and racing on the same day. There would be practice the day before. I have always felt that too much time was devoted to practice. Quite frankly perhaps the racing will be better with less practice.
And think about this change being made in the inspection process. In the past if a team failed a stage in pre-race inspection they could work on the issue and just go back to the inspection stage they failed. Now if a car fails any of the stages, they must go back through all stages of pre-race inspection. Apparently officials have figured out that while the team is fixing what failed inspection they could be making other adjustments in other areas that will not be found because they had only been looking at what has been changed. Do they really think that teams would be that sneaky? Apparently they do.
NASCAR has also announced that cars that are involved in wrecks will not be able to have body parts replaced just repaired. And it will all have to be done in five minutes or less. If that does not happen the car will not be able to continue in the race. That is five minutes from the time you start down pit road until you exit pit road. Quite frankly we think timing should start once the car is in its pit area. It is probably a move in the right direction as long as everyone is treated equally and should cut down on the real debris cautions and that should speed up the events.
Now I have to wonder what will happen if there is a multi-car accident early in a race, major players in the sport involved, and repairs can’t be made within the allotted time so the major players will be out of the race. Fans not happy. Sponsors not happy. What happens then?
We’ll have to wait and see how all the changes work out.
As we have said before, we give NASCAR credit for trying some changes in hopes of making the sport more entertaining, exciting, and that would bring back the fans that have been lost over the last few years.
