NASCAR-on-TV: There's something happening here, but what it is ain't exactly clear...

One thing that drove me away from TV is we can't hear the announcers. I mean they must have microphones scattered all around the track, and all we hear is the roar of the cars. I mean ESPN needs no announcers now. The roar of the cars covers up everything they say! Its nuts!

"Appears to be a long time
Such a long, long, long, long time before the dawn"

CSN may be prophets for NASCAR since it is going to take awhile to turn this baby around. The problem of falling TV ratings is parallel to falling attendance at the track. Indeed, live attendance is much worse than admitted to by NASCAR. Race attendance figures seem to be inflated as evidenced by the excellent investigative report that the Pocono Record newspaper did when comparing the official NASCAR attendance figures at Pocono to a physical count done taken from photographs taken from the air over the track (there were actually about half the number claimed to be present). The factors that Mike listed are certainly responsible to the drop in interest in NASCAR; additionally I would list poor marketing of the stars (how many fans could pick Harvick or Hamlin out of a line up??), lack of defined colorful personalities (we need more Kyle Buschs and DWs), and overly long races (the middle 100 laps at the cookie cutter tracks subtract from the event unless you like naps during the race). And I beg to differ on the excitement value of the races; something, and it sure isn't clear, is missing. The #1 error was the Chase format which seems to be a focal point for dissatisfaction with NASCAR. I expect at least another two years of declining ratings and more unless NASCAR moves right away with a new marketing plan that can sow the seeds for a return to the glory days.

I don't think you can finger just one thing, but it's the cumulative effect that has affected the numbers. The COT hasn't exactly set the world on fire. No point in cheering for any manufacturer, since all the cars are now Nascar cars. The 43 fastest cars no longer race. The chase doesn't seem to have enthralled anyone but the media. Trying to make racing like every other sport isn't the smartest move. Diluting the Nationwide series with Cup drivers hasn't helped, since it keeps good young talent from ever getting ahead. I gave up season tickets to Bristol after 8 years...not because I couldn't afford to go, but since the COT, the chase, and the 'new' track, Bristol isn't Bristol anymore. Fighting to stay awake in the stands at Bristol just doesn't make me want to go back, and that's something I NEVER thought would happen. With the new corporate spokesmen driving these days, I don't find much difference in most of the drivers. Which may go a long way to explaining Junior's appeal in spite of his slump on track. Having it all be about the money doesn't help. Having the leader after the 'regular season' doesn't give me excitement for the end of the season. Quite frankly, after almost 30 years of being a fan and configuring my weekends around racing, I just don't care anymore.

I think there are numerous reasons for the decline. Not one thing could cause such a precipitous drop-off. I could go on for pages, but won't. Here's a list of reasons for the decline in my opinion (in no particular order):
1- The COT is awful. The splitter, the wing. Hideous. I do appreciate the safer aspects however.
2- No brand identity. Hard to blame Nascar for this really. But the lack of a manufacturer "feud" isn't helping.
3- Toyota. Again, I can't blame Nascar here either. But really, what die-hard Nascar fan is getting excited about Toyota? Answer, none.
4- The networks. Fox, TBS, ABC and ESPN are not doing Nascar any favors. The race production is bland and very predictable.
5- Race announcers. Simply pathetic. If you can honestly sit through four hours of DW and Larry Mac without the remote control in your hands, you must be deaf.
6- Endless dumb commercials. Why are there 20-30 Nascar commercials played during the race? Just ridiculous.
7- The Chase. Dumbest idea of all time. The debate on this is endless but the season cannot be broken down this way. It just doesn't work. Think about it, you can't compare JJ's 4 cups with Cale's. No way around it.
8- Shorten the season. Cut 3 or 4 weekends out and end the season a little earlier. That way you don't go head to head as much with the NFL and the World Series.
9- Stop trying to compete with the NFL. It's dumb and leads to dumb decisions.
10- Two races at Phoenix, Loudon and Kansas. None at the Rock and one at Darlington? Who makes the schedule, morons?
11- Labor Day = Darlington. If you don't know that, you should not be allowed to watch racing much less work for Nascar.
12- Simplify the points system somewhat. You need a Doctorate in mathematical science to understand it.
13- Integrity, Nascar doesn't have any. Stop lying to the fans. Stop throwing bogus caution flags. Stop with the bogus fines and enforce the rules evenly. This is perhaps the biggest reason they are losing hard-core fans.
14- My biggest irritation, the "Lucky Dog Rule". Absolutely moronic. Nothing is "given" in racing. No racing back to the yellow, that's fine, if you were behind the leader when the yellow flies, you stay behind him. Restart the cars in the same order.
15- Double-file restarts skew the racing. It's not how Nascar was designed to function. It only works because of the Lucky Dog nonsense. Get rid of it.
16- Go back to basics Nascar.
17- Get rid of the networks. Start a Nascar channel and broadcast the races on it. Then you can control the commercials and make all the coin.
18- Lastly, green-white-checkered finishes. Get rid of 'em. Another dumb idea. It's called the Daytona 500 for a reason. Not because the t-shirts look cool. Question, who wins the 1998 Daytona 500 or the 1976 500 or the 1979 500 under the current set of rules? Answer, who knows and better yet, who would care? Because it would be contrived any other way. Just like today's races are.

There's more but these are the important ones...

Mike

Issue 1 - Coverage as opposed to talking heads - I'd rather listen to the radio coverage. The only advantage TV has over the radio is when they actually go to a cutaway car to show the mechanical set up and "technology."

Issue 2 - Technology and the car - Truck parts on race cars? Carburetors? When is the last time you drove a car with a carburetor?

Issue 3 - No brand identification. I enjoy watching Daytona prototype racing more because they are actually honest about their racing. Their racing is "motor" racing and the bodies are just for cool aerodynamics.

Issue 4 - Races are too long (wait for Talladega), "mystery" cautions, no innovation allowed, too many races screwed up by fuel mileage. C'mon man, it's racing. Oh, I forgot the last issue. NASCAR is not good for racing.

I think its a myriad of a lo of things. But easily the top matter is probably the fact that the telecasts show only the chasers or maybe the top 10 drivers. Even if my driver would drop out of the race,at least the old 90's broadcasts would still show almost all other drivers and their situations. Now,you get Jimmie and Jeff and more Jimmie and some more Jimmie and ...HEY! look its Jimmie!. YAWN. Have fun with that new TV contract NASCAR. Some of us long time watchers found out we dont need you on Sundays after all!

I don't think it is a matter of losing fans and viewership; rather, it is what viewers and fans that NASCAR has now has "righted" itself. I don't have the numbers, but when it was a "regional" sport and shown on cable...I'd say the recent numbers are pretty close to what those numbers were. I started paying attention to NASCAR in '84...and no one I knew watched it or even knew what it was.

Fast forward to 2004. You go to a mall and see stuff for sale. TV commercials with drivers...with crew chiefs.

Now...the hardcore NASCAR folks still pay attention. The general public who tuned in for a few years (quite frankly, to watch 43 cars circle a track for 3+ hours takes dedication) saw this, grew tired, and moved on to something else.

What is killing NASCAR isn't declining television ratings....it is the fact the entire NASCAR economic ecosystem was like the housing bubble---money flowed in because the ratings were there, and the ratings were there because people wanted to see what all the hubbub was...but the product just isn't good enough to sustain the ratings....and so people have drifted away.

You have to want to follow NASCAR. It doesn't suck you in for life like a NFL franchise, because teams change, sponsors change, drivers change, manufacturers change. The Pittsburgh Steelers will always be the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hendrick Motorsports someday will cease to exist.

The ugly IROC car, the chase, Johnson's dominance over the the so-called championship that is now decided over 10 races, not the full season, the predominance of racetracks that are too similar to one another and produce the same follow the leader racing until NASCAR throws a trumped up caution to bunch the field up so they can have an "exciting" finish. Which is what they did at Fontana by the way.

And then you have the TV coverage, Fox did a very good job of coverage when they started out, but in the past 2-3 years, they have descended into far too much favoritism for particular drivers and manufacturer's and are more interested in being silly than showing the race. It is a turnoff for many of the fans. ESPN bills itself as the worldwide leader in sports, but disrespects NASCAR. I like Allen Bestwick a lot, but Rusty and Brad have a serious conflict of interest when they are in the booth with cars that they own on the track. ESPN also prefers to focus on their idea of what the script for the race should be instead of just broadcasting the race as it occurs.

I used to watch every minute of NASCAR coverage, now I don't. There's a limit to what I can endure over a 4 hr period between commercials and terrible camera and production choices. I no longer watch ANY pre-race shows as it has become either total pre-produced or Kenny Wallace telling the race fans what we SHOULD think. Sorry, Kenny, I decide what I think - I prefer to trust my own eyes and thought processes than anything that NASCAR or even my favorite driver tells me when I think it is bogus.

NASCAR has promised it wanted to get back to basics, well, they haven't delivered on it. The COT was supposed to allow for side by side racing and lessen the aero advantage for the leader. that didn't work. I don't want to watch high speed parades for 470 laps to have the race decided by a caution thrown for "debris" to make it exciting at the end.

How about ending the experiment with both the ugly car and the chase? Maybe some of the fans will come back IF the racing is worth watching again -- both on TV and at the track.

I have no idea why NASCAR has so much trouble figuring this out. A generic car on (most of the time) generic 1.5 mile cookie-cutter tracks, driven by generic drivers "the (fill in the blank) car was really strong today", with a 4 time generic champion. And why should I bother watching the race, when I can see the highlights for the next 24 hours after the race on Victory Lane, or NASCAR Now, or The Speed Report, or NASCAR Race Hub. A 36 race season consisting of a generic product that takes 3 hours to complete every weekend, in today's ADHD world? That, boys and girls, is a recipe for declining interest and declining ratings.

The product is terrible. Plain and simple. Boring race cars on tracks that provide boring racing does not give people much incentive to watch a race on tv, much less go to one in person.

And until Nascar stops trying to compete with the NFL, things aren't going to change. Nascar will never surpass the NFL so they need to get over that obsession and just worry about their sport. They have a tough time with that as it is. Nascar is not a stick and ball sport so stop trying to be like one. It turns people off.

If Nascar is really taking that much of a beating with all the other sports going on right now, then shorten the schedule. Its not rocket science.

apropos of nothing other than the photo at the top of the story...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peD7tc88K3s

I recall back when the COT was brought up asking a nascar type why one would model a business after IROC when IROC was a commercial disaster. I also recall the blank stare I got as my answer.

I also think that what you're seeing is the last of the gas that RJR brought to the table being used. there's not a real marketer left in the game --- which is a shame given the volume of alleged marketers on the payroll --- including the head of nascar.

--vegas

A great 10 lap start followed by a short 3hr. nap, only to wake up just in time for a bogus caution and that always thrilling Green/White/Checker finish.Hey in playoff baseball you get 2 on 2 out and the hitter sitting on a 3-2 count in the middle of the 5th. Will he strike out ?, get a hit?, maybe even a game changing home run?, who knows but I can assure you they will not be going to commercial. In the NFL how many times during a game do we see 3rd or 4th and inches?, can they make it ?, will they go for it?. I don't know but I'll stay till the end just to see. Almost all the races digress into a snoozefest. Shorten the event into a 2 to 2 1/2hr show with a 5 minute lead-in and a 5 minute outro to close it out. It's hard to sit through the 24hrs of Pocono where the fans suffer as much boredom as the competitors. Let 'em make a couple of stops to keep the pit-crew awake and keep some similence of strategy. 4 plus hrs. is waaaaaaaaay too long to keep any kind of drama as part of the telecast and don't worry 'bout the cars going in a circle, heck the announcers are talking in circles after the first 1/2 hour. Glenn

Since they took the manufacturers out and all this team concept of four cars came about, the show is just not that interesting to my demographic. Of course I am a fan from the early sixty's and no longer equate the current cars with STOCK cars anyway. That said, my demographic is not that relevant anymore either.

Drivers, owners, track owners etc. are trying to stay employed with what they know and what has worked in the past. It is all about the money and sponsors and keeping the status quo. Cookie cutter drivers/cars/owners play up to NASCAR because of the money and espouse the company line because they are trying to KEEP THE GOLDEN GOOSE ALIVE.

The NEW FANS Nascar is trying to attract are a different generation.
Most of this new generation are not interested in cars or racing because they want smart phones and are texting their friends and socializing on Facebook or downloading new Apps. They just DON'T CARE ABOUT CARS. Don't know a hubcap from a camshaft or a swaybar from a sparkplug. Aren't interested in working on their own car or even need to. Buying a car is like buying a refrigerator for them. (Most new cars are COT cookie cutter cars too). Some buy a set of wheels or change the sound system but few will tweak their engines. Of course there are a few in the new generation that are interested and will spend their money for hardcore Hot Rod parts, but the majority are not. This is the real reason for NASCAR’s gyrations and eventual irrelevance for most viewers.

1 - A lot of people dvr the race so they can also watch football.
2 - a lot of people dvr the race because the weather is beautiful in the south this time of year.
3 - there weren't as many dvr's even a couple of years ago as there are now.

Also, the other things that everyone else is griping about is also true. The fact of the matter is that a lot of the people who walked away from the sport, weren't really the core fans anyway. They were swept up by the fad.

That doesn't mean the NASCAR and TV shouldn't get their act together. They definitely should (who was the genius that thought that auto racing fans didn't care what the car looked like anyway?)

I have been chewing on this quite a while. And while most announcers and pundits have avoided the issue, I finally heard the gang at Showtimes "Inside NASCAR" tackle it briefly at the end of this season. While I am sure the current national economic condition is relivant, the biggest problem I see (touched on in a previous post here) is the so called COT platform. Absolutly NO brand itentity! And the car itself is a butt-ugly box! Did you hear that Mr. France? The previous car said, Look at me, I'm FAST!!! The prev. car had a noticeable manufacturer identity to it. But besides that, the car is just plain UGLY. And stop throwing the SAFETY thing at us. Some incredibly violent crashes were walked away from in the Natiowide series. The new front end from Nationwide might be a slight improvement to the Cup cars, but the nationwide cars in general have been ruined! And I have probably bought my last ticket for a race at Texas because of the new car. The sport is way too much into having celebrity drivers instead of the "good-ole-boys" that used to drive. Stop treating the drivers like celebrities and get them more involved with the fans. ie. Carl going into the stands after a win. Put a muzzle on that little whinebag Kyle Busch. Hey NASCAR.... Wake up and realize that the buttugly box of rocks you put on the track is turning fans off!!!!!

everybodys tired of jimmie johnson thats why i miss dale earnhardt the most he could take away all those so called championships!!!!!!!!!!!