2015 NASCAR Thread - And then there was 1

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RedTailBoa
The fact that the most popular driver in NASCAR didnt have solid sponsorship proves my point
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It could also be because Hendrick has made it a point to only sell sponsorship on the 88 car at a very high premium price. He has refused to lower his price, just for the sake of putting someone's advertisement on the side of the car. It's why you sometimes see Hendrick Cars on the 88 car.
 
At first, I was a little shocked to see that there was a debate going on here about how good or bad NASCAR is doing financially speaking in this thread. Then I remembered I was on the internet and in a NASCAR thread.

NASCAR is still doing well. If it was struggling, everyone would know because the restrictor plate tracks would have poor attendance. Darlington had one of its best events in years this year, and that was a track that was on the verge of being dumped from the schedule a few years ago. Very few tracks are selling out like they did years ago, but lots of tracks in a lot of sanctioning bodies are facing that problem too. It's all a fact of the economy, but a lot of places that were in jeopardy have turned around. It isn't as strong as it was a few years ago, but NASCAR is doing just fine right now as it is. If people want to look at a sanctioning body that is in trouble, look at the NHRA. That is a sanctioning body that has a huge problem on its hands.
 
AnthonyD1993
At first, I was a little shocked to see that there was a debate going on here about how good or bad NASCAR is doing financially speaking in this thread. Then I remembered I was on the internet and in a NASCAR thread.

NASCAR is still doing well. If it was struggling, everyone would know because the restrictor plate tracks would have poor attendance. Darlington had one of its best events in years this year, and that was a track that was on the verge of being dumped from the schedule a few years ago. Very few tracks are selling out like they did years ago, but lots of tracks in a lot of sanctioning bodies are facing that problem too. It's all a fact of the economy, but a lot of places that were in jeopardy have turned around. It isn't as strong as it was a few years ago, but NASCAR is doing just fine right now as it is. If people want to look at a sanctioning body that is in trouble, look at the NHRA. That is a sanctioning body that has a huge problem on its hands.
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I think the big reason why NASCAR and other series have not rebounded to what they were prior is that people are not as willing to spend money on non-necessities (the economic recovery causes this), a few years from now, people should start spending more.
 
Part of it too is that people just aren't fascinated by cars anymore. Cars used to be a form of escape every youngster used; now they can get the same type of enjoyment just going to Youtube and watching viral videos. It's not really a thing anymore, it's just an everyday appliance.
 
Yeah, they all love their youtube videos and tumblr posts. I don't understand why there is such a fascination with watching the events of other peoples' lives play out in youtube vlogs on a daily basis.
 
So we all agree that NASCAR isnt what it was a few years ago. But yet you continue to try to prove otherwise. When you consider nearly half of the races are run in the southeast, its basically a regional sport. Also NASCAR going head to head with college football (SEC) on Saturdays makes ratings even worse for the Nationwide series. And going head to head with the NFL on Sundays just makes ratings worse. And you can say that ratings are bad because the races are being broadcast on second tier cable networks. The reason behind that is the network execs know people will watch the NCAA and NFL over NASCAR
 
RedTailBoa
So we all agree that NASCAR isnt what it was a few years ago. But yet you continue to try to prove otherwise. When you consider nearly half of the races are run in the southeast, its basically a regional sport. Also NASCAR going head to head with college football (SEC) on Saturdays makes ratings even worse for the Nationwide series. And going head to head with the NFL on Sundays just makes ratings worse. And you can say that ratings are bad because the races are being broadcast on second tier cable networks. The reason behind that is the network execs know people will watch the NCAA and NFL over NASCAR
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Let me dissect that. No, NASCAR isn't what it used to be, nothing is as strong as it used to be, or did you sleep through the past 7 years? And where did NASCAR start exactly? That's right, smart one, the southeast...and viewership points are moot for one specific reason. Racing fans watch racing first. Sure, it doesn't pick up the "casual person", but honestly, unless a death happens (see 2015 IndyCar finale), none of the casual people are going to watch more than a few laps anyways. And in NASCAR's deal with Fox and NBCSN, that was partly because of prior commitments. NBC has golf, soccer, boxing, F1, IndyCar, Indy Lights, MotoGP and in 2016, the Summer Olympics. NBC is a all around sports station, and an even bigger racing network if you didn't pick up. Fox needed a draw on FS1, and NASCAR is all they really have that they could leverage, so connect the dots. NASCAR on Fox also doesn't compete with the NFL or NCAA...ever. NASCAR starts right after football ends. Educate yourself, do what 85% of people here do and research.

By the way, I highlighted all of the points that goes against you in underline.
 
FS1 has baseball and UFC going for it outside of NASCAR
UFC contract is just about as large as NASCAR's
 
GTPorsche
Fox has MotoGP...
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I was pretty sure NBCSN did, but looking at that, I was wrong.
Ganon83
FS1 has baseball and UFC going for it outside of NASCAR
UFC contract is just about as large as NASCAR's
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FS1 baseball also rarely interferes with NASCAR Sprint Cup though. UFC's one of those that I have no idea about. Regardless, my point stands that racing people will watch racing first and that NASCAR knew coming into this new deal about NBC's commitments.
 
Viewership down 47% in the last ten years. I guess Im educated. And of course FOX dont have to go head to head with football. They're smart enough to know their expectations. Thats why they cut their ties with NASCAR after the first half of the season
 
Realistically, there is only a small portion of Football that NASCAR has ever competed with. And in the modern era it is only the chase that seems to have to worry about Football which could partially be the reason behind why the chase changed so much over the past several years.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
Realistically, there is only a small portion of Football that NASCAR has ever competed with. And in the modern era it is only the chase that seems to have to worry about Football which could partially be the reason behind why the chase changed so much over the past several years.
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Which may I say, as much as diehards hate it, has worked in garnering attention.
 
RedTailBoa
Viewership down 47% in the last ten years. I guess Im educated. And of course FOX dont have to go head to head with football. They're smart enough to know their expectations. Thats why they cut their ties with NASCAR after the first half of the season
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The reason ratings are down is because there is more access to more viewing options than ever before in most homes. With more available options, you should expect a decline in viewership across the board.

Seven years ago, the average household had access to about 130 channels. Two years ago, that number was nearly 190 channels. It's only going to continue to go up in the future.
I couldn't find this data, but I would bet that if you were to go back 15 to 20 years ago, the number would probably be closer to 40 to 50 available channels in the average household.

However, in NASCAR's primary demographic market (the more rural southeast region), there is probably a higher prevalence of homes without full-tier cable/satellite service compared to other areas of the country. Ten years ago, when every single race was available on Fox or NBC, anyone could watch every single race without much difficulty, even on an antenna that only received the big four local broadcast channels (Fox/NBC/CBS/ABC). Now that more of the races are on cable (FS1 and NBCSN) than not, there are probably lots of average NASCAR viewers that are unable to tune in that would like to do so.

NASCAR has lost some of their primary demographic to cable channels they don't have, while they are losing the more casual viewer to other channels they now have access to.

I also think that you get a decline in NASCAR viewership because the presentation of the product is not satisfactory (there are way too many commercials).
 
My question is why FOX and NBC wanted to put half of their races on cable... I would think a quarter of their rights would be sufficient enough to promote FS1 and NBCSN.

Since the primary audiance is in the lowest income region of the country, I would think that the tv executives would try to get as many target viewers as possible by putting most of the races on network TV, which the common person should be able to afford. The more viewers means more valuable commercials slots and more income for the broadcasting company.
-My 2 cents
 
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They're on cable because they wanted to use NASCAR to increase support of those channels on TV providers.

It's supply and demand.
 
GTPorsche
They're on cable because they wanted to use NASCAR to increase support of those channels on TV providers.

It's supply and demand.
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Then why doesn't FOX put half of their NFL games on Fox Sports 1? Same with NBC and Sunday Night Football on NBCSN. That would bring the support through the roof on those cable channels.
 
ukfan758
Do you think they will with the new contracts whenever they are made?
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Only if they get the Monday, Thursday or Sunday night games as they are the only nationally broadcasted games outside of the post-season.
 
About the loss of viewership drop, I can use a example that comes from South America: Soap Operas (novels, whichever works).

Brazil is a big consumer of that kind of product, but, with the increase of channel availability, added with the choice of other programs (Netflix comes to mind), the viewership of novels here has dropped significantly over the last 5 years. A novel called Avenida Brasil (Brazil Avenue) recently broke the record of TV rating here with a 53.9 rating, which meant that 53.9% of every televisor in Brazil were watching it. The novels that came after it have been struggling to get the ratings in the 30s.

It's nothing to be too alarmed that NASCAR has lost viewership. Go look at the other sports, the same thing has happened.
 

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