Motorsports Are Dying?

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I think one reason is that motorsports are being shoved off free to air TV/Network Television like the BBC in the UK and ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX in the states and onto Pay TV and upper tier channels like Sky Sports in the UK and NBCSN and FOX Sports 1/2 in the states.
Kamuifanboy
The quality of drivers, or lack of quality, in the series is what's killing it. The races are becoming too predictable.

Realistically a lot of this started happening when The Tobacco industry was given the boot. Not only were they helping the big teams with money to race and pay quality drivers, they were helping quality poor drivers move up through the ranks as well. The first backlashes of that decision are starting to show in the past 2-3 years. Now that the companies that have been sponsoring are either dry or not interested anymore, we desperately need that Tobacco money back.
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I agree, racing series were in far better shape back when tobacco was funding motor sports.I remember back when NASCAR was sponsored by Winston Tobacco and the tickets were cheaper, the teams were all more economically fit, and other things. Also, it was Marlboro that helped keep CART I believe a float with the (Marlboro tickets) for a short period of time.
 
I can't talk much about other series except F1 and Rally overall, but these are my thoughts:

WRC:
I haven't watched WRC since the early 2000s, and whilst I still love it, if I want to watch it I need to pay for it. That's all good and dandy, but it seems to me like the days of crazy driving are disappearing quickly. For me, it was Colin McRae that kept it going! Which brings me onto the point with the game tie ins...
If you want people to be interested in a sport and you build a game around that sport, you need it to really relate to the sport. Ever since Dirt 2, the CMR games have been nothing but abysmal! I have owned every Colin McRae rally game from 2 until Dirt 3, and in all honesty my favourite was number 4, where it really felt like I was taking part in a rally championship. It was also at that time that my interest in WRC was at an all time high. I could watch a race, and then try and do the same in the game, see what happened. Now it's all about drifting around Gymkhana or Battersea Power station, which to me isn't rally. So Rally from an entertainment point of view is now gone, because the younger gen prefer the whole x games style showboating instead of out and out rally.


F1:
This is a really touchy subject for me. I've watched F1 as far back as I can remember and followed Schumacher through almost his entire career. I grew up hearing the end of the V12 and the glorious reign of the V10s, followed by the growling V8s. What I noticed was that the cars got faster and faster and better and better until about 2004, then slowly started to dwindle down due to regulation changes for x and y reason. I still had a massive interest in F1 though, since the cars looked good, sounded good and drove nicely too. Even Vettels domination (I don't like him) wasn't enough to stop me from watch, though undoubtably would have caused people to leave the sport. So what have they gone and done? They've stopped the domination, but in the process ruined almost everything that makes F1 what it is. Gone are the beautiful cars (The RBR is an exception for now), gone is the noise, and gone is the speed. Sure, to a casual viewer a 1:43.066 around Sepang is quick, but for the rest of us who have seen 1:34s around this track, it is really slow. As an engineer I am all for new technologies. But it is the way it is implemented is what I dislike. KERS? I'm not a fan of electrical motors at all, but I can accept it completely. It's a neat little tool! DRS? I dislike DRS because it's made F1 more artificial. Turbos? I can deal with turbos, since we've had them before in F1 and I think that they could make for very interesting races... but wait? They've added turbos and put in a generator to minimise turbo lag? What's the point?! That's what made the turbo era fun!

1.6L V6 engines? That gets to me. They say it is directly related to the road industry, but I do not see 1.6L V6s around that generate 700 odd bhp inside ANY car. All this relation to road tech is just a commercial bit of PR. It makes F1 look green and as if they are doing their part for technology and the environment. I don't think so. If they wanted F1 to be "green", they should rearrange the way the races are so that the travelling is less. Malaysia to Bahrain to China? Why not Malaysia to China to Bahrain? It is economically better to do that, much less fuel burnt! Oh wait... money.

And then we get to the new circuits. Abu Dhabi? Not a bad S1, an okay S2... but S3 is a pile of bird poop. Singapore? Valencia? Thank god that it is gone! These new circuits are part of the decline of F1, and why? Because money.

Pay drivers. Yes, we've always had them, but never as much as they are now. Why? Because money. Again.

In the UK we have less than 50% of the F1 races on freeview, for a couple of years now. Why? Because Sky. Because money. I HATE SKY, truly and utterly hate. If I remember correctly, when a race is on the BBC, the ratio of sky to bbc viewers was something like 20:80. That's how many people have lost the ability to watch F1 without doing something illegal. I don't care for other TV. All I want is my standard freeview, F1 and Disney. Why should I pay stupid amounts of money for that? I won't do it. And nor would others, so we've lost viewers there.

Add all these together and we've lost a LOT of following from F1. For me, this is the first time where I couldn't really care if I miss a race. F1 isn't F1 to me anymore. It's just a load of political poop with rich boys just messing people around. I want to watch the days of Hakkinen and Schumacher. THAT was F1. And I know I am not alone in these feelings.
 
GP2 is doing fantastically well, I'd say, even if it's just been one feature race so far.

Gutsy pit strategy: Check
Plenty of Overtaking: Check
Rookie drivers who don't all make silly mistakes that cause violent crashes: .....Check.. mostly....
 
One huge problem is TV coverage. Ever since Speed was bought by Fox, we don't get as much motor sports coverage. If someone could make a TV channel similar to speed, then everything will be revived.
 
GTPorsche
GP2 is doing fantastically well, I'd say, even if it's just been one feature race so far.

Gutsy pit strategy: Check
Plenty of Overtaking: Check
Rookie drivers who don't all make silly mistakes that cause violent crashes: .....Check.. mostly....
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Series "veterans" from Venezuela who are probably missing the important component in their body known as the brain: Check.
 
Indycar...its biggest problem is its trying to be too region specific, ie north america, when most of their top drivers are from other centres (south america, asia-pacifc) so why not have races in those regions. Perfect example of this was Surfers Paradise, great spectator numbers, a decent fan base, and tradition to back the race up, now with Power and Dixon at the top of their game, bring them down under, promote the poop out of the event and you'll have a new fanbase and a new market to either get support from or to promote to.

On the other side we have always had the international motorsport on pay tv but to get coverage of the WEC (who doesn't love sports cars) and WRX (complete with drivers like Petter Solberg and Tanner Faust, and a champion who didn't win a single event) on a free to air network is a pretty big win
 
TheBigMan045
Indycar...its biggest problem is its trying to be too region specific, ie north america, when most of their top drivers are from other centres (south america, asia-pacifc) so why not have races in those regions. Perfect example of this was Surfers Paradise, great spectator numbers, a decent fan base, and tradition to back the race up, now with Power and Dixon at the top of their game, bring them down under, promote the poop out of the event and you'll have a new fanbase and a new market to either get support from or to promote to.
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NASCAR has also all but abandoned Australia, if you add a sort of Aussie string where they visit Surfers Paradise, Bathurst, and a couple of ovals it would do killer business there
 
There's also too many restrictions now. Lets take F1 as an example. They now limit how much fuel you use. Over attractive girlfriend much?
 
Dying? Probably not.
Is it on the decline - probably. It does not matter that "people have been racing for centuries". There are always new things coming around to keep people entertained.

Motorsports ultimately depends on the attitude of the masses toward cars. Back in the 50s-60s an affordable car for the masses was still quite new. A lot of people we "into cars", since it was a pretty liberating technology that brought freedom to move around at will to many people. Since then cars were slowly losing their charm.

These days cars are basically an appliance to most people and the share of people "into cars" is declining. Cars are no longer special, there's a lot more congestion, more and more time is spent going in a conga lines on the way to/from work. Hence, more and more people find being "into cars" strange, and racing those even stranger, and that's where we're heading. And there aren't many people into customizing or racing their washer and dryer....

With declining interest in cars in general I expect car racing to decline as well. Entertainment market is very tough. The lower the share of people 'into cars' the harder it will become to have high ratings/make money/stay afloat.

Horse racing survived, but its popularity is down a lot relative to its heyday.
 
ProjectWHaT
One huge problem is TV coverage. Ever since Speed was bought by Fox, we don't get as much motor sports coverage. If someone could make a TV channel similar to speed, then everything will be revived.
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This times 1,000,000. Sure, NBC Sports has F1, Indycar, and Pirelli World Challenge, but does that really matter if I can't watch it?

And also, Fox Sports has rights to V8 Supercars, but only only on FS2, and who has that channel? Fox also has rights to TUSC, but hardly anyone is pleased by the way the series is run, and Fox only shows the race. And the 2 that have been raced (Daytona 24 and Sebring 12 hour races) the coverage has been lapsed because they want to show something else.

And then there is NASCAR coverage, they have every single thing. With all the money that News Corp takes in every year, they can't just create a new motorsports network or revive SPEED?

I hate American motorsport coverage...
 
They won't make a new SPEED because SPEED was a failure in their eyes.
Even though they decided to put crap like "R U A Redneck" and that random NASCAR talent show that had nothing to do with NASCAR. Oh, and the focus on NASCAR. All of it.

That's another big problem with why NASCAR fell down. Waaaay too much for the market. 3 hours of Raceday and an hour before that on "NASCAR Smarts" and "NASCAR Performance"? Then after the race another hour for Victory Lane? Too much crap. I'd of shown some other kind of racing. This is the SPEED channel, not the Talk about NASCAR channel.
 
@Ganon83

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SPEED was a great example of taking a great idea, and then commit seppuku shortly afterwards. In the end, NASCAR (including Grand-Am) 90%, F1 5%, Auctions 3%, original content 1 %, anything else whatever is left %.


To be fair though, SPEED did show both Friday Practice sessions, and all three rounds of qualifying (David Hobbs yelling "Push The Car" ftw) and the race. Not to mention that there was F1 debrief, which made NASCAR and F1 the only two motorsports in America that had their own news program specific to the motorsport that was being covered.

But the programming is too NASCAR-centric in America. Indycar doesn't get the level of coverage it deserves. Many top-tier motorsport series never get the light of day in the states. V8 Supercars, was only recently added, and Marcos Ambrose was the guy (again, NASCAR) who presented it when it did air.


And ESPN isn't much better. But ESPN is a little different because they cover other sports as well.



NASCAR, in my opinion, has enough influence on those who are in the business of televising sports events to influence the way their sport is presented to the point where they could launch their own streaming service which gets exclusive rights to practice sessions, and qualifying sessions. Should they do it? I think so.


Personally I'd like to see someone broadcast more GP2 series action here in the US.


Until frequent major changes to the rulebooks become less frequent, less minor, and less bias as to stop a titular dynasty, nothing will change. It's like a formula:

For example:

One driver/team dominates testing > dominates qualifying > wins race in dominant fashion > wins multiple races in dominant fashion, usually consecutively > wins title > wins consecutive titles > "You cheating jackal(s) accusations arise > rulebook gets changed > champ wins in dominant fashion in spite of rule changes > rinse and repeat until desired effect is achieved
​
Or:

dominant champ & team hit wall (figurative and literally) in testing > get caught cheating > bounce back > start dominating again, ends another dominant team's run > gets accused of cheating by team that dominates testing > wins title > so on and so forth
​

Even:

Big Changes to the cars are made > top teams struggle with changes > mid-pack team is strong during practice > top teams split into subgroups of resolved and unresolved > Organisation makes another change to the rulebook > mid-pack team dominates testing, practice, and qualifying, and race > "struggling" top team gets silver medal > the "You cheating bastards" accusation is used against the "struggling" top team > lead driver of cheating team gives the No. 2 driver of the dominant team the chrome horn in order to delay the inevitable domination of the now-dominating mid-pack team > further changes are dreamt of
​

In a way, I guess I see it as motorsports not really dying, but people being generally uninterested in the sensation of speed. If there were no people which go to events and share their experiences on social media, then maybe motorsport would be on the decline. But as long as it is relatively available and "relevant" to environmental concerns, there will never be a "final" final lap, in my opinion.
 
ProjectWHaT
There's also too many restrictions now. Lets take F1 as an example. They now limit how much fuel you use. Over attractive girlfriend much?
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Lots of over-attractive girlfriends (and boyfriends), what's the problem?

So instead of burning the fuel in one of four, six, or eight places and then just forgetting about it... use all the energy you release from it. That 100kg of fuel lets you race a 1.6 engine at 200mph for 200miles... tell me that's not sexy engineering ;)
 
TRC GeorgiaDawg
Won't ever die. People have been racing stuff since the beginning of time. On horses, chariots, feet, bikes, lawnmowers, whatever.....If it moves people will race it. So some form of motorsport will always be around till the end of time.
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Exactly as long as their are kids lining up to get in go-karts they're will be bigger motor sports waiting to use their talents once they become grown. Also systems like GTA (though I don't care for it) prove that motor sports aren't dying when masses of people come out to take part and become a real racer.
 
No, Motorsports aren't dying. Declining yes, but NOT dying. This thread just seems to have been as yet another knee-jerk reaction and inducing more unnecessary Doom & Gloom and hilariously just because Three specific series are having some negative reactions.

When fans stop showing up to any race of a particular big name series and it starts happening more and more often, Then we'll talk. Otherwise, enough with this. Come on Earth, first the F1 thread and now this.
 
In it's current state ( mainstream only ) , I think it is dying (very, very slowly, unless you are Indy car).

Will Motorsport ever die? nope, never.

Auto racing began 5 minutes after the second car was built. – Henry Ford
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And it will stay that way until we only have 1 car/bike left. The real question is if "mainstream" entities like F1, NASCAR CUP, FIA GT Championship, etc will continue like they are?
 
carracerptp
In it's current state ( mainstream only ) , I think it is dying (very, very slowly, unless you are Indy car).

Will Motorsport ever die? nope, never.



And it will stay that way until we only have 1 car/bike left. The real question is if "mainstream" entities like F1, NASCAR CUP, FIA GT Championship, etc will continue like they are?
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I think the demand will spike hellaciously before we get down to 10-15 cars left, at which point everybody'll be like "Fire 'em up!"
 
Dying was too strong of wording. More like wilting, or fading into obscurity.

et slaughtered. The implosion Mark Cuban is predicting for the NFL happened to NASCAR over the past 5 or so years, for very much the same reasons. One of them being overexposure. It was Fox's bright idea to turn Speed Channel into NASCAR Channel. Even NASCAR fans got tired of the over exposure. And as a result, many got sick of it.

About 10 years ago NASCAR went into a frenzy building 'cookie cutter' 1.5 mile ovals all over the US. They doubled the seating of existing tracks. And for a time it was good. But again, pigs are fat, hogs get slaughtered. People got overwhelmed, and moved on.

Theres actually many reasons why many motorsport series are having issues. But if I were to list just one, what I think is the biggest, I think its the fact the automobile just isnt as new and exciting as it use to be. Racing and the automobile grew up together. The technology and speed grew together. But its been ages since theres been anything revolutionary in racing as mid engined cars or wings for aerodynamics.

Worst of all is the speed of the cars stalling out. Throughout most of the past 100 years speeds at Indianapolis continually climbed. Breaking the 150mph mark at the speedway was celebrated. Breaking 200mph etc. But once the speeds got 'too high' in the 90s the cars were slowed, and guess what happened? Indycar racing declined greatly. Almost every motorsport has seen efforts to reduce speeds or to keep them in a certain ballpark. If motorsport isnt pushing the limits anymore, then why should we care as much as we use to?

Todays Formula 1 race is a good example of what racing has become. A contrived show. Crayon colored fast degrading tires, DRS, you name it. Its just as bad as phantom debri cautions and green white checkered finishes in NASCAR. Well, actually its worse because NASCAR has always said its about the show. F1 was suppose to be about engineering, and if the race turned out good, then great. The problem is once you get the audience hooked on a certain high, theres no going back. Nothing less well ever satisfy them. A good example is what happened in NASCAR recently. The series made huge changes to the rules to make things much more exciting, green white checkered finishes, double file restarts, and more. And for a time it was good. But now if someone wins by 2 seconds its considered a boring race. If theres a greenflag run longer then 20 minutes its a boring race. The fanbase got spoiled. The same will or has already happened to the F1 audience.

There was a time when I enjoyed watching Mika Hakkinen win Monaco by 40 seconds. I was fine with it, because it was a brilliant demonstration of driver and machine working to perfection to dominate the opponents on the very highest level. If that were to ever happen today, it would be considered a terrible race.

So again, dying was too strong, but for sure Motorsports popularity probably will never be what it once was.
 
MustangManiac
You apparently didn't watch the F1 race at Bahrain this weekend, it was one of the best F1 races I have seen in about the last decade!
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It's artificial racing in my mind. Put proper tires, no drs, and no kers, Lewis Hamilton wins that race by miles. Similarly, all of the overtakes in the mid pack were artificial.
 
Kamuifanboy
It's artificial racing in my mind. Put proper tires, no drs, and no kers, Lewis Hamilton wins that race by miles. Similarly, all of the overtakes in the mid pack were artificial.
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Well then, all racing these days is artificial in your mind.
 

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