NASCAR - Television Ratings Thread

That makes sense, since the the Other Sports have eleventy thousand radio and TV channels running 24/7 ball sports and Nascar has one Radio channel on XM. So a pretty impressive number to say the least.
It's actually just NASCAR spin. Each individual NBA and NHL game counts as a separate event lol

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I took my kid to like 20-25 NASCAR races from the time he was 4 until 13. He loved Jeff Gordon and still knows most of the drivers but at 15yo he just doesn't care at all about any form of racing. He would gladly attend a race with me because he loves live sports but he still gets bored during long green flag runs. The only live TV he watches is NFL and occasionally some NBA. He and his friends prefer YouTube and Xbox over everything else. How on earth is NASCAR going to ever appeal to young people? I fear that as the baby boomers die off there will be no one to replace them and NASCAR as we know it will fold. Kinda sucks but interests have changed over the decades and not everything will survive.

IMO you have hit on NASCAR’s biggest problem and that is a complete lack of interest from many young people. You can see it in others areas like car shows that feature classic or muscle cars as most participants and attendees are old people.

I don’t have an answer and I have never heard what seems like a good answer to this problem. Nascar has already missed the boat on a generation of fans and is starting on another one. Fix the problem of the lack of young Nascar fans and most of your other problems go away.
 
Maybe the bottom of the ratings crater has been found. Wouldn’t that be something?

It is fascinating to read the comments that express hope that the bleeding has stopped. What the posters seems to gloss over is that NASCAR has lost somewhere in the neighborhood of ½ of the fans that used to tune in and watch the race. In any other company heads would have rolled for those numbers long ago.

Yep, everything is fine in NASCARland.
Every thing is judged by the bottom line. If revenue is up they don't care who watches what as long as there gross income keeps climbing. That is the one thing Brian was able to do. The current TV contracts are the largest source of gross income so nothing to worry about folks..... move along.
 
Every thing is judged by the bottom line. If revenue is up they don't care who watches what as long as there gross income keeps climbing. That is the one thing Brian was able to do. The current TV contracts are the largest source of gross income so nothing to worry about folks..... move along.


I hope you are being sarcastic. If not, the TV contract is based upon the ratings better days gone by and a world that didn’t have streaming services taking away viewers/subscribers from the cable/satellite companies. The sport networks get into trouble when they have high fees for programming, subscriber losses, and low ratings. They depend on the subscribers to generate income from the cable/satellite companies. They depend on ratings to drive advertising revenue. The sports networks depend on the cable/satellite subscribers to fund what they are doing. Advertising is gravy.

Ask all the people laid-off at ESPN why they got kicked to the curb, and ask NASCAR why ESPN didn’t want any part of their contract last time. It had to do with cord cutters getting away from the cable/satellite companies.

Move along is right. The perfect storm is headed NASCAR's way.
 
Every thing is judged by the bottom line. If revenue is up they don't care who watches what as long as there gross income keeps climbing. That is the one thing Brian was able to do. The current TV contracts are the largest source of gross income so nothing to worry about folks..... move along.
Pretty much, but is is kinda funny or interesting depending on your take listening to what the deathbedders predict of the degree of doomsday that they think will happen. Reminds me a little of the Y2Kers that predicted an end of the world and mass chaos when computers would not compute properly when they switched to the 2000 date. Some were high on a hilltop to watch the spectacle of the world exploding. The sun rose just like any other day, and about 10 O'Clock the Y2Kers packed up and left. They have 5 or 6 more years to get their stories straight , or write even more outlandish chapters of fiction...or will they numb the masses with an overdose of creative writing. Yawn.
 
I'm still lost on why the people that care about the issues that face NASCAR are "deathbedders" by those that like to leave their heads in the sand about the issues facing the sport. The teams are starting to ask for caps on the spending because they can't find companies that are willing to fund millions of dollars being spend to develop a pit gun.

The head in the sand crowd ants everyone to just drive by that the teams are shucking their older expensive drivers to cut cost. The Championship team had to close it doors due to climbing costs and not being able to find a sponsor. Stands are being ripped out to make empty tracks look like fans have shown up. Ratings down 50%+.
 
I'm sure the deathbedders will get it down by 2025. Until then it is pretty funny as the owners and principles of the sport continue to pocket large sums of income, while the R-F self appointed experts watch hopelessly giving sound business advice while they do it. On to 2025 till the end of Nascar watch party.
 
I'm still lost on why the people that care about the issues that face NASCAR are "deathbedders" by those that like to leave their heads in the sand about the issues facing the sport. The teams are starting to ask for caps on the spending because they can't find companies that are willing to fund millions of dollars being spend to develop a pit gun.

The head in the sand crowd ants everyone to just drive by that the teams are shucking their older expensive drivers to cut cost. The Championship team had to close it doors due to climbing costs and not being able to find a sponsor. Stands are being ripped out to make empty tracks look like fans have shown up. Ratings down 50%+.

Exactly what do you prescribe as the fix all? I can wring my hands and cry myself to sleep every night over the "perfect storm" that may or may not happen. Or, I can tune in and watch the races and enjoy them. There is nothing you or I can do about what might happen. In one of your previous post you stated that " heads should have rolled", and then what? How can you force people to have interest in something they're not interested in? How can MLB grow their audience same for other professional sports. NASCAR ain't fixing to sink, it may make a lot of changes, but it ain't going away. Sorry to disappoint.
 
Exactly what do you prescribe as the fix all? I can wring my hands and cry myself to sleep every night over the "perfect storm" that may or may not happen. Or, I can tune in and watch the races and enjoy them. There is nothing you or I can do about what might happen. In one of your previous post you stated that " heads should have rolled", and then what? How can you force people to have interest in something they're not interested in? How can MLB grow their audience same for other professional sports. NASCAR ain't fixing to sink, it may make a lot of changes, but it ain't going away. Sorry to disappoint.

MLB has looked at their game and found that people don't want to spend 3+ hours doing anything let alone watching a baseball game. They are in the process of changing their rules to speed up the game. Yes, purest will bi__h and moan about it. They will tell stories of fonder days gone by. They will tell stories about times they remember and about how it used to be. What they forget is that it isn't that world and people have other things that captures their imagination and time. You evolve or go extinct. If you don't believe that then you must still shop at Sears, buy your electronics at Radio Shack, buy your music at Tower Records, and fly on Pan AM.
 
Baseball isn't going anywhere. I doubt NASCAR is going anywhere for the next 50 years, after that I'm sure the climate change crusade will be in effect by 2070, or it will go electric.
 
MLB has looked at their game and found that people don't want to spend 3+ hours doing anything let alone watching a baseball game. They are in the process of changing their rules to speed up the game. Yes, purest will bi__h and moan about it. They will tell stories of fonder days gone by. They will tell stories about times they remember and about how it used to be. What they forget is that it isn't that world and people have other things that captures their imagination and time. You evolve or go extinct. If you don't believe that then you must still shop at Sears, buy your electronics at Radio Shack, buy your music at Tower Records, and fly on Pan AM.

So, what do you propose to fix NASCAR? I keep reading all the problems they're having, but the chicken littles never offer up a solution. Just constant doom and gloom.
 
Nascar will never be what it was 5-10-15-20 years ago but it doesn’t have to be in order to succeed. IDK how Nascar will be consumed in the next 5 years as it could be on a service like YouTube or maybe even its own channel.

It seems like Nascar is considering having a shorter season with shorter races and those ideas have merit. Continued cost cutting, smaller fields, maybe some midweek racing and/or double headers are also being tossed around.

It seems like under Jim France Nascar is being proactive in dealing with a lot of today’s issues and positioning itself for the future. The broadcast deal money is great but it is possible that kind of money won’t be available with the next deal. Getting ready for life without it is smart as it leaves a lot of options open.
 
So, what do you propose to fix NASCAR? I keep reading all the problems they're having, but the chicken littles never offer up a solution. Just constant doom and gloom.

Here's a few -

Nascar needs to:
stop being BORING – follow the leader for _____ (put in the number) laps of ______ stage/race laps is bad for business.

stop penalizing drivers for speaking their minds. Corporate drivers are BORING

cut the season to 20 or 22 weeks of total racing. Want a race to cut? Start with the Indy race. It is BORING.

cut out many of the 1.5 mile cookie cutter tracks. Many produce races that are BORING

cut the races to 300 miles or less

change the schedule up yearly

take the technology back out of the cars, i.e., you need mechanical failures during the races, the unknown is good for the sport. Before those that like to jump on posts and make them what they are not – I’m not writing about the kind of mechanical failures that hurts anyone.

be able to run any and all races in the rain. Yes, I typed run any race in the rain if the clouds open-up and water falls from the sky. Yes, the cars will have to run much slower. So? The added element of running in those conditions will more than make up for the slower speeds.

place further limits on the amount of times a driver can run in lower divisions. Watching Kyle Busch win in the lower divisions isn’t exciting unless you are a fan of Kyle Busch. In other words, people who might have watched the race don’t tune in.

implement rules to make the color schemes of the cars standard through the year. The iconic cars were the ones that we remember looking the same for long periods of time. The last cars I can remember being that are the 18, the 41 or the 1 car when it runs as the Monster Energy drink car, the 42 when it was the Target car, the 48 when it ran the Lowes (main scheme) for years, etc. You get the idea. Seriously, now I couldn’t pick out the 43 car most Sundays on TV, and fans and people outside of the sport used to be able to pick out the 43 car. Trying to find your driver’s car with the way the networks shoot the races is next to impossible.

go electric at some point.
 
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Television ratings are of utmost importance, but the first race that should be cut from the schedule is one of the most watched races of the second half of the season.

NASCAR should "take the technology back out of the cars", yet go electric.

Technological development is relative to the era, and it was the presence of then cutting edge parts and methodology that hadn't matured which produced less reliability and more mechanical failures. If the goal is more cars randomly breaking down to increase drama and stem this eternal boredom, removing "technology" ain't going to do it. The more independent development is curbed, the more reliable the cars will become.
 
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Can a Cup car go 300 miles on an electric charge? Could you swap out a battery system on pit road? Now we're talking excitement!!!
 
Can a Cup car go 300 miles on an electric charge? Could you swap out a battery system on pit road? Now we're talking excitement!!!

Start with a Dash Series on short tracks and/or road courses.
 
If I found myself in a desperate search for the final nail in NASCAR's proverbial coffin, it would be the transition of NASCAR to an electric series.

If an electric Nascar Cup car turns laps at a track and there's no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
 
If I found myself in a desperate search for the final nail in NASCAR's proverbial coffin, it would be the transition of NASCAR to an electric series.

If an electric Nascar Cup car turns laps at a track and there's no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

As Ive stated I don't believe I am discussing a change to electric today or in the near future. However, as the world moves to electric vehicles and away from gas powered vehicles it will be a path NASCAR will travel.

In reference to your question, I'd say that about half the people that used to hear a NASCAR engine now hear it when it does laps at the track. Yep, everything is good in NASCARland, lets not change anything.

Oh, and that special forum feature is still working!!
 
IDK what the ratings will look like for Fontana but I hope that no new fans were looking in as the race was awful. Nascar needs to do a better job of testing the product prior to unleashing it on the public. Every race can’t be a barn burner but Nascar has burned up all its goodwill and can’t afford to shyte shows like Fontana.
 
If I found myself in a desperate search for the final nail in NASCAR's proverbial coffin, it would be the transition of NASCAR to an electric series.

If an electric Nascar Cup car turns laps at a track and there's no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
I think with the strobe lighting and fake engine noise over the PA system, NASCAR might be on to something.
 
I think with the strobe lighting and fake engine noise over the PA system, NASCAR might be on to something.

I heard that taking seats out, messing with the points system, and putting out a rules package that produced the race at Fontanna was working too. NASCAR is on to something for sure.
 
another uptick


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Top five markets yesterday: Greensboro, Greenville, Richmond, Charlotte, Tulsa.
 
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More good news as if a shyte show like yesterday can create a modest uptick in the ratings imagine what good product can do!
 
It looks like some of the Nascar cup fans that left over the last few years have returned to check out the new rules. Unfortunately the new rules have not enticed anyone in the younger demographic to tune in yet.
 
Yet another increase. And so more proof that the ones here are obsessed with off-throttle time represent only a tiny fraction of the greater NASCAR fan base. The people have spoken.
 
Yet another increase. And so more proof that the ones here are obsessed with off-throttle time represent only a tiny fraction of the greater NASCAR fan base. The people have spoken.

Always enjoyable to get your insider take on what is going on in the world of Nascar. There could easily be some double digit increases soon plus the tracks may have to start adding seats.
 
Comparisons from the same point of the season as last year:

Cup is up .3% (steady week by week increases) That's pretty impressive, considering they had added competition with the PGA Players Championship (the "5th major") being moved to this weekend.
Xfinity down 6.3% (only 1 of the 3 series to be down year to year)
The Truck Series is up 4.5% going into this weekend's race at Martinsville
 
I'm confused why most of the ratings have been up, but attendance looks down at Phoenix and Fontana.

I wish they'd seperate the 3 west coast races into 2 west coast races and then another 2 west coast races in the summer or later in the spring.
 
Pretty much, but is is kinda funny or interesting depending on your take listening to what the deathbedders predict of the degree of doomsday that they think will happen. Reminds me a little of the Y2Kers that predicted an end of the world and mass chaos when computers would not compute properly when they switched to the 2000 date. Some were high on a hilltop to watch the spectacle of the world exploding. The sun rose just like any other day, and about 10 O'Clock the Y2Kers packed up and left. They have 5 or 6 more years to get their stories straight , or write even more outlandish chapters of fiction...or will they numb the masses with an overdose of creative writing. Yawn.
As an electrical contractor at that time I can tell you the fall of 99 sure created a lot of work. We were installing generators (legally) every day. Everyone expected the hydro system to crash.
IMO, Nascar will be fine on a smaller scale once it embraces the new way of things in communication and Entertainment. I don't mind as I think the show is to big as it is.
Leave the customers wanting more is my motto.
 
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