Brickyard ticket sales down

mike honcho

mike honcho

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•Brickyard ticket sales down? There have been rumors that ticket sales for next week's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway were again off-pace from last season, but an internal NASCAR memo obtained by ThatsRacin.com and The Observer seems to confirm the problem. In the memo, which was distributed by email on Friday, team public relations representatives were thanked ahead of time for their drivers' participation in a Sprint Cup Series autograph session at the track. The memo said, "ticket sales are significantly behind from previous years" at IMS. Since sales have been dramatically down since the 2008 tire problems at the track, another significant decline would appear ominous. The memo goes on to say, the track believed there would be a large walk-up crowd for the July 31 race and hoped the autograph session would be well received by race fans.(Charlotte Observer)(7-23-2011)
 
Sad selection of seats at the Brickyard... never understood how it sold so many tix...


:bazooka::growl::eek:;):cool::beerbang::D
 
mike honcho said:
•Brickyard ticket sales down? BLAH. BLAH. BLAH.... Since sales have been dramatically down since the 2008 tire problems at the track, another significant decline would appear ominous.
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ominous - Could that indicate that they may never return should the ticket sales continue to decline? I'm sure that there are a few Indy fans out there but I'd rather see them move CUP down the road to IRP, err ORP, err LOR. Erect some more seats there and use the Indy speedway for a parking lot. Shuttle the fans to LOR. :rolleyes:
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
ominous - Could that indicate that they may never return should the ticket sales continue to decline? I'm sure that there are a few Indy fans out there but I'd rather see them move CUP down the road to IRP, err ORP, err LOR. Erect some more seats there and use the Indy speedway for a parking lot. Shuttle the fans to LOR. :rolleyes:
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I'll second that. Races at Indy are booooring. I would like to see more short tracks, but layed out a little different than Martinsville and Bristol.
 
This is the first year in the last 5 that I don't have to work the Indy race and I am not the least bit sorry. I really don't care if never go back again, either.

I will be working an off track event on Thursday and heading back home on Friday so I get to escape most of that mess.

I would love to see the brickyard off the schedule completely.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
ominous - Could that indicate that they may never return should the ticket sales continue to decline? I'm sure that there are a few Indy fans out there but I'd rather see them move CUP down the road to IRP, err ORP, err LOR. Erect some more seats there and use the Indy speedway for a parking lot. Shuttle the fans to LOR. :rolleyes:
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I talked to Ron Hornaday last night at ODS and he said he's upset that NASCAR keeps taking away all the short tracks and going to overbuilt, oversized superspeedways where the racing isn't any good. Skinner and Benson said the same thing.
 
It was good novelty value for a while but unless you have seats right near the start/finish line a terrible place to see a race in person.
 
Everybody talks about how great IRP is, and maybe it is. But i wonder what kind of crowd they get? I was thinking of going to the ARCA race Thursday and the tickets are 40 bucks. I've never paid that much for ARCA tickets. Rip off. I looked at NW race ticket prices and those are almost 70 bucks. My tickets for MIS high up near the start finish line for the cup race were 90 bucks... Way too expensive just for lower divisions
 
I attended both N'wide and truck races, plus the midget races the year I went. The stands were packed --- cheek to cheek, plus people sitting on the ground in turn one.

You can see the whole track and the action is non-stop.
 
I'd rather pay more to see a good race with lots of passing and action rather than a cheaper ticket to see something boring like the Brickyard.

Dumping ORP for next year is another stupid mistake by the captains of the sinking ship called Nascar.

Nascar won't disappear but it will never be the same as it was until the Brain France management is gone.
 
Bucky Badger said:
Thank you economy:rolleyes:
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I believe that the economy is just part of a greater problem. Many of the fans who have followed NA__AR, even since it was NASCAR, are voting with their feet, for numerous reasons which have been cited here and other forums many times.

I think a bigger problem than the economy is in the answer to the question: "What is NA__AR doing to rectify the situation?"
 
Most overrated race of the Year. All the buildup becuase of the History of the Speedway, which is mostly from open wheel cars. I think the economy has a little to do with ticket sales, but a majority factor that the Cup races at Indy suck.
 
Indy's an Awesome track for Nascar!! One of the Best All Year!!:beerbang:
 
VaDirt said:
Nah, he was just lookin' for more reasons to use the exclamation points!:D
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My personal favorite (I just copied and pasted). I couldn't stop LMAO over this one.

:bazooka::growl::eek:;):cool::beerbang::D

Hope I'm not encouraging it, but still.
 
2003 300,000
2004 250,000
2005 280,000
2006 280,000
2007 270,000
2008 240,000
2009 180,000
2010 140,000

Some recent attendance figures from the Brickyard courtesy www.racing-reference.info Correct me if I'm wrong here but I think that I am starting to notice a trend of declining attendance. Seriously though just how bad is this going to look this weekend when those numbers drop even further? They have to hang a heck of a bunch of banners to cover those empty seats!

17 times they've been to this venue. They, media & NASCAR, have tried to build this up as a major event on the schedule. How many of you see it that way? NASCAR needs to back away from this venue IMO but how? By scheduling the Nationwide Series here in 2012 they're only digging a deeper hole. What can NASCAR do to save face? No disrespect to the venue and it's fans. It's a great track for it's original purpose but not NASCAR.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
2003 300,000
2004 250,000
2005 280,000
2006 280,000
2007 270,000
2008 240,000
2009 180,000
2010 140,000

Some recent attendance figures from the Brickyard courtesy www.racing-reference.info Correct me if I'm wrong here but I think that I am starting to notice a trend of declining attendance. Seriously though just how bad is this going to look this weekend when those numbers drop even further? They have to hang a heck of a bunch of banners to cover those empty seats!

17 times they've been to this venue. They, media & NASCAR, have tried to build this up as a major event on the schedule. How many of you see it that way? NASCAR needs to back away from this venue IMO but how? By scheduling the Nationwide Series here in 2012 they're only digging a deeper hole. What can NASCAR do to save face? No disrespect to the venue and it's fans. It's a great track for it's original purpose but not NASCAR.
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Totally agree, and that's coming from a guy who was born and raised about 40 miles northest of the Speedway. The track, for whatever reason, is just not condusive to good stock car racing.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
2003 300,000
2004 250,000
2005 280,000
2006 280,000
2007 270,000
2008 240,000
2009 180,000
2010 140,000

Some recent attendance figures from the Brickyard courtesy www.racing-reference.info Correct me if I'm wrong here but I think that I am starting to notice a trend of declining attendance. Seriously though just how bad is this going to look this weekend when those numbers drop even further? They have to hang a heck of a bunch of banners to cover those empty seats!

17 times they've been to this venue. They, media & NASCAR, have tried to build this up as a major event on the schedule. How many of you see it that way? NASCAR needs to back away from this venue IMO but how? By scheduling the Nationwide Series here in 2012 they're only digging a deeper hole. What can NASCAR do to save face? No disrespect to the venue and it's fans. It's a great track for it's original purpose but not NASCAR.
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I thought they were going to use Kentucky Speedway to try to back away from the Brickyard, but we saw how well that race went :sarcasm:
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I thought they were going to use Kentucky Speedway to try to back away from the Brickyard, but we saw how well that race went :sarcasm:
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And don't you think that Kentucky had to draw some of those fans away from the Brickyard? I wonder if that is somewhat a factor in the declining attendance that the memo mentions? I also have to wonder if the Kentucky debacle has some kind of affect on wannabe fans fearing a repeat performance @ another venue?
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
And don't you think that Kentucky had to draw some of those fans away from the Brickyard? I wonder if that is somewhat a factor in the declining attendance that the memo mentions? I also have to wonder if the Kentucky debacle has some kind of affect on wannabe fans fearing a repeat performance @ another venue?
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Definitely in that market.

Lets be honest, Indianapolis is a ****ty place to watch a race. As several people have said, you can only see part of one section of the track.

Several people commented on blogs, twitter and the local news in Cincy that they'll never go to another race because of the Kentucky mess. It's amazing that right after the Kentucky fiasco, ISC and IndyCar magically got their disagreements situated. I really think NASCAR was working on an exit strategy from Indianapolis.

I was looking at tickets to a couple races where ticket sales are declining. Bristol, for example -- their ticket prices are astronomical and the hotel blackmail prices are even worse. :eek:

I might go to Richmond, but I'm not sure -- going to Baltimore IndyCar race the week before that.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I was looking at tickets to a couple races where ticket sales are declining. Bristol, for example -- their ticket prices are astronomical and the hotel blackmail prices are even worse. :eek:

I might go to Richmond, but I'm not sure -- going to Baltimore IndyCar race the week before that.
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I'd say Martinsville is your answer. Great racing @ a fair price. I've only got two more races this year that I'm attending this year for sure..... Bristol & Martinsville. Camping is also the way to go IMO.

Bristol is $99 for the week @ The Landing Campground and some of the best NASCAR fans that you'll ever meet. We've made friends there that will last a lifetime. As far as ticket prices go..... They'll be practically giving them away in a few weeks for that track.

Martnisville camping is $60 for the week just up the road withing walking distance. Tickets are cheap at this venue and it's a great short track race.

We used to have season tickets to Richmond until they made us buy the IRL weekend too in order to sit up high in that turn one terrace. I couldn't even give those IRL tickets away let-a-lone sell them. Great track IMO but they drove me and my family away with that ticket policy. They've since changed their policy but we moved on. Their loss.

We may try to run up to Watkins Glen for the race and get the general admission 'walkabout' tickets. It's only a few short hours up the road.

All of these tracks will eventually learn to price their races accordingly to bring back some of the fans and these money fleecing room and board establishments had better follow suit. Things such as what happened @ Kentucky do absolutely nothing to help though and neither does the arrogance of Bruton Smith. That still burns me.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I'd say Martinsville is your answer. Great racing @ a fair price. I've only got two more races this year that I'm attending this year for sure..... Bristol & Martinsville. Camping is also the way to go IMO.

Bristol is $99 for the week @ The Landing Campground and some of the best NASCAR fans that you'll ever meet. We've made friends there that will last a lifetime. As far as ticket prices go..... They'll be practically giving them away in a few weeks for that track.

Martnisville camping is $60 for the week just up the road withing walking distance. Tickets are cheap at this venue and it's a great short track race.

We used to have season tickets to Richmond until they made us buy the IRL weekend too in order to sit up high in that turn one terrace. I couldn't even give those IRL tickets away let-a-lone sell them. Great track IMO but they drove me and my family away with that ticket policy. They've since changed their policy but we moved on. Their loss.

We may try to run up to Watkins Glen for the race and get the general admission 'walkabout' tickets. It's only a few short hours up the road.

All of these tracks will eventually learn to price their races accordingly to bring back some of the fans and these money fleecing room and board establishments had better follow suit. Things such as what happened @ Kentucky do absolutely nothing to help though and neither does the arrogance of Bruton Smith. That still burns me.
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I did the walk about tour at the Glen in 1989, great experience, camped out, at party central with my girl friend at the time. Watching the race from every turn is an unique experience that you have to do once. The ride there is awesome too, great country, I was actually thinking about going this year, but finances just aren't going to cut it.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
17 times they've been to this venue. They, media & NASCAR, have tried to build this up as a major event on the schedule. How many of you see it that way? NASCAR needs to back away from this venue IMO but how? By scheduling the Nationwide Series here in 2012 they're only digging a deeper hole. What can NASCAR do to save face? No disrespect to the venue and it's fans. It's a great track for it's original purpose but not NASCAR.
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It is a major event, but it's not a major race.

Why anyone would pay good money to see a race that's not all that good and can't see the whole track is beyond me.
 
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