I appreciate your insight as what you have to say is valuable to me. I hear what you are saying with respect to camping as I don't know any millennials that do which is not to say that all millennials don't. Back when I was younger camping, winter camping, lighting and building a campfire and preparing food were points of pride for me an my buddies so things have changed.
I know that good WiFi and being able to use a smartphone are very important to young people. What other types of things would they like at the track? A big commons area where they could hangout? Other activities like zip lining, rock wall climbing etc or am I off the mark?
I'll try to give you some perspective as a 25 year old who's willing to spend money each year attending sports events. I think there's two types of tracks on NASCAR's schedule: The slim majority majority are built out in rural areas or small towns over 1 hours drive from the nearest metropolitan area. That's approximately the length of drive you can make a day trip out of. Anything more and you are banking on fans coming from long distances and staying at the track or immediate area. Think tracks like Martinsville, Bristol, Michigan, Dega, Loudon.
For those tracks it doesn't matter whether the fan is driving down a few hours or flying across the country to see the race, their needs are the same. To get millennial fans to go to these tracks, the key is
value. Having to camp at the track is a
burden, not a perk of the experience. Millennials, by and large, don't get outdoors as much, don't camp recreationally as much, and demand more creature comforts than older generations. Sure, many of these tracks have small towns nearby with hotels, but those hotels also jack up prices to extortion rates putting the whole NASCAR experience out of reach. Plus, once you're staying away from the track you then have the transportation problem on top of it as described below.
So, to overcome these burdens and make the experience more appealing to the young generations, the tracks need to offer far more
guaranteed value for the weekend than they do today. That could means things like concerts, music festivals, other non-racing events tied into the weekend experience (come for the concert, stay for the racing kind of thing, but it doesn't have to be a concert). Look what Michigan is doing, adding events on the Saturday before the race. But the guaranteed part I think is the most crucial. Millenials have piles of debt and little cash to spend, so if we're going to part with it we damn well better get something out of it. When a light sprinkle can postpone the race a whole day, that ruins your whole entire reason for going. The days of flexible scheduling and taking Monday's off on a whim don't exist anymore, not for this generation. We aren't retired. NASCAR needs to find a way to guarantee the race is run on schedule or else reimburse the fans who put so much time and money into attending. If they can't promise that, then Millenials won't risk our money, it's as simple as that. Other things to consider would be lessening the burden of camping/attending with electric hookups, wifi, better showers/bathrooms or even at track hotels (if you could make it work financially). If a track can't bring in outside events then an easy way to add value would be to make the Xfinity and Truck races/qualifying free with a cup ticket. Let's be honest, nobody is paying for those anyways.
The other type of track are those that are within easy reach of a major metro area; think Charlotte, Daytona, Kansas, most newer tracks, ect. They have a large population center close by where fans can make a day trip to the track and back. Fans
don't need to stay in the immediate vicinity of the track, and the track doesn't need to rely on such fans for attendance. To appeal to millennial fans here, the key is
transportation. One big disconnect I see on this forum is (mostly) older fans talking about driving home after a day of tailgating/drinking for the race. One thing the millennial generation has had
hammered into us from 5th grade health class on is you Do. Not. Drink. And. Drive. Not even just a little buzz. It simply isn't acceptable today, why do you think Uber and Lyft are so damn popular? Sadly, drinking is a big part of the NASCAR race experience, because frankly I don't think a race would be watchable to a college kid without it. That creates a problem. The main pre-race activity is based around tailgating, but what if you don't want to drive to or from the track in the first place? You aren't going to be staying on-site anyways because you live in the metro area or have a hotel there.
I think NASCAR needs to take a page from the NFL here and from one track I think is getting it right, Kansas. NFL teams have increasingly moved their new stadiums into downtown locations from suburbs to be closer to public transportation and amenities like bars and restaurants. If not, they are building entertainment villages (Jerry's World) filled with the same things instead of parking lots. Kansas Speedway has done this successfully too. Tracks like Charlotte need designated Uber drop-off and pickup points, taxi stands, and crucially coordinated public transportation with shuttles to the track from points around the metro (I think Bruton even wanted to extend the CATS light rail to CMS one time, that would be huge), and then give those modes traffic priority getting in and out. Take some of the excess land used for parking and develop some restaurants, bars, liquor stores and retail to accommodate those fans who don't want to drive in fully loaded with their own food and beer (plus, these places can provide shelter during a rain delay). Put wifi and a festival license over the whole shebang too. If you haven't already, open up the midway to those without a ticket.
Sorry for the long post, but for me the NASCAR experience is just so far off from what I've come to expect from a pro sporting event.
but them Europeans have television too