Help Me: What Can NASCAR Do To Attract More Minority Fans and Minority Racers?

LewTheShoe said:
Maybe Dover (or somebody) should run one of their race dates through the streets of Baltimore. I hate F1 and Indycar on street courses, but Nascar on a street circuit could be really good.
Click to expand...

The Baltimore course was good for IndyCar but not sure it'd be good for stock cars. The XFINITY races in Montreal were great. I'd love to see them run a race in Portland and maybe a street course in Denver or something.
 
^ No room in the schedule, and some very real constraints to stripping races from the existing stakeholders. (I'd favor freeing up two weekends by running the Unlimited and All Star Race Thursday before the 500 and 600, however.)
 
LewTheShoe said:
^ No room in the schedule, and some very real constraints to stripping races from the existing stakeholders. (I'd favor freeing up two weekends by running the Unlimited and All Star Race Thursday before the 500 and 600, however.)
Click to expand...

That deal last year locking down the schedule was so bad. This stagnant schedule is such a problem. It needs an overhaul. Moving the Southern 500 back to Labor Day was a good start. Now, let's move the Daytona 500 to the finale, since the new system has made the Homestead Bowl a bigger race than Daytona.
 
Acs said:
One of the bigger ways NASCAR is gonna attract a younger audience to the track is through technology, as some have mentioned. After going to my first live race and dicking around with the $50 fanvision thingy for 4 hours I realized what a gold mine NASCAR was sitting on. Virtual and augmented reality. Think of it like the scanner 2.0. Example; you buy tickets to your favorite XXXXX cup race, take your seats and log in to the new XXXXX speedway app with your smartphone and plug in your headphones. Thanks to new telemetry units in the cars, whenever you hold your phone camera up to the field you can get an instant readout of the driver's speed, lap time, or whatever stat you want displayed above their car in real time. It's like watching the TV broadcast from your couch with the sights and smells of being there. Plus, you get all the functionalities of a scanner and fanvision streamed to your device via the track wifi without needing a whole new thing around your neck. Technology is advancing enough to make this a possibility within the next five years given the right partnerships and investments. If we can do this for a F*&King pokemon game we can do this for NASCAR.
Click to expand...
I'm too lazy to go back through the entire discussion, but I remember someone griping about spending $65 to ride a bus from NYC to Pocono, saying millennials wouldn't put up with transportation costs. People who won't shuck out $65 to get there aren't likely to drop $50 to rent a Fanvision device.

As to it being a gold mine, these devices have been available for several years. They don't appear to have taken off in popularity much, and they certainly haven't passed scanners in popularity.

Are the younger generations more interested in watching numbers and stats change instead of watching the event itself?
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
The Baltimore course was good for IndyCar but not sure it'd be good for stock cars. The XFINITY races in Montreal were great. I'd love to see them run a race in Portland and maybe a street course in Denver or something.
Click to expand...
Uh, didn't Indy drop Baltimore, or Baltimore drop Indy? Either way, it isn't on this year's schedule.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Attendance has nothing to do with Baltimore not being on the schedule.
Click to expand...
I didn't say it was. But if it was "good for IndyCar", why is it gone?

I just remember a couple of races with drivers complaining about getting airborne over the bumps, but I dislike street courses in general.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I didn't say it was. But if it was "good for IndyCar", why is it gone?
Click to expand...

Money. Was a mess from the start. The original promoters never paid the city back. Michael Andretti came in and saved it for the next two years. Don't remember much else on that front and don't care to.

The second year was fun. Drivers complained about the chicane so they took it out and everyone went full Dukes of Hazzard over the railroad tracks so they had to install a chicane.

First year was such a traffic mess. Took me three hours to get from Russell Street to the Hilton on Lombard Street once I got into the city. Total disaster. I think I invented new uses for the f-word. :lol2:

Those were fun races though. The two years I went to the race, it provided some of the best memories I've ever had at a racetrack and I developed a few good friendships as well.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Money. Was a mess from the start. The original promoters never paid the city back. Michael Andretti came in and saved it for the next two years. Don't remember much else on that front and don't care to.

The second year was fun. Drivers complained about the chicane so they took it out and everyone went full Dukes of Hazzard over the railroad tracks so they had to install a chicane.

First year was such a traffic mess. Took me three hours to get from Russell Street to the Hilton on Lombard Street once I got into the city. Total disaster. I think I invented new uses for the f-word. :lol2:

Those were fun races though. The two years I went to the race, it provided some of the best memories I've ever had at a racetrack and I developed a few good friendships as well.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a real Charlie Foxtrot. What about it was good for IndyCar?
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I'm too lazy to go back through the entire discussion, but I remember someone griping about spending $65 to ride a bus from NYC to Pocono, saying millennials wouldn't put up with transportation costs. People who won't shuck out $65 to get there aren't likely to drop $50 to rent a Fanvision device.

As to it being a gold mine, these devices have been available for several years. They don't appear to have taken off in popularity much, and they certainly haven't passed scanners in popularity.

Are the younger generations more interested in watching numbers and stats change instead of watching the event itself?
Click to expand...

Actually yes

Go to a baseball or football forum, there is a deeper discussion of numbers and stats than we ever would have seen even 10 years ago.

Again the issue isn't "putting up with transportation costs," it's that, for urban Millennials (and urban dwellers in general), there are often other forms of readily available forms of entertainment that don't have the time or monetary investment that a trip from NYC to Pocono requires. Why pay $65 to go to rural Pennsylvania when I can grab lunch, hop on the subway, go to a Yankees game, and still be able to meet my friends for drinks later? The current setup gets only the most committed race fan when NASCAR needs casual fans to show up and fall in love with the sport.
 
The Nature Boy said:
Actually yes

Go to a baseball or football forum, there is a deeper discussion of numbers and stats than we ever would have seen even 10 years ago.

Again the issue isn't "putting up with transportation costs," it's that, for urban Millennials (and urban dwellers in general), there are often other forms of readily available forms of entertainment that don't have the time or monetary investment that a trip from NYC to Pocono requires. Why pay $65 to go to rural Pennsylvania when I can grab lunch, hop on the subway, go to a Yankees game, and still be able to meet my friends for drinks later? The current setup gets only the most committed race fan when NASCAR needs casual fans to show up and fall in love with the sport.
Click to expand...

Yeah sure, but getting casual urban fans to the real rural tracks has always been a struggle. The fact that the major tracks placed close to major metro areas have also been suffering tells me there is a bigger issue than just transportation.
 
Acs said:
Yeah sure, but getting casual urban fans to the real rural tracks has always been a struggle. The fact that the major tracks placed close to major metro areas have also been suffering tells me there is a bigger issue than just transportation.
Click to expand...

Aren't Joilet and Fontana pretty inconvenient to get to from Chicago and LA though?

I know that in football, Gillette is a pain to get to from Boston but the MBTA runs a special commuter train to Foxboro just for Patriots fans.
 
Pertaining to southern California:

I have been in the Los Angeles area for the past 6 weeks and have yet to encounter a single NASCAR fan despite wearing JG shirts out and about on multiple occasions. I've watched every race and people are genuinely flummoxed as to why I watch and what's going on during the course of a race. It seems that Daniel Suarez would be somewhat known out here due to the demographics but it's simply not the case. Outside of the NASCAR fan bubble NASCAR is considered to be a sport enjoyed by the poor and stupid. Attracting minorities would require a massive outlay for marketing. If it were up to me I'd give away Nationwide tickets to kids in Hispanic neighborhoods and provide them with transportation to the races along with a track tour, pit tour and meet and greet with Daniel Suarez. Make it an annual event. And market the hell out of him. Have him make appearances at LA schools with a show car. This is how you build something from nothing.
 
NASCAR sucks at marketing, plain and simple. The only other comparable sports in terms of bad marketing are baseball and hockey. NASCAR needs to hype the hell out of guys like Bubba Wallace who have loads of talent to go with their ethnic status and guys like Daniel Suarez and German Quiroga. The problem is getting people to attend these races, giving out free tickets to the lower tier events in lesser communities would be a good start. Chris and James Buescher are from the area where I live, Brennan Poole as well. When the Buescher's won their titles you didn't hear a peep about it around here. That's sad
 
The Nature Boy said:
Again the issue isn't "putting up with transportation costs," it's that, for urban Millennials (and urban dwellers in general), there are often other forms of readily available forms of entertainment that don't have the time or monetary investment that a trip from NYC to Pocono requires.
Click to expand...
My point was that I doubt that people who won't spend $65 to get there will be willing to spend $50 more to rent a Fanvision device.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I'm too lazy to go back through the entire discussion, but I remember someone griping about spending $65 to ride a bus from NYC to Pocono, saying millennials wouldn't put up with transportation costs. People who won't shuck out $65 to get there aren't likely to drop $50 to rent a Fanvision device.

As to it being a gold mine, these devices have been available for several years. They don't appear to have taken off in popularity much, and they certainly haven't passed scanners in popularity.

Are the younger generations more interested in watching numbers and stats change instead of watching the event itself?
Click to expand...
IMO, the FanView was a much better, more user friendly device. They really screwed up when they made the change.
 
BobbyFord said:
IMO, the FanView was a much better, more user friendly device. They really screwed up when they made the change.
Click to expand...
I can't say. I've only used one once, as part of a free suite package I lucked into, and don't remember which one it was. I admit to balking myself at the price of renting one.
 
The Nature Boy said:
Actually yes

Go to a baseball or football forum, there is a deeper discussion of numbers and stats than we ever would have seen even 10 years ago.

Again the issue isn't "putting up with transportation costs," it's that, for urban Millennials (and urban dwellers in general), there are often other forms of readily available forms of entertainment that don't have the time or monetary investment that a trip from NYC to Pocono requires. Why pay $65 to go to rural Pennsylvania when I can grab lunch, hop on the subway, go to a Yankees game, and still be able to meet my friends for drinks later? The current setup gets only the most committed race fan when NASCAR needs casual fans to show up and fall in love with the sport.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Going to a NASCAR race is at the very least an all day thing, with no gurantee you'll actually see a race.

Millennials live a fast paced life and we need things that can fit into that fast paced life.

Being a NASCAR fan is expensive and time consuming to experience it in person. Basketball/Baseball/Football not so much.
 
Matthew2470 said:
I agree. The key is for NASCAR to capitalize on the opportunity via targeted marketing. Mexicans are extremely proud of their heritage and idolize athletes who espouse excellence.
Click to expand...

Same with black people.

Put Bubba on the Cover of Essence. Have him present best athlete at the BET or NAACP image awards.... Get him out there.

NASCAR is doing Suarez and Wallace a huuuge disservice.
 
You may want to reconsider baseball. I've left Harbor Park after midnight on more than one occasion 'n had to be in the office later the same morning. Should have just driven over 'n crashed in the parking ramp.

Turned around 'n gone home after rain outs too.
 
R Clarence said:
You may want to reconsider baseball. I've left Harbor Park after midnight on more than one occasion 'n had to be in the office later the same morning. Should have just driven over 'n crashed in the parking ramp.

Turned around 'n gone home after rain outs too.
Click to expand...

Harbor Park?!
We neigbors Clarence?
 
ladyspartan16 said:
Same with black people.

Put Bubba on the Cover of Essence. Have him present best athlete at the BET or NAACP image awards.... Get him out there.

NASCAR is doing Suarez and Wallace a huuuge disservice.
Click to expand...
Good ideas but the last time I checked, Essence and other magazines decided who would be on their covers and featured in their articles. Awards shows pick their presenters and recipients. NASCAR doesn't.
 
I'd like to see a TLC special on "little people big world" where they spotlight Rico....
 
ladyspartan16 said:
Exactly. Going to a NASCAR race is at the very least an all day thing, with no gurantee you'll actually see a race.

Millennials live a fast paced life and we need things that can fit into that fast paced life.

Being a NASCAR fan is expensive and time consuming to experience it in person. Basketball/Baseball/Football not so much.
Click to expand...
Then it sounds like there isn't much NASCAR (or other motorsports) can do to draw millennials without making radical changes to the point where it isn't NASCAR any more.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Then it sounds like there isn't much NASCAR (or other motorsports) can do to draw millennials without making radical changes to the point where it isn't NASCAR any more.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Time to pay homage to it's original fan base . Show them respect . New fans will come if the old fans are respected.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
But you already aren't getting that. A lot of the drivers moving into Cup are average drivers with rich parents or good sponsors. For every Chase Elliott, there's going to be several Austin Dillons.

So, why shouldn't the sport try to get more women and more minorities up the ranks?
Click to expand...

Racing is different than stick and ball as with S&B you have to have the talent and ability and with racing you need financial backing above all else.
 
Acs said:
Greg Biffle and MIS president Roger Curtis talked about attendance decline yesterday:

http://www.mlive.com/autoracing/index.ssf/2016/06/greg_biffle_mis_president_offe.html

TL;DR Curtis gets it and Biffle doesn't.

Biffle apparently hasn't looked at TV ratings in the last decade and thinks the fans are still there, just not buying tickets due to the recession and boring racing. Curtis essentially says the opposite. "Curtis said the sport, including promoters, failed to address the problems when attendance first nosedived, giving the fallout from the recession too much credit for the decline. Those fundamental problems were numerous."

I think what MIS has done to build an entire weekend of entertainment around the race is a great first step that many tracks should copy.
Click to expand...

Obviously Biffle has it wrong as people have left Nascar in droves and no longer attend or watch by any method. Maybe the idea of distracting young people with concerts and widgets will help with race attendance but I am skeptical as they can have an experience that is less expensive and more entertaining then Nascar.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
Maybe the idea of distracting young people with concerts and widgets will help
Click to expand...
Lol widgets what the hell is that

Also the concerts NASCAR put on suck because they only have country music, which is universally hated by anyone under 25 who is not of a NASCAR demographic aka redneck
 
tbr7 said:
Lol widgets what the hell is that

Also the concerts NASCAR put on suck because they only have country music, which is universally hated by anyone under 25 who is not of a NASCAR demographic aka redneck
Click to expand...
'Widgets' is a generic term for something gimmicky.

Another use of the word is as a generic term used by business professionals for a manufactured item. They use it to discuss manufacturing principles that apply regardless of what you make: "Say you're making 50,000 widgets a month..."

And NASCAR has plenty of fans outside your stereotyped redneck demographic.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
Obviously Biffle has it wrong as people have left Nascar in droves and no longer attend or watch by any method. Maybe the idea of distracting young people with concerts and widgets will help with race attendance but I am skeptical as they can have an experience that is less expensive and more entertaining then Nascar.
Click to expand...
Anybody out there ever gone to a race weekend because there was going to be a concert?
 
tbr7 said:
Lol widgets what the hell is that

Also the concerts NASCAR put on suck because they only have country music, which is universally hated by anyone under 25 who is not of a NASCAR demographic aka redneck
Click to expand...

I think a widget is a small electronic device lol. I wouldn't cross the street for anything that poses as country music today but I would definitely enjoy seeing an older group like Iron Maiden, Metallica or even the current lineup of Deep Purple. I doubt very many Nascar fans would be interested.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom