Oh boy, this is something that I've thought about for years and have also talked about it with many different people, both here and other places.
Here's a scenario from NASCAR...
So let's get down to business here and see what would be acceptable for folks. Okay, if we would charge a mere ten bucks a race, we're talking about $360 smackers alone for the Cup races, but we can't let them just get the Cup races, so now we're talking about adding another 35 races for the Busch Series. But wait, we can't charge the same for Busch, so let's halve that to a mere fin and now we're talking about adding another $175, making the total now $515 bucks. Okay, as long as we're doing Cup and Busch, there's bound to be those who want to see the Truck Series, so let's add more for the 25 races. If we charge only 2 bucks a race, we're talking another hundred bucks, but let's give a nice discount of 15 dollars so we will end up with a nice round figure of $600 for the entire season of Cup, Busch and TCS and we'll throw in qualifying at no extra charge.
Now for sure, that's good price, but will there be many takers? Probably not, so let's see how we can make some changes. First off, we always want to include qualifying and happy hour coverage of the Cup cars, so although that's a bonus, we are sure that we can't cut those two items from the package. Now we also know that the CTS is our premier alternate series and we want as many people as we can get to see this series race, we also know that if people are forced to pay more for coverage of this series, they may balk, so here's nice way to cut a big chunk from the package and though we've already discounted it $15, let's give this series to the fans for nothing. Afterall, this is a kind of feeder series that we need and it's a place where the also rans from the Cup series end up, it's also the place where some of the rising Cup stars begin their rise to stardom. So, now were are left with the lowly Busch series, a place where half the field at times if filled with Cup drivers. We at NASCAR really don't respect this series, but know that there are some fools out there who would really pay to watch it, so while we can cut the prices here, let's not be too generous. Afterall, if people want to watch the Busch Series, they should pay for it. We understand that five bucks a race is a bargain, and we hate to do anything more, but what the hell, let's give them the season for an extra #140 bucks and that makes the entire package worth many times more than the $500 we're asking.
Alright, I am sure that NASCAR would never in their serious minds offer that package to the fans for that price, but if they did, how many people would go for it? Remember, there will still be network coverage and the chances are, the PPV coverage would be the same at the network coverage, only they would continue during the commercial breaks. Now I can tell you that those commercial breaks are worth more than $500 per household and so the deal would certainly be a steal, but again, I don't think there are that many people who would go for it. Even if they were to stairstep the coverage to three or four packages, one for Cup, another with Busch or Truck, another for all three and maybe another for the entire coverage including qualifying and practice. At present, with network coverage, I don't think PPV is even a possiblity. Before they even think about PPV, they would have to run the numbers and see what it would cost them. The packages that are availble for football, baseball and basketball are totally different in that they allow the viewer to watch a different game when the local network is showing their regular game. NASCAR only has one game going at one time, so there isn't a conflict with the coverage.
So, my opinion is this...because they would require way too much money to make PPV happen, they wouldn't be able to swing it with enough patrons to make enough money to even break even. Therefore, PPV in NASCAR is at present a moot point. So forget it, it isn't going to happen.
