NASCAR - Television Ratings Thread

I've been watching nascar since the 80s, I am quite aware of what happened when jr was hurt. I have no doubt that chase being back helped the ratings against the last few weeks. That was not my question. Please explain to me what that has to do with comparing this years spring Martinsville to last years? I don't remember him being hurt for the 6 races before Martinsville last year.
 
Daytripper said:
I've been watching nascar since the 80s, I am quite aware of what happened when jr was hurt. I have no doubt that chase being back helped the ratings against the last few weeks. That was not my question. Please explain to me what that has to do with comparing this years spring Martinsville to last years? I don't remember him being hurt for the 6 races before Martinsville last year.
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Comparing TV ratings is like forecasting the weather. I don't have any idea or neither do you. In other words it isn't worth mentioning as far as I am concerned. Did you read this tweet? The year before there wasn't the competition from stick and ball and this year there is? Go figure

 
StandOnIt said:
who says, you?
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History.

Saturday night races consistently draw lower ratings than Sunday afternoon/evening races, which is why more races are being held on Sundays, and why more night races have shifted from Saturday to Sunday night.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
History.

Saturday night races consistently draw lower ratings than Sunday afternoon/evening races, which is why more races are being held on Sundays, and why more night races have shifted from Saturday to Sunday night.
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In this case if you look at the tweet above, there was also the hallowed stick an ball competing for viewers. This ratings business is about as accurate in predicting as the weather is in spring.
 
StandOnIt said:
In this case if you look at the tweet above, there was also the hallowed stick a ball competing for viewers. This ratings business is about as accurate in predicting as the weather is in spring.
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The start of last year’s race, on a Saturday night, was also delayed by weather.
 
FLRacingFan said:
You’re getting your races mixed up now.
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Yeah I see my error I think? Something is screwed up
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StandOnIt said:
I checked both places. That tweet is wrong it wasn't a Saturday and the numbers are wrong. It isn't the September Bristol either.

From Jayski April 2022
View attachment 70053
This year. Both Sunday races.

Bristol TV ratings​

April 11, 2023
Fox earned 3.5 million viewers for Sunday's Food City Dirt Race at Bristol, down from 4.0 million for last year's event
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The tweet was comparing this year's Martinsville race to last year's Martinsville race, which was a week earlier and on a Saturday night (and rain delayed).

This year's Martinsville rating can't be compared to either the date (since last year was the Bristol Dirt Race on Fox on a Sunday night) or the same event (Martinsville on a Saturday night, delayed by rain).

Whether the Chase Elliott effect was real or not is still to be seen. IF it was, then those who are tired of Chase Elliott being pushed as hard as he is might want to start watching IndyCar because this will have proved Chase Elliott IS NASCAR.
 
StandOnIt said:
I don't care if there was a hurricane, it averaged 4 million viewers on a Saturday night. So tell me how come Saturday races are such a problem again?
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Well, well documented Saturday night races do not draw the same ratings as Sunday races as Andy says. That's why the flood of night races in the early 2010s stopped quickly, and why races that have historically been held at night are now Sunday afternoons (Richmond, spring Kansas). This is why the Martinsville night race never took off, and the few remaining tracks without lights haven't seem much backlash for not having them as was the case through much of the 00s. All the SMI tracks save Loudon and now Dover have lights. Loudon they pushed for lights for 10 years and the project faded away. Dover they haven't made any kind of push for lights. SMI wanted to pride themselves on having lights at every facility they owned in the 00s. Now they don't care, not needed.
 
A Dover & New Hampshire night race might be worth a try. Dover is a decent market, underrated oval. I think an occasional New Hampshire fall oval race could be better than the Roval.
 
racingfan7 said:
A Dover & New Hampshire night race might be worth a try. Dover is a decent market, underrated oval. I think an occasional New Hampshire fall oval race could be better than the Roval.
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Dover is a ? All of the so called experts hype the hot concrete that usually turn the track into a single lane parade. Maybe a cooler track would open up another lane?
 
StandOnIt said:
Dover is a ? All of the so called experts hype the hot concrete that usually turn the track into a single lane parade. Maybe a cooler track would open up another lane?
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The best Dover race in the last 10 years was on a 50 degree day. That was the Larson and Kenseth finish in 2016. It was so cold but that race made up for it and more
 
Dover is an interesting track I’m glad they still have Dover, New Hampshire, Michigan, Watkins Glen, Pocono there.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
My main takeaway:

Chase Elliott is the definitive face of NASCAR for this generation.

It just sucks that he's so uninteresting.
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The bigger issue isn't so much that Chase is the face of the sport, it's that NOBODY else is drawing anywhere close to as much interest as he is. Even at the absolute peek of their insane popularity, the Earnhardt's ALWAYS had other drivers that attracted significant attention. The drop off after Chase is STEEP, and that's not because he is THAT popular.
 
Formerjackman said:
The bigger issue isn't so much that Chase is the face of the sport, it's that NOBODY else is drawing anywhere close to as much interest as he is. Even at the absolute peek of their insane popularity, the Earnhardt's ALWAYS had other drivers that attracted significant attention. The drop off after Chase is STEEP, and that's not because he is THAT popular.
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I agree in a way that I find it odd Kyle Larson hasn’t taken off with the casuals. Maybe his time is coming if he has another dominant year this year and then runs really well in next years Indy 500, the race fans know about Larson.... but he doesn’t move the needle it seems to bring in the new viewers or attract the ones that left. Hopefully that will change, folks are missing out.
 
I don't envy NASCAR's marketing people at all.

The ratings of the past two weeks make it clear that Chase Elliott IS NASCAR right now. Without him, the sport's popularity among its existing fanbase plunges significantly. So you have to market Chase Elliott super hard.

However, how do you promote a guy with the personality of a potato and the charisma of a cactus? How do you promote the sport to new audiences when the sport, at this point, is a driver who doesn't have any personality to attract new fans?

Hailie Deegan's the only driver that has the "it" factor NASCAR needs, but her on track performance is just beyond awful.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
However, how do you promote a guy with the personality of a potato and the charisma of a cactus? How do you promote the sport to new audiences when the sport, at this point, is a driver who doesn't have any personality to attract new fans?
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I would go with Gangsta Rap concerts during every yellow 😁
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
However, how do you promote a guy with the personality of a potato and the charisma of a cactus? How do you promote the sport to new audiences when the sport, at this point, is a driver who doesn't have any personality to attract new fans?
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I get this one, which confuses my what he does that everyone votes him MPD
 
West said:
Cause of his Dad. No different than Junior who also is the King of borring being related to Dale Sr.
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You can't even compare those 2. In his day Jr did tons of stuff with Bud. I can't think of one non-racing thing chase has done.
 
wi_racefan said:
I get this one, which confuses my what he does that everyone votes him MPD
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His dad, taking over the no. 24 when Jeff retired thus inheriting his fanbase, and inheriting much of Dale Jr's fanbase as well.

Many of the same people bitching about Alan Gustafson, who won five races with a 50-year-old Mark Martin in 2009, are the same ones who were bitching about him a decade ago when Jeff Gordon didn't win every week.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I don't envy NASCAR's marketing people at all.

The ratings of the past two weeks make it clear that Chase Elliott IS NASCAR right now. Without him, the sport's popularity among its existing fanbase plunges significantly. So you have to market Chase Elliott super hard.

However, how do you promote a guy with the personality of a potato and the charisma of a cactus? How do you promote the sport to new audiences when the sport, at this point, is a driver who doesn't have any personality to attract new fans?

Hailie Deegan's the only driver that has the "it" factor NASCAR needs, but her on track performance is just beyond awful.
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Honestly it makes me feel like the retirement of guys like Gordon, Johnson, Stewart and Jr were the biggest reason we have half the crowds and ratings we did 15 years ago. Obviously there’s more to it than that but those 4 drivers were such superstars and they were all around at the same time.
 
Efisher131 said:
Honestly it makes me feel like the retirement of guys like Gordon, Johnson, Stewart and Jr were the biggest reason we have half the crowds and ratings we did 15 years ago. Obviously there’s more to it than that but those 4 drivers were such superstars and they were all around at the same time.
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Gordon, Jr and Smoke (and Harvick for that matter) all had starpower.

Chase Elliott doesn’t. And we all saw what happened the one and only time Kyle Larson showed any personality.
 
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