The Attendance Thread

I thought this had a thread but I really couldn't find one. I saw the one where a student was
researching a paper and eh, I think its time it has its own thread.

Attendance seems to come up almost every weekend whether its good or bad. If we keep
the discussion in one area it may help connect the dots a bit better.

"The Clash" I know it was already talked about at the race thread so I don't think much more can be added. I will just say that for as much hype that the tv announcers and stations gave it , it fell way short of attendance expectations. That needed to be packaged with the ARCA race imo.
 
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Hotrod said:
I thought this had a thread but I really couldn't find one. I saw the one where a student was
researching a paper and eh, I think its time it has its own thread.

Attendance seems to come up almost every weekend whether its good or bad. If we keep
the discussion in one area it may help connect the dots a bit better.
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I think it's disguised as the 'Deathbed' Thread.
 
Good idea....tough wading through that BS in the race thread. People can bitch about it here...
 
Oh well, Lets give this one a try. This is for attendance reports primarily and I can find it easier - lol.
 
Oh joy, another attendance thread to be trashed by the usual suspects. It'll probably be about two day's before It suddenly disappears.
 
Attendance is down, has been for a few years. I don't know how to fix it. But, the fact that it's down won't keep me from watching and enjoying the races.i don't understand why some need to fixate on it. I don't tune in just to look at the seats so I come come in here predicting the end of NASCAR. I would love to hear ideas on how to bring fans back. Everything else has been discussed at length.
 
I will take this over having attendance comments litter the race threads.

The Clash is a walk-up crowd type of race and there's no doubt the weather scared a lot of people off, and as @AdoubleU24 already said elsewhere the price to pay for the product you get probably is not worth it. Hopefully we get a little bit luckier with the Thursday weather.
 
mack said:
Attendance is down, has been for a few years. I don't know how to fix it. But, the fact that it's down won't keep me from watching and enjoying the races.i don't understand why some need to fixate on it. I don't tune in just to look at the seats so I come come in here predicting the end of NASCAR. I would love to hear ideas on how to bring fans back. Everything else has been discussed at length.
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As someone whose attended races for the last 3 decades it just hurts to see the empty seats. The atmosphere and energy that was existed at NASCAR races years ago was like nothing I've ever seen/experienced and that includes big time college football (@ ND, @ Penn State @ Michigan hell I'll throw in @ North Dakota State etc) games. It simply isn't the same like it was even 7-8 years ago. This sport was built on the live aspect; i.e. "The Greatest Spectator Sport in the World". Racing has never been conducive to TV. Unfortunately, NASCAR sold their soul to TV in 2001 and it hasn't been the same. NASCAR got the chase, golf got the Fedex Cup....

I still enjoy watching and attending but i do cringe every time I tune in. To be fair I also cringe during college bowl season when there's 12k people at those game. Talk about market saturation. Interestingly, TV also ruined the college football bowl season....
 
We’re not even at the first points race yet and the first of what will be many of these threads this year pop up. I’d like to first say that I myself pay attention to the attendance I’ll be watching a race and think to myself “wow this track used to have so many more people.” Outside of that though why is attendance important to us on here? Why does it need to be talked about every day? Why do we as fans care about attendance at a race? I can’t find a reason I myself care enough about. When I go to Chicagoland.... I get a parking spot up close, no food lines, zero line for the bathrooms and less lines for hats/shirts (which I just buy online anyway) then I leave with 15-25 to go and I’m usually home in 15 or 20 minutes (depends on who is winning and if I like them). It’s great! This wasn’t the case even 10 years ago where everything was such a task to do at the track. I don’t know how to fix attendance and I’m not paid to care. As long as my tickets for Chicagoland if I decide to go and July Daytona tickets show up in the mail is all I care about.
 
KodiakRusty89 said:
As someone whose attended races for the last 3 decades it just hurts to see the empty seats. The atmosphere and energy that was existed at NASCAR races years ago was like nothing I've ever seen/experienced and that includes big time college football (@ ND, @ Penn State @ Michigan hell I'll throw in @ North Dakota State etc) games. It simply isn't the same like it was even 7-8 years ago. This sport was built on the live aspect; i.e. "The Greatest Spectator Sport in the World". Racing has never been conducive to TV. Unfortunately, NASCAR sold their soul to TV in 2001 and it hasn't been the same. NASCAR got the chase, golf got the Fedex Cup....

I still enjoy watching and attending but i do cringe every time I tune in. To be fair I also cringe during college bowl season when there's 12k people at those game. Talk about market saturation. Interestingly, TV also ruined the college football bowl season....
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That’s more than fair, it does hurt to see those empty seats. I can agree with that. But then again many sports are having attendance problems, it’s gotten to the point where for me personally the home experience is much better than going to an actual event. I can fire up the grill when I want, eat when I want, use my own bathroom, not encounter drunk idiots, no traffic. But I do try to go to 1-2 races a year, it’s the least I can do as a fan.
 
As a Canadian, I am not really worried about track attendance. How ever the poor product of the televised version does have me worried. Right now everything revolves around the TV money. If they can't get new contracts paying huge money then Nascar is really in trouble. IMO
 
Team Penske said:
As a Canadian, I am not really worried about track attendance. How ever the poor product of the televised version does have me worried. Right now everything revolves around the TV money. If they can't get new contracts paying huge money then Nascar is really in trouble. IMO
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I actually tend to disagree. I don't think a good TV product and distance auto racing really exists this day in age. All these gimmicks have been designed to appeal to the TV audience and it just doesn't work. The influence TV money has had on North American sports in general over the last 15-20 years crazy.

The more TV backs off the more the product will return to its organic form imo. That will put more of a premium on the live experience. A NASCAR race was a Grateful Dead show and a SEC football game rolled into one.
 
Team Penske said:
It was a comment on the state of the sport as I see it. Sorry it ruined your day.
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day isn't ruined, glad there is a place for this instead of on every thread that nobody has a solution for around here or can do anything about it. and the other is 6 years away.
 
I know this is more of a ratings thing but..

Every week I go to my parents place and watch the race with my Dad.. but I always leave the race on at home on the bedroom TV.. just for that fraction of a percentage of ratings it will give NASCAR

I do my part to help the sport! :D
 
SlicedBread22 said:
Congrats! You are not part of the problem.

Should be good.. you going to the cup race too?
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Oh hell yes!!!! My Fontana weekend is like Christmas for me. Friday too. I get there early and stay late. Love every damn second. From cruising the souvenir haulers for new swag to chilling in the stands with my son, to qualifying in the pits. There is a ton of **** to get worked up over in the sport. I get it, but there is also a ton to love, and I love every ounce. Sign, sealed, and delivered for Sonoma as well.

I am kind of in a place where I am tired of trying to convince people to chill. Social media and sites like this have shaped a perception which isn't necessarily good. Phelps alluded to that. The perception has to be addressed because that is what is killing the sport when all along, it is maybe better than it has ever been. How do you shape a perception when it gives so many so much voice? I suppose by instituting a new rules package, new formats, new ways of crowning a champion, and the newest thing--WHICH HAS BEEN LONG, LONG, LONG OVERDUE IMO--giving the fans garage access. THIS IS HUGE! Not sure how Fontana will handle it just yet, but Sonoma already did it last year after Practice was done on Friday. This is really great news, and I am jacked!
 
SlicedBread22 said:
I know this is more of a ratings thing but..

Every week I go to my parents place and watch the race with my Dad.. but I always leave the race on at home on the bedroom TV.. just for that fraction of a percentage of ratings it will give NASCAR

I do my part to help the sport! :D
Click to expand...

Okay, damn it, Sliced, that is about the coolest post I have seen in weeks around here. Nice damn job! You have always had my respect, and you just got a ton more (if that was even possible). That's what fans need to be thinking! Nice work man! Way to make my Monday!
 
Revman said:
Okay, damn it, Sliced, that is about the coolest post I have seen in weeks around here. Nice damn job! You have always had my respect, and you just got a ton more (if that was even possible). That's what fans need to be thinking! Nice work man! Way to make my Monday!
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Thanks man.. Just doing my part..I know it doesnt affect much at all but it's one viewer that otherwise wouldnt be tuned in.
 
SlicedBread22 said:
If anyone here is not buying tickets for a race this season you have no right to be in here complaining about attendance.. just saying
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I never complain about attendance as a full house or an empty house doesn’t change my day. I notice if attendance is high or low though.
 
Most of the time when I talk to others about a race eventually the "attendance" comes up. We notice the empty seats or the missing grandstands. We don't talk about it because we want to see NASCAR fail, it is just part of the sport these days. I don't see anything wrong with pointing out the attendance, but I do have to chuckle when the announcers say what a great crowd knowing the track either recently removed 25,000 seats or the announcers are just saying that to trying to make something better than what it is.
I agree with Snappy D that I actually enjoy attending races much more now than I did 15 years ago. Less crowds work better for me than the days when we would wait 4 hours after a race and still be backed up in traffic.
 
KodiakRusty89 said:
As someone whose attended races for the last 3 decades it just hurts to see the empty seats. The atmosphere and energy that was existed at NASCAR races years ago was like nothing I've ever seen/experienced and that includes big time college football (@ ND, @ Penn State @ Michigan hell I'll throw in @ North Dakota State etc) games. It simply isn't the same like it was even 7-8 years ago. This sport was built on the live aspect; i.e. "The Greatest Spectator Sport in the World". Racing has never been conducive to TV. Unfortunately, NASCAR sold their soul to TV in 2001 and it hasn't been the same. NASCAR got the chase, golf got the Fedex Cup....

I still enjoy watching and attending but i do cringe every time I tune in. To be fair I also cringe during college bowl season when there's 12k people at those game. Talk about market saturation. Interestingly, TV also ruined the college football bowl season....
Click to expand...
I can agree with this. Watching the Fox trailer for the upcoming Earnhardt/Gordon documentary, the banter between fans. So much passion between fan demographics.
 
Some folks make some really good points on the crowd size at races and they sometimes get lost in the race threads. There will be races
that have larger crowds and some with smaller. Having one place to make the observation and as to why ,such as races promotions , nice weather,
and guesses as to what the percentage of the stands were full, will be a nice barometer of the overall health of the sport. Back in the 70's , 80's,
and 90's a Nascar ticket was hard to get sometimes. I just wanted a spot to focus on crowd size of each event and not really focus on how to fix
Nascar, if that makes sense. I would really like to hear from those who actually were there at the event as well, whether you were in the stands, infield,
or camping areas. If college kids are writing research papers about the topic , it should be thread worthy.
 
Because there are incidents of off-topic posts, there should be no attempt to organize the discussion, and an attendance thread in particular is unnecessary? I'm not following. I don't know how @Hotrod will handle your lack of support, being the thread's current most active poster, but I think he has a good idea about a better way to track this subject throughout the season.
 
Kiante said:
Never ending circle at this point.
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Every post is just a dig about attendance, ratings, or the general decline of the sport. When he's not doing that, it's just more useless BS trying to bait SOI or whoever.

Remember when Allen revealed the Velveeta sponsorship cost for the 31 car? Skoal talked about that for months. I bet if you search this forum for "175k" you'll find at least a couple dozen posts from him.
 
2 Sweet said:
Every post is just a dig about attendance, ratings, or the general decline of the sport. When he's not doing that, it's just more useless BS trying to bait SOI or whoever.

Remember when Allen revealed the Velveeta sponsorship cost for the 31 car? Skoal talked about that for months. I bet if you search this forum for "175k" you'll find at least a couple dozen posts from him.
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175k is no laughing amount. That's per race how much ever Velvetta (Kraft) spent. Five races alone is 875k... That's a nice chunk of change.
 
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