The Attendance Thread

It looks like a very slim chance of inclement weather tonight so I am optimistic fans will flock to the track. People have had all day to get to there and most wont have to work tomorrow so there are no excuses.
 
Team Penske said:
and how does that help Nascar???
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More people attended Nascar racing when the economy was in cardiac arrest than today. All we are hearing are lame excuses and pre-planned excuses for failure. Three years ago 70k attended the Bristol spring race and 35k did this year. The lower attendance this year had zippo to with the economy.
 
gnomesayin said:
I was really hoping you would grant more leniency this time. Would you accept a doctor's note?

I can't make it, but if you can buy a seat in my name at the ticket office when you get there, I will PayPal you the amount. I'm not trying to skirt my obligation here.
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No excuses!
 
IanMcVittie said:
More people attended Nascar racing when the economy was in cardiac arrest than today. All we are hearing are lame excuses and pre-planned excuses for failure. Three years ago 70k attended the Bristol spring race and 35k did this year. The lower attendance this year had zippo to with the economy.
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Their weren't any attendance figures three years ago and we aren't talking about Bristol
 
Crowd looks legitimately good tonight! By no means a sellout but it still looks like a fun atmosphere! It certainly helps that Richmond now has an appropriate seating capacity.

I will say that NASCAR does Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond no favors by having a race at each local in a 3 week/4 weekend period. Geographically the tracks are located pretty close together and are all the same style (short tracks). In the past having the short track run was cool because it usually help create some bumping and banging drama to unfold. Nowadays it's a bit counterproductive when your ticket buying market has already shrunk considerably. Hopefully the 2020 shakeup helps all 3 tracks get a boost.
 
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IanMcVittie said:
It looks like a very slim chance of inclement weather tonight so I am optimistic fans will flock to the track. People have had all day to get to there and most wont have to work tomorrow so there are no excuses.
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After seeing things from a few angles I'll say the crowd is more than respectable. I think my "legitimately good" first reaction was a little overzealous but there's potential to build off of for the September race. Did they "flock"? No, but we knew that ahead of time.

I'd like to see 'Dega rocking in two weeks! That place still has cult like appeal in terms of craziness.

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I haven't gone to Dover in years and I'm not going this year either. Use to take my dad every year but now we drag a tv outside and watch there. Just can't be bothered anymore.

You really can't compare NASCAR to other sports. I don't have to drive almost 3 hours each way and deal with horrendous traffic in and out of the stadiums to go see my local regular sports teams.
 
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Not a bad crowd based on this picture. Looks like 35K (40K if generous) or so.
 
Snappy D said:
This. In the old system every race was a playoff race, now it just isn’t my cup of tea. I seriously wonder what would happen if they scrapped this system and went back to a version of the Winston Cup points weighted more towards wins as well as bonus points for most laps led, fastest lap of the race and points for pole position. Would fans come back? Did most old school fans die off from 03 till now? The Chase and Playoffs while designed to bring in new fans, hasn’t worked. It drove off the old ones and didn’t bring in enough new fans. It’s a question worth asking IMO
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I don't like this system much either. I just can't see how a car could luck into a win at the first race of the year (not saying anyone doesn't deserve to win if they are in the right place at the right time) and that's it, they are in the playoffs, whereas another driver could absolutely dominate the year, winning 10 or 15 races but cut a tire at Homestead and not be the champion.
 
I use to go to Richmond and martinsville during the worst of the depression 2008 to 2011, even during this period they were bragging about sellouts and we ended up sitting in turn 3. There are just no excuses anymore, the cars really suck the fun out the race. Nobody is getting side by side anymore. You can’t even get beside someone on a final lap. Why is Richmond and Martinsville suddenly aero dependent tracks?
 
Ol Smokie said:
I don't like this system much either. I just can't see how a car could luck into a win at the first race of the year (not saying anyone doesn't deserve to win if they are in the right place at the right time) and that's it, they are in the playoffs, whereas another driver could absolutely dominate the year, winning 10 or 15 races but cut a tire at Homestead and not be the champion.
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I can't understand , with all the radical changes Nascar is willing to make to try and get fans back, why they won't entertain the idea of going back to the season long championship battle. It made the racing throughout the field so much more relevant and interesting. The fans of drivers who were not in contention to win still had things to get excited about during the race. I'd be willing to compromise and keep the stages as long as the big points pay out is still at the end of the race.
The playoffs have been absolute failure. How can't they see that?
 
Switchback said:
I can't understand , with all the radical changes Nascar is willing to make to try and get fans back, why they won't entertain the idea of going back to the season long championship battle. It made the racing throughout the field so much more relevant and interesting. The fans of drivers who were not in contention to win still had things to get excited about during the race. I'd be willing to compromise and keep the stages as long as the big points pay out is still at the end of the race.
The playoffs have been absolute failure. How can't they see that?
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Headass NBC, most likely. They changed the format the year after NBC signed the contract. Coincidence? I doubt it. It's not like ESPN had any reason to care what the 2014 and beyond format was and everyone can see the networks run most of this show anymore.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Headass NBC, most likely. They changed the format the year after NBC signed the contract. Coincidence? I doubt it. It's not like ESPN had any reason to care what the 2014 and beyond format was and everyone can see the networks run most of this show anymore.
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You may be right, but at what point does NBC realize that the playoffs aren't working? They have tried everything they can think of over the years to tweak the chase and have now landed on the most ridiculous of all. As far as I can tell, none of it has worked to increase viewership .
Making all but a small handful of cars irrelevant each race has not worked. If you want more fans, give them ALL something to cheer about each week, not just the winner.
 
StandOnIt said:
I think NBC has to chew all of the flavor out of the playoffs before any changes will be made. If Jim France and crew aren't for Brian's brilliant idea they may be able to put pressure on to get it removed. One can hope.
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They can keep the damn stages all I care (stop the cautions in between stages), if they get rid of the playoffs, that would be absolutely wonderful and I'd be cheesin' from ear to ear.
 
Switchback said:
You may be right, but at what point does NBC realize that the playoffs aren't working? They have tried everything they can think of over the years to tweak the chase and have now landed on the most ridiculous of all. As far as I can tell, none of it has worked to increase viewership .
Making all but a small handful of cars irrelevant each race has not worked. If you want more fans, give them ALL something to cheer about each week, not just the winner.
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Don't know. They were probably at least somewhat behind the first iteration when they had the back half in '04 as well. Maybe the suits are so hung up on it because it works for them in stick & ball sports, and are too stubborn to believe that it doesn't necessarily translate to auto racing.
 
I wonder what will be the bright new idea NBC comes up with for the playoffs this year. During the Olymics I think it was they had Auto or Aldo playing fan that doesn't know nothing it's all new to me, followed next year by their screaming 100MPH camera, and lately it's lets see how many announcers that can talk non stop about points, cutoffs, and playoff implications (somebody had to give Burton that word). Throw in some emoji's for good measure. Didn't that work splendidly.
 
Switchback said:
You may be right, but at what point does NBC realize that the playoffs aren't working? They have tried everything they can think of over the years to tweak the chase and have now landed on the most ridiculous of all. As far as I can tell, none of it has worked to increase viewership .
Making all but a small handful of cars irrelevant each race has not worked. If you want more fans, give them ALL something to cheer about each week, not just the winner.
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You’re right. They’ve changed everything but the big elephant in the room. This is the only way I believe NASCAR has a shot at recovering. Ditch the Chase Playoffs... it’s been a failure as well as ruining drivers legacies. It’s been a gimmick like farce long enough. I’m hoping when they redo the TV Deal, this will be on the table. The networks will hopefully wake up and see that every damn race in a season long playoff is a playoff race. No win and your in crap. You have to be on it every single week to win the Championship.
 
StandOnIt said:
I wonder what will be the bright new idea NBC comes up with for the playoffs this year. During the Olymics I think it was they had Auto or Aldo playing fan that doesn't know nothing it's all new to me, followed next year by their screaming 100MPH camera, and lately it's lets see how many announcers that can talk non stop about points, cutoffs, and playoff implications (somebody had to give Burton that word). Throw in some emoji's for good measure. Didn't that work splendidly.
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The Olympic Correspondent lmao. Good times, I miss that guy. I found him more credible than the Hipster. I’d say in my humble opinion NBC has done more harm than good with their storylines and stupid drama. Their heads are too far in the sand to see the racing itself and rockstar drivers are THE STORYLINE. When the networks see that, hopefully all will be fixed.
 
joe h said:
I use to go to Richmond and martinsville during the worst of the depression 2008 to 2011, even during this period they were bragging about sellouts and we ended up sitting in turn 3. There are just no excuses anymore, the cars really suck the fun out the race. Nobody is getting side by side anymore. You can’t even get beside someone on a final lap. Why is Richmond and Martinsville suddenly aero dependent tracks?
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Using the recession and hotel costs for NASCAR’s bad attendance is not very smart. A lot more fans attended all Nascar races when the the economy was sour.
 
I didn’t get to see the race last night but it is sitting on the DVR for later.......maybe. I think attendance last night was somewhat disappointing but not a complete embarrassment. Gotta hope we don’t see attendance slipping into the 20-30k range next season.
 
Snappy D said:
The Olympic Correspondent lmao. Good times, I miss that guy. I found him more credible than the Hipster. I’d say in my humble opinion NBC has done more harm than good with their storylines and stupid drama. Their heads are too far in the sand to see the racing itself and rockstar drivers are THE STORYLINE. When the networks see that, hopefully all will be fixed.
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The touted super high speed 100mph camera was a hoot..somebody said hey it works great for stick n ball games let's use it. Most of the time it was going 100MPH the wrong way. Aldo walking around lost..why are racing tires slick?
 
Kiante said:
Aldo was a horrible experiment.
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Shows how much I care about the olympics, I don’t even remember the Olympian’s name. I’m not sure if it was Aldo, I don’t even know what sport he participated in. I know I’m not alone, that’s why it was stupid at the time in that cross sport broadcasters gets a big who cares from me. Get me pit road broadcasters in the mold of Dr Punch or Dick Berggren, get rid of all other distractions. Hipster included.
 
Snappy D said:
Shows how much I care about the olympics, I don’t even remember the Olympian’s name. I’m not sure if it was Aldo, I don’t even know what sport he participated in. I know I’m not alone, that’s why it was stupid at the time in that cross sport broadcasters gets a big who cares from me. Get me pit road broadcasters in the mold of Dr Punch or Dick Berggren, get rid of all other distractions. Hipster included.
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I didn't know his name either, I hoped it was close enough. It was so bad, he along with the camera have disappeared hopefully never to return.
 
MLB has had some awful attendance numbers this season that it gives NASCAR some hope.
 
Meh, baseball is doing just fine if not great right now. Baseball early season numbers are always bad. Cubs on their second home game had about 100 people show up due to 29 degree weather. Happens a ton in April for MLB. They don't care. When its sunny and 65 there are 35K at every home game.
 
joe h said:
I use to go to Richmond and martinsville during the worst of the depression 2008 to 2011, even during this period they were bragging about sellouts and we ended up sitting in turn 3. There are just no excuses anymore, the cars really suck the fun out the race. Nobody is getting side by side anymore. You can’t even get beside someone on a final lap. Why is Richmond and Martinsville suddenly aero dependent tracks?
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Because they’re too engineered anymore. Literally like any contact can be crippling as you need top performance out of the car constantly. Far cry from what it was
 
aunty dive said:
Attendance in this thread has declined dramatically.

Prolly the high cost of hotel rooms.
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Well, there was no racing last weekend. Should we be discussing attendance trends at Easter sunrise services in the Southeast?

And secondly, we used to get daily (often hourly) reminders that no one cares about Nascar, posted by our crier of doom... but he has left the building. So you'll just have to remember from one week to the next that no one shows up at the races anymore...:idunno:
 
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