Post by Sunshine on Apr 11, 2008 4:15:04 GMT -5
NASCAR Officials Missing Point
BY MONTE DUTTON,AOL
Posted: 2008-04-09 18:50:17
Filed Under: NASCAR
Sports Commentary
While its courageous performers continue to race the tracks, NASCAR is racing the U.S. economy and not doing a whole lot better than George W. Bush.
Single Ticket $40 to $150
Going to a NASCAR event isn't cheap. A family of four can spend well over $1,000 to experience a race weekend.
Imagine a sport where people travel from halfway across the country to watch. Suppose the price of gasoline increases, oh, just about every single week. Let's just assume, for the sake of argument, that most of the fans come from working-class backgrounds and have working-class sensibilities. Put the price of a decent ticket at about 80 bucks a pop. Make it impossible for the competitors to make it through the year without about $10 million or so in sponsorships. Cave in the Dow. Smack the NASDAQ.
Guess what? Fear and loathing. Gnashing of teeth. It's enough to make a man vote for the Democrats.
Only it hasn't happened yet. All the Titanic had on NASCAR was a band still playing as the bow started to slide into the depths.
NASCAR television ratings are up. All is well!
Attendance is down. Once all things are considered, this makes perfect sense. More people are watching on television because not as many of them can afford to go the track. Rising costs are affecting the ability of families to attend races. It's costing more and more, and the ticket prices -- in most cases, Sprint Cup tickets run from $40 to $150 each -- are the least of it. For a decade now, NASCAR officials have paid lip service to the fans while otherwise paying no attention to their plight.
As the economy plummets, fans encounter hotels charging three times their normal rates -- $225 a night, but the scurrying-insect show is on the house! -- with three- and four-night minimums. Held over! The Roaches! Don't want a motel? Camping sites start at $100 a night, but electricity is extra.
At the actual track, fans can depend on $4 hot dogs and $40 T-shirts.
So far, this has been a pretty good year. All four manufacturers have won races. Competition is keen. The only race NASCAR is losing is the one involving the market value of its product. The fans love it, but there's only so far one can travel with a wallet full of maxed-out credit cards and an SUV that guzzles high-test.
Unfortunately, NASCAR still is in denial. With thousands of empty seats clearly visible, a post-race report claims the Martinsville Speedway crowd on March 30 is 63,000. The official capacity of the track is 65,000. Do the funny math.
Rather than coolly analyzing the economic prospects, NASCAR is in the denial stage from top to bottom. The drivers, accustomed to unconditional adoration, sound as if there's no one out there who doesn't actually make a hundred grand a year. They treat their fan base as if it were a treasure trove. At the top, Brian France, the high-falutin' CEO, is doing his best Herbert Hoover imitation.
Listen to the optimistic naivete of drivers, most of whom seem bewildered at why anyone would do anything so drastic as staying home.
Three-fifty for a gallon of gas? "I'm thankful we get it for free from Sunoco," said four-time champion Jeff Gordon.
"There's no doubt it has everyone nervous," said reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.
Meanwhile, Fox television anchor Mike Joy keeps thumping the "all is well" tub. Over and over, he talked about a sellout crowd at Texas Motor Speedway, where eight sections on the back straight had been festooned with sponsorship banners in order to hide the fact that there weren't any people in those seats.
NASCAR officials concentrate on competing against other sporting events, but for a family of four that used to attend six races a year, the cost can easily be a thousand bucks a pop, once all the price gouging is considered. Do we go to the race, or do we have a vacation this year? The little woman has a soft spot for racing, but not when it means no vacation in Myrtle Beach or week-long cruise to Cozumel.
As these sober conversations are taking place in middle-class homes, track owners scream to legislators about ticket scalping. They don't raise a finger to discourage motel-room scalping. They don't fret about the $40 T-shirts.
The fans still love racing, but they simply can't afford to attend as many of them. They watch TV. Ratings go up. Small consolation, to borrow the fashionable cliche, at the end of the day.
BY MONTE DUTTON,AOL
Posted: 2008-04-09 18:50:17
Filed Under: NASCAR
Sports Commentary
While its courageous performers continue to race the tracks, NASCAR is racing the U.S. economy and not doing a whole lot better than George W. Bush.
Single Ticket $40 to $150
Going to a NASCAR event isn't cheap. A family of four can spend well over $1,000 to experience a race weekend.
Imagine a sport where people travel from halfway across the country to watch. Suppose the price of gasoline increases, oh, just about every single week. Let's just assume, for the sake of argument, that most of the fans come from working-class backgrounds and have working-class sensibilities. Put the price of a decent ticket at about 80 bucks a pop. Make it impossible for the competitors to make it through the year without about $10 million or so in sponsorships. Cave in the Dow. Smack the NASDAQ.
Guess what? Fear and loathing. Gnashing of teeth. It's enough to make a man vote for the Democrats.
Only it hasn't happened yet. All the Titanic had on NASCAR was a band still playing as the bow started to slide into the depths.
NASCAR television ratings are up. All is well!
Attendance is down. Once all things are considered, this makes perfect sense. More people are watching on television because not as many of them can afford to go the track. Rising costs are affecting the ability of families to attend races. It's costing more and more, and the ticket prices -- in most cases, Sprint Cup tickets run from $40 to $150 each -- are the least of it. For a decade now, NASCAR officials have paid lip service to the fans while otherwise paying no attention to their plight.
As the economy plummets, fans encounter hotels charging three times their normal rates -- $225 a night, but the scurrying-insect show is on the house! -- with three- and four-night minimums. Held over! The Roaches! Don't want a motel? Camping sites start at $100 a night, but electricity is extra.
At the actual track, fans can depend on $4 hot dogs and $40 T-shirts.
So far, this has been a pretty good year. All four manufacturers have won races. Competition is keen. The only race NASCAR is losing is the one involving the market value of its product. The fans love it, but there's only so far one can travel with a wallet full of maxed-out credit cards and an SUV that guzzles high-test.
Unfortunately, NASCAR still is in denial. With thousands of empty seats clearly visible, a post-race report claims the Martinsville Speedway crowd on March 30 is 63,000. The official capacity of the track is 65,000. Do the funny math.
Rather than coolly analyzing the economic prospects, NASCAR is in the denial stage from top to bottom. The drivers, accustomed to unconditional adoration, sound as if there's no one out there who doesn't actually make a hundred grand a year. They treat their fan base as if it were a treasure trove. At the top, Brian France, the high-falutin' CEO, is doing his best Herbert Hoover imitation.
Listen to the optimistic naivete of drivers, most of whom seem bewildered at why anyone would do anything so drastic as staying home.
Three-fifty for a gallon of gas? "I'm thankful we get it for free from Sunoco," said four-time champion Jeff Gordon.
"There's no doubt it has everyone nervous," said reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.
Meanwhile, Fox television anchor Mike Joy keeps thumping the "all is well" tub. Over and over, he talked about a sellout crowd at Texas Motor Speedway, where eight sections on the back straight had been festooned with sponsorship banners in order to hide the fact that there weren't any people in those seats.
NASCAR officials concentrate on competing against other sporting events, but for a family of four that used to attend six races a year, the cost can easily be a thousand bucks a pop, once all the price gouging is considered. Do we go to the race, or do we have a vacation this year? The little woman has a soft spot for racing, but not when it means no vacation in Myrtle Beach or week-long cruise to Cozumel.
As these sober conversations are taking place in middle-class homes, track owners scream to legislators about ticket scalping. They don't raise a finger to discourage motel-room scalping. They don't fret about the $40 T-shirts.
The fans still love racing, but they simply can't afford to attend as many of them. They watch TV. Ratings go up. Small consolation, to borrow the fashionable cliche, at the end of the day.