Official figures from Formula One Management indicate television audiences fell to above 400 million last year, further illustrating the sport’s declining popularity.
The new data means F1 has lost one-third of its worldwide audience since 2008 – around 200 million viewers. How many of those are now watching the sport via other means, legal or not, is unclear. The sport has drawn criticism for moving away from free-to-air broadcasts in favour of television deals.
In the UK half of all live races disappeared from free-to-air television in 2012. This year it has left the BBC, whose two main channels have the greatest reach of any in Britain, for Channel 4 (presenter Steve Jones pictured).
However the Channel 4 deal will end after 2018, beyond which all races except the British Grand Prix will only be shown on pay TV.
Where Are All the New Drag Racing Fans in the NHRA?
As I look ahead in 2015, I wish I could get excited about the great NHRA Drag Racing we’re going to see. Unfortunately, at best I feel it’s going to be the same thing, just a different year and at worse, less.
The state of drag racing is weak and it needs more fans to turn it around.
You can’t help but notice the many empty seats at certain tracks and there’s been a true disconnect between the sport and the fans. We have true, die-hard fans, but their numbers are dwindling. The sanctioning body does of great job of making sure the show runs, rules are enforced, and safety is at the forefront. But is there truly growth potential for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series, or any racing for that matter? Read More
Good Gosh even HORSE RACING is losings fans!
Getting back on track: Horse racing scrambling to attract fans, stay relevant Read More
ONE EXCEPTION:
DIRT RACING IS A GROWING THREAT TO NASCAR
NASCAR ATTENDANCE/VIEWERSHIP DOWN WHILE DIRT TRACK RACING GROWS STRONGER
While sitting on their gold throne eating grape vines, NASCAR should feel threatened by dirt track racing. Once upon a time, NASCAR tossed dirt racing out the window, left it stranded as they drove up the hill and into the distance, dragging their fans with them.
Now, NASCAR has run out of gas and it’s running nowhere but backwards down that very same hill. Years ago, NASCAR left the dirt tracks and moved to asphalt short tracks. Not so long after, NASCAR abandoned the short tracks and left them to die.
But, short track racing, specifically dirt racing is engaged in a bit of a sudden, shock resurgence. I related this directly to fans leaving NASCAR, by the millions.
In 3 years, could dirt racing be the largest form of motorsports in America? I think it could be. I could actually make the argument that it already is. Hence races across the county, all week long, against NASCAR’s 3 race lone weekend. But that’s not a fair fight either. In reality, it’s getting closer. I truly believe single dirt track races will soon draw a bigger audience than ‘premier series’ NASCAR races.
Positive NASCAR fans are suddenly hard to come by. Just read the comments, there wont be anything rosy down there, when I hit publish. The fans have reached a boiling point, they are now shitting in their own hands just to throw it over the spiked fence, aiming it directly at Brian France’s head. The fans have given up hope that NASCAR will fix the sport and they’re angry the sport they loved has morphed in the wrong direction, likely on purpose.
Of the 39 NASCAR Cup Series races on TV in 2016, nearly all of them dropped from the previous year. 30 of 39 races, saw a drop in viewership and a lot of those drops were significant, cliff dives. The Atlanta Motor Speedway race in 2015 drew 9.507 million tv viewers. That same race in 2016 drew just 6.800 million.
Meanwhile, dirt racing is thriving. The Gateway Dirt Nationals in December 2016 drew enough dirt racing fans to sell-out the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. 15,000 tickets sold and theirs room to grow. The entire top section of the stadium wasn’t open for seating on Saturday, it the race has room to grow. The NASCAR truck series race at Eldora is another dirt race to sell-out all 17,000 seats, that one sells-out months in advance.
The picture shown from the Gateway dirt nationals was taken on Thursday, during qualifying night
15,000 is still cute, I understand that. I’m also aware the Gateway Dirt Nationals was a debut dirt event with lots of room for growth. If you build it they will come. Next year, the top section of The Dome could be open to fans, that could also push attendance to 30,000. Now, that’s a real threat to NASCAR’s auto racing supremacy.
My point is that NASCAR grew beyond the seating capacity and Southern culture of short tracks (in their eyes). It’s now fallen so far that it could return to those tracks, if it really wanted to. The NASCAR race at Eldora was the smartest change NASCAR’s made since like forever, and they’ve made a lot of changes since forever. Shit, they’ve made a lot of changes since 2016 alone.
But, they’re still dragging their feet to bring a Cup Series race back to dirt, or short tracks at all. That’s a mistake, the same mistake they’ve been making the whole time. They’re separating themselves from the short track fans, the real heartbeat of auto racing in America.
Years ago, NASCAR stopped releasing track attendance numbers on a weekly basis. Conveniently, they did that just as the numbers started going in the wrong direction. But, you don’t need a release of NASCAR attendance numbers to glimpse the vast sea of empty seats at NASCAR events. Read More