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Driving force Your Take: Expanding the fan base for motor sports
Posted: Sunday June 06, 1999 11:05 AM
CNN/SI asked users how to increase the fan base for motor sports. First, CART and the IRL need to settle their differences and reunite for the Indy 500, putting that race back into the prominence it once held by consistently attracting the best drivers in the world. Second, auto racing needs to change the rules to allow innovation and creativity back into car and engine design, something that has been sacrificed in the name of "competition" and has been missing from most of the major racing circuits since the 70's. The NASCAR formula won't work for everyone. And finally, NASCAR needs more diversity of auto manufacturers. Chrysler, and maybe even some foreign auto makers need to be allowed to participate, make it a little more interesting and competitive for the fans. -- David Andrews, Hewitt, TX Auto Racing already has too large a fan base. It has ruined NASCAR. The drivers are colorless talking heads, afraid to possibly offend a sponsor, or potential source of income. The money has ruined competition. Also the mainstream media just doesn't understand auto racing. Just read that idiot Hinton if you don't think so. I could write volumes on this. -- Shawn Eyre, Rochester, MN Racing is very diverse and covers many different cultures. As long as the racing organizations do not do what other sports organizations have done and let a labor unions decide pay, it will continue to grow. Racing is a fan based sport and should stay that way. -- Shane Landen, Durham, NC I would not change a thing! NASCAR is the fastest growing sport in the country because of it's tight racing and driver personalities and accessibility if anything changes there you would have another IRL or CART it would ruin it! -- Lance Afflerbach, Zionsville Stop finishing races under caution. The fans paid a lot of money to watch racing and to deprive them of an exciting finish is like saying "We don't care about you." There should be single file starts, starting with the lap the accident happened. It's like when you sit down to a big dinner of steak and just before you try to eat it someone slips a hot dog on your plate. You pay the same price but it's not the same. -- Jim Wilkins, Gloversville, NY NASCAR is a Southern tradition. Blacks and Hispanics make up about 35% of the population of the South. To increase the fan base to include this segment of the population, why not have a few Black or Hispanic drivers? A guy like Rick Hendricks could go and find a competent minority driver to operate one of his cars. Fan support of a driver seems to be more important than winning anyway (See: Dick Trickle). If the "us against them" consequence could be avoided, minority drivers could not only broaden fan base, and therefore make the car owners and the track owners more money, but also bring the peoples of the south together in a new and exciting manner. This also could be applicable for women drivers. -- Gerard Taylor, Baltimore, MD Tobacco and beer advertising should be deemphasized. More families would be inclined to watch auto racing if their children were not being bombarded by ads for Winston, Miller, Budweiser, and Skoal. One other thing: Put Burton Smith out of business !! He, along with Eddie Gossage, built a stinker of a track here in Texas. Auto racing needs no more mile and a half with 24 degree banking in the turns racetracks. This track in particular winds up putting one or more Winston Cup drivers on the shelf every year. Also, NASCAR needs another short track to go with Richmond, Martinsville, and Bristol. -- Trey Hamiter, Dallas, TX I don't think they need to expand their fan base -- they need to take care of the fans they have. It has gotten too commercial, too impersonal, too corporate and too expensive. It used to be hard to find a race on TV, then they got cable and satellite coverage, and now it's mainstream, but the quality has gone down. The cars aren't 'stock', the drivers don't have the time (or perhaps the inclination) to get personal with the fans -- it is different but not better. Don't expand until they fix what they have. -- Chris, Homestead, FL All major sports benefit from television exposure. The most logical course would be to increase racing exposure on television. The networks should broadcast the races without commercials interrupting the race, instead they could use commercial inserts as they do when broadcasting soccer. Another would be a children's ticket partial refund upon arrival at the track. You buy the tickets in advance as usual and get a refund if a child comes along. This would make it affordable for the entire family to go. -- Stephen Frickx, Chicago, IL With a large percentage of the fan base being female, I think they should also be represented as driver... These Fortune 500 sponsors need to get out there and back the women currently at the lower levels of competition. We also need sponsors that appeal to woman -- I would love to be the one in the Victoria's Secret Car: car number 36C! -- Sandy Johnson, Bethlehem, CT Make it less expensive to attend events. It costs an arm and a leg to watch an event live. -- Niko Avila, San Antonio, TX Fan accessibility is the key. I have attended NASCAR Winston Cup races, BGN races, and CTS races. By far, the CTS drivers and promoters understand where racing's roots are. At Pikes Peak recently, the entire Garage area was opened after Happy Hour on Saturday, and any fan could walk around look at the cars and trucks, and get autographs. Not only were there tables set up for the drivers, but I observed such CTS stars as Jimmy Hensley (who stood in the same spot for over 30 minutes) and Ron Hornaday (who walked the line of fans waiting for those at the tables) making themselves immediately accessible to the fans. Think this would happen at a WC or CART race, not on your life. The fans are the ones who allow the WC drivers to get the big sponsorships, buying those items to the exclusion of other products. Let's give some of that loyalty back! -- Jim Forte, Lubbock, TX I think we need to decrease the fan base. I am tired of the first time fan getting tickets from the corporate sponsor that are next to my seats and that I have spent twenty years trying to get. This fan actually asked me which way the cars went around the track. I like NASCAR better when the drivers stayed at the same hotel I did. Often times you would see them in the hotel eating dinner. Today they have to stay in their motor homes to avoid the press and the crowds. Perhaps a smaller fan base. less TV revenue and less sponsorships deals would be better. -- True Fan, Strongsville, OH The way to expand the fan base of motor sports beyond the current "cliques" is to create a global racing "Formula" which embodies the best features of stock and prototype racing. Under such a standard, drivers can compete at comparable regional circuits to earn places in international Grand Prix events. -- Juan Fernandez, Aurora, CO Maybe driving around in circles for 2 1/2 hours isn't exciting for most people. Another aspect to racing should be added such as: When the caution flag comes out, instead continued driving they should have to stop and when they do, they break out into a paintball competition. If you get hit, you're out of the race. And if someone shoots you with the paintball gun and then you run them over, you are also out of the race. -- Dave Sebele, Sarnia, Ontario
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