Really?
Eric Shanks, Fox Sports President, said his network has not seen the ratings declines from men 18-34 in its NFL and Major League Baseball broadcasts as in NASCAR. (Dustin Long) Fox' David Hill says he's been particularly concerned by a 30 percent drop in NASCAR's 18-34 male demographic. (Mike Mulhern) The results of an internal review of NASCAR have revealed as true what has long been suspected. NASCAR is losing fans in their key 18-34 year old demographic. (Kristin Watt, Yahoo Sports)
Despite its tightest championship battle in years last season, attendance dipped in 27 of 36 races and ratings fell 10% (20% during the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the 10-race finale to determine the title). The most alarming drop in NASCAR's popularity, though, was in the 18 to 34 demographic highly coveted by sponsors. (Nate Ryan, USA Today)
Both television and tracks report their 18-34 demographic decreasing. Television executives and sponsors desperately want to attract a younger audience – the key to advertising in the future (Bob Pockrass, Scene Daily)
Up 20-something percent, huh? More like down 20-something percent. What is the primary reason for Red Bull leaving NASCAR?
Google 'V8 Supercar demographic'. Aside from what the Camry of Tomorrow should have been, it also has the demographics that sponsors are clamoring for in NASCAR.
BZF on Sprint extending title sponsorship:
“The relationship is very good,” France said. “It's a program that's worked extremely well for them. They would, I think, tell you that."
Think again. On June 16, 2003 NASCAR announced Nextel (Sprint) as title sponsor replacing Winston. Nextel's stock price closed at $14.34. Today Sprint stock is hovering around $2.20 per share, down 85% from 2003. BTW: Verizon, June 16, 2003 $35.63. Today: $36.60.
ISC announces 15 consecutive quarters of declining admissions
Yep, all is good in the Ivory Towers of Daytona.
Absentee Owners
Fans, crew chiefs, and drivers have complained about absentee owners over the last decade, TEI being one in particular. But what about another absentee owners? The owners of NA$CAR? You don’t see many complaints about the CEO and President of NA$CAR not being at the tracks. According to his PR people, who supplied him with the figures, he’s supposedly at 16 races a year. But how come folks don’t see him? Not even the folks working the suites, race control, or even the garage see Faux King Brian at any track except for Daytona, Charlotte, or Homestead and that‘s mainly for photo ops and to do his usual imitation of Professor Irwin Cory and/or Elmer Fudd. You don’t see Jim France or Lesa France Kennedy at the track except for a photo op and those are even rarer than Faux King Brian being seen at the track.
Both Big and Little Bill were fixtures in the garage area, keeping their fingers on the pulse of what was going on. They talked with owners, drivers, crew chiefs, and even fans who approached them or whom they approached. So why doesn’t His Highness, Faux King Brian, his uncle, and his sister do the same thing? I’ve heard and read the excuses. “That’s not my style of management”. “I don’t like being in the spotlight”. Big and Little Bill led from the front and led by example so they knew what was going on and paid attention to what was happening. Big Bill’s experience as a mechanic and driver gave him keen insight as to what was going on. Little Bill followed him around like a shadow when he was old enough and learned from his father’s example. He knew the players in the garage, the manufacturers, and the parts distributors and would talk with them. What does Faux King Brian do on the rare occasion when he’s at the track? Other than being seen for those photo ops, h e hides in the suites, drinks copious amounts of “soda”, and isn’t seen by even his minions. He has no idea of what’s going on in the garage. He doesn’t talk to the crew chiefs. He rarely talks to the drivers. And the last team owner whose company he was seen in is the same owner whose suite and home he visits in Charlotte and Cornelius respectively. Even Bruton doesn’t see him when he’s at Charlotte unless it’s for some photo op at the track when there are no fans around or races being run. And seeing his uncle or sister at any track other than Daytona is an oddity.
So if you want to know why things are so messed up, here are some things to think about. You have leaders/owners (and I use the term leader loosely) who are rarely if ever seen. You have a leader whose sole experience is with marketing and not racing. You have the bulk of the staff under him whose experience is with marketing and not racing. There are few people on his staff who have actual racing experience, whether it’s as a mechanic, team owner, or driver (Brett Bodine). You have Helton and Darby who learned under either Big or Little Bill but their advice seems to be ignored for the most part. It’s like their just biding their time til they retire. The generic car which the fans, drivers, and 3 out of 4 manufacturers detest continues to be flaunted as the cure all because Faux King Brian “knows what’s best for the sport”. You have TV broadcasts that are scripted as to what will and won’t be covered from Daytona Beach and are more of an infomercial than an actual race presentation and shows during the week which have dictated coverage. Everything must be in the “happy happy joy joy” format. Is it any wonder the TV ratings for the races and shows suffer and the grandstands are half empty?
Unless something radical is done soon and I do mean soon, like sending His Highness off to hunt snipe or purchase an NFL team for LA, not even the Herculean efforts of somebody like Humpy Wheeler or Roger Penske can save what’s left. Teams are folding left and right, major sponsors are leaving in droves, the grandstands are looking like an aluminum recycler’s dream with all the empty seats showing in the grandstands, 3 of the 4 manufacturers aren’t happy with the generic car because it doesn‘t resemble anything in production, and the TV ratings are so bad that if they were a regular network show they‘d have been dropped and replaced with re-runs of Gilligan‘s Island or Star Trek. So somebody had better get moving soon before it gets to the point where my now 13 month old grandson ask me one day when he’s in grade school, “Grandpa? What was NASCAR?”.
R.I.P. Mazda Rotary Engine
After a 45 year run, Mazda is ending production of its rotary engine. 3 years of deficits, increased emissions standards, and poor sales of the RX-8 drove a stake into the heart of the rotary engine program. But Mazda can hold their heads high for something they did. They are the only Japanese manufacturer to ever win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That’s one bit of bragging rights the other Japanese manufacturers can’t make.
Sponsor Silly Season?
First, General Mills was totally going away. Now they’re doing a part-time sponsorship on Mayor McCheese’s car. Then Dollar General was going top pull the plug on all their racing sponsorship and now there are rumors of them going to either KBM or JGR. You have to wonder what’s next. AFLAC is supposedly leaving at the end of the year. Rumors of both NAPA and Home Depot being unhappy with the cars they currently sponsor and looking at possibly moving. It’s nearly as bad as the driver silly season. I guess we’ll know for sure what sponsor will be where come next year’s Daytona 500.
According to Forbes
What they don’t mention is how much he got paid by ISC’s conjoined twin, NA$CAR, Brand Non-Sense (his marketing company), his 6 rental properties in California, his rental properties in Florida, his rental properties in NC, and his businesses in both NC & Florida.
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