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Sport-NASCAR calls shrinking grandstands 'right-sizing'
Yahoo News ^ | 3/4/15 | Steve Keating - Reuters

Posted on 03/04/2015 6:16:54 PM PST by NormsRevenge

NEW YORK, March 4 (Reuters) - NASCAR calls it "right-sizing" but others see it as sign that something is terribly wrong with America's most popular motor sport as thousands of seats are being removed from tracks across the United States.

The sprawling Charlotte Motor Speedway, which once drew a crowd of 167,000, is removing 41,000 seats while tracks in Dover and Atlanta will chop capacity by at least 17,000.

"Right-sizing is the term," NASCAR's Chief Operating Officer Brent Dewar told Reuters after addressing the Sport Business Summit in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday. "It is what you are seeing in all sports properties is the transformation of making the fan experience greater."

With TV ratings on a steady decline the sight of empty seats has served as a glaring reminder of the problems facing NASCAR as the series tries to recapture the glory days of the 1990s.

But Dewar maintains that downsizing is not so much a sign of trouble but a sign of the times reflecting the race experience fans demand and the way they consume sports.

"What you are seeing at a lot of the tracks is widening of the seats, additional suite access, venues that allow a better fan experience," said Dewar. "It is not just going to the race; it is more than the race.

"That is the story you are seeing at many of the tracks, football stadiums and baseball parks. The fan expectation today going to a sports venue is changing."

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: grandstands; nascar; rightsizing; shrinking
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To: Captain7seas

How cool is that!


61 posted on 03/04/2015 8:18:42 PM PST by wjcsux ("In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell)
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To: NormsRevenge

I’m not a fan and don’t know anything about NASCAR, but I surmise that the real reason NASCAR is losing fans is the economy. So many people who used to make a decent income are now not working, working part-time, or working at a job that pays less than what they had. Government is making it impossible for people to afford anything other than the necessities. Killing upward mobility and the American dream.


62 posted on 03/04/2015 9:05:36 PM PST by Pining_4_TX (All those who were appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48)
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To: Clay Moore

Bump post 42 bump bump bump

Can just hear the mouth foaming outrage over Bill Elliot’s T-Bird success between the Frances and the “right People”.


63 posted on 03/05/2015 12:49:17 AM PST by Rockpile
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To: Varsity Flight

Teutonic??? What??? Was sagen sie?


64 posted on 03/05/2015 12:54:45 AM PST by Rockpile
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To: freedom6178
Commercialism and political correctness is why I stopped watching.

Mr. Bergis, you speak for all of us!

65 posted on 03/05/2015 12:58:09 AM PST by Rodamala
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To: keyesguy

All true. They could let the drivers race harder, but thats not wanted for driver safety, and probably the big money sponsors dont want the cars wrecked early in the races. They are racing advertisement signs. But Nascar is still a great sport. When more big money got involved things changed. They would be smart to get more southern drivers. The people who actually built the sport.


66 posted on 03/05/2015 2:19:59 AM PST by Carry me back (.)
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To: henkster

The Indy 500 was a national holiday.
GENTLEMEN START YOUR ENGINES actually meant something.
It was a big deal back then.

As for nascar, It has become WWF mixed with PC
They would give their you know whats up for a good black driver today to go with miss danica.

Some races are fun to watch still but far too many have zero action unless they can throw a caution and bunch them up at the end.


67 posted on 03/05/2015 3:03:09 AM PST by winodog (hang on tight to Gods salvation)
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To: tcrlaf

The only thing stock on a NASCAR racer is the Ford, Chevy or Dodge name plate.


68 posted on 03/05/2015 3:52:20 AM PST by X Fretensis
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To: Steve_Seattle

Yes, young metrosexual males are interested in tweeting and snap chatting stupid pictures, not hot rods and working with mechanical things.


69 posted on 03/05/2015 4:24:24 AM PST by Trailerpark Badass (There should be a whole lot more going on than throwing bleach, said one woman.)
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To: NormsRevenge

I have a very limited supply of disposable income. I find it difficult to justify attending the race.

Couple that with the time required to get in and out of the parking lot being longer than the race itself and you have the twofold reason I don’t attend anymore.

Perhaps I’ll attend Bristol someday. Now where did I put my scanner and headphones?


70 posted on 03/05/2015 6:06:23 AM PST by BraveMan
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To: NormsRevenge
NASCAR popularity was surging prior to the introduction of the Car Of Tomorrow (COT), but NASCAR killed their popularity with help from the economy and from the progressive media.

Before the COT, the manufacturers and their cars each still retained some individuality and brand recognition on the racetrack, along with fan loyalty.

But the COT was exactly the same body for everyone, removing the individual identity of the manufacturer and their cars and taking the fan loyalty with them.

Plus, though the COT was a major advancement in safety, its handling sucked and that silly wing on the back removed rear visibility for the driver. The drivers hated it as Kyle Bush stated after winning the COT's first race.

Between losing Dale Earnhardt and gaining the COT, NASCAR was no longer what it used to be and the fans had fewer reasons to spend their money for ever more expensive seats at the racetrack.

In the new obamanation, the media became far less interested in the gritty, down to earth, working class American entertainment that NASCAR had always been and looked to other venues that might be more universally competitive for the entertainment and advertising income.

Now, in 2015, the COT has gone away and some of the brand recognition has returned to a now far safer and better performing race car.

Unfortunately, NASCAR, with its Daddy knows best, my way or no way, totalitarian edicts, shot itself in a bad economy and, despite now having a better product to sell, it is still in recovery.

71 posted on 03/05/2015 6:44:58 AM PST by GBA (Just a hick in paradise)
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To: NormsRevenge

A good part of Nascar’s attendance problem can be tied back to the type of folks who enjoy auto racing. Blue collar, factory working, middle class families. The Budweiser and Miler beer crowd, 20% or more of which are unemployed or underemployed in the Obamaconomy.


72 posted on 03/05/2015 6:53:45 AM PST by IamConservative (If fighting fire with fire is a good idea, why do the pros use water?)
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To: NormsRevenge

I didn’t leave NASCAR. NASCAR left me.


73 posted on 03/05/2015 9:59:49 AM PST by houeto (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate)
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To: NormsRevenge
What you are seeing at a lot of the tracks is widening of the seats,

America is getting wider. I know I am.

74 posted on 03/05/2015 10:02:21 AM PST by McGruff (Maybe my comments were too nuanced for you)
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To: cripplecreek

1. Knock Out qualifying is just plain stupid.

2. Putting more & more events onto Satellite TV where people have to pay a monthly fee to see the events is also just plain stupid.

Today’s Social Security recipients live on a very fixed income & WE have been the die-hard NASCAR fans for years. Many of us cannot afford Direct or Dish TV. So you re losing all of us.

The less I am able to see the events on Television, the less I care to save up some money & try to go to an event live.

NHRA is committing suicide, also.

They have sold their event rights to ESPN, and here in the Reno market, ESPN is actually broadcasting Sat qualifying at 4 AM Sunday...I kid you not.

Sunday events are often broadcast at 10 PM Sunday night. Since there is a 2-3 hour difference between Reno time & most of the NHRA events, it is beyond stupid, IMO.

I first followed drag racing over 57 years ago. Then I got into Trans-Am, Can-Am, Formula 5000, Indy cars & NASCAR & Sprint cars. It is harder & harder to find a broadcast of any of these events on a free TV station.

So-—NASCAR & NHRA—you are both losing me & many others.


75 posted on 03/22/2015 9:38:34 AM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: cripplecreek

Why is it expensive? What is the regular price for good seats and the price for the baseball-called bleacher seats? I’ve never been to a race. Are they pricing the fan out of the stands, as football has done?


76 posted on 03/22/2015 9:44:53 AM PDT by rabidralph
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To: stump56

A couple of races ago they had a huge American flag and some other sponsor-type flags covering the unused seating area. It was glaringly obvious and embarrassing. Of course, one of the commentators had to remark how beautiful the area looked with the American flag on it.


77 posted on 03/22/2015 9:48:53 AM PDT by rabidralph
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To: keyesguy

You can mingle in the pits at a NHRA event, but I don’t know today’s costs.

When I was a kid, a pit pass cost you $4 and you could see pretty up close what everyone was doing between rounds.

Watching a complete engine/clutch change in less than 30 minutes could be awesome. The ‘bottom end” guy always had the toughest job-—hot & oily.


78 posted on 03/22/2015 9:51:48 AM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: Steve_Seattle

And yet, they still tried to appease the environmentalists by using ethanol at the track.


79 posted on 03/22/2015 9:52:05 AM PDT by rabidralph
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To: cripplecreek

1. Knock Out qualifying is just plain stupid.

2. Putting more & more events onto Satellite TV where people have to pay a monthly fee to see the events is also just plain stupid.

Today’s Social Security recipients live on a very fixed income & WE have been the die-hard NASCAR fans for years. Many of us cannot afford Direct or Dish TV. So you re losing all of us.

The less I am able to see the events on Television, the less I care to save up some money & try to go to an event live.

NHRA is committing suicide, also.

They have sold their event rights to ESPN, and here in the Reno market, ESPN is actually broadcasting Sat qualifying at 4 AM Sunday...I kid you not.

Sunday events are often broadcast at 10 PM Sunday night. Since there is a 2-3 hour difference between Reno time & most of the NHRA events, it is beyond stupid, IMO.

I first followed drag racing over 57 years ago. Then I got into Trans-Am, Can-Am, Formula 5000, Indy cars & NASCAR & Sprint cars. It is harder & harder to find a broadcast of any of these events on a free TV station.

So-—NASCAR & NHRA—you are both losing me & many others.


80 posted on 03/22/2015 9:54:45 AM PDT by ridesthemiles
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