Currently Nascar gets 560 million dollars per year in tv money. That snippit is from an article http://www.insideline.com/car-news/daytona-500-is-nascar-in-trouble.html in 2008. Sylvania 300 Draws Lowest Rating Ever For Chase For The Cup Race The first race of NASCAR's Chase For The Cup put up extremely low numbers on ESPN. Sunday's Sylvania 300 drew a 2.3 U.S. rating and 3.677 million viewers on ESPN, down 28% in ratings and 27% in viewership from last year (3.2, 5.044 mil) and down 39% and 40%, respectively, from 2008 (3.8, 6.098 mil). In each of the previous three years, the race aired on broadcast network ABC. This marks the lowest rated edition of the Sylvania 300 since at least 1999 (ratings prior to 2000 were not available) and the least viewed since at least 2000 (viewership prior to 2001 was not available). The 2.3 rating is easily the lowest ever for a Chase For The Cup race. The previous low was a 2.8 for the 2004 Sylvania 300 on TNT -- coincidentally, the first ever Chase For The Cup race. This is also the lowest rating for any NASCAR race -- Chase or otherwise -- over at least the past four seasons (dating back to 2007). Excluding races that were postponed due to rain, Sunday's race is the third of the season to draw less than a 3.0 rating. Only one race last year held that dubious distinction. Additionally, this is the seventh race of the season to draw less than five million viewers, compared to just two such races all of last year. Overall, of the 22 NASCAR races that can be compared to last year, 17 have had a decline in ratings and 16 have had a decline in viewership. Rumors are out there that this season Fox/ESPN/TNT/ABC are selling AD space for Nascar races at nearly 50 percent lower costs then they were in 2006. That is devastating and means tv networks have no chance of making money on this one lucrative business. When the contracts were signed in 2005 it gave Nascar the financial security needed to operate business at this high level regardless of the economy. Now that attendance at Nascar races is also down double digits from 2006 as well Nascar race teams have had to tighten the purse strings a bit to keep things going. Ten Cars going into 2011 do not have main sponsors and another 17 Cars that are already sponsored are facing taking less from there title sponsors or losing them all together. the tv deal runs from 06-13. Which gives Nascar big money for another three years. Race teams may want to save some of that money. One Un-named ESPN executive said "Nascar will be looking at less networks paying for there product after 2013, getting less then half of what they got on the last tv deal and for less years. The next tv deal for nascar may end up sending Nascar through the biggest financial disaster in pro sports history. With the current economic climate, Nascar is worth maybe 30 percent of the current deal." 30 percent of the current deal would mean over 350 MILLION dollars less per year. it will be interesting to see how the League responds to losing BILLIONS of dollars.
I'd heard somewhere that one of the problems they identified was having races on constantly at different times. But I bet having the season stretched across different networks doesn't help either. Could this be another case of a league outpricing it's hardcore fans and being subject to the whims of the fairweather but financially capable fan? (See: the incredible vanishing waiting list at New Giants Stadium/Yankee Stadium).
Where'd you get the quotes? I'm a big Nascar fan, I think they moved in the right direction starting this season, and honestly don't think the chase is all that bad of an idea. The economy just really sucks right now.
Outside of soccer, I'm a huge motorsports fan, mainly Nascar, MotoGP and World Superbike. I've always disliked the switching of networks, but in general I've like how Nascar presented the shows, and the chase and the car of tomorrow..etc. Outside of the economy you can point to a million different reasons why attendance is down and viewership. Cookie cutter tracks versus the old legend tracks, price at the gates...lack of personalities...just like other sports, once your hero's are gone the new one's just don't do it for you..etc. Mystery caution flag anyone?... Motorsports really, really feel the heat though cause they rely so much on sponsorship money for their day to day operations. When it comes to TV ratings..all 0 ppl that I've ever met that had a ratings box.........never attended a race!!! But I do agree that the sport is hurting on multiple levels.
I do not think the economy can be blamed for lower ratings. The NFL has seen some incredible numbers that are trending upwards the last two years. Analysts have said the increase is due to the economy. Heard this on a radio show, so I would not know where to find this info, but I am sure someone on here can!
NASCAR is in a bit of a different boat from the NFL because the season is nearly 10 months long, many race time-slots compete with March Madness or the NFL itself (also some college football Saturday nights), and going to many of the tracks requires a de facto 3-4 day commitment.
the CoT is another thing I heard people complain about because they don't handle as well as the old car and it leads to more/bigger wrecks. This was from Michel Rahal. I don't watch the sport, but I catch things from here and there. Mystery caution flag indeed! lol
Another Rough Week For NASCAR: 2.4 Rating For AAA 400 For the second straight week, NASCAR ratings plumbed the depths on ESPN. Sunday's NASCAR AAA 400 drew a 2.4 U.S. rating and 3.966 million viewers on ESPN, down 23% in ratings and 22% in viewership from last year's race on ABC (3.1, 5.084 mil) and down 27% and 26%, respectively, from the 2008 race on ABC (3.3, 5.348 mil). The 2.4 rating is the second-lowest ever for a Chase For The Cup race, ahead of only last week's Sylvania 300 (2.3). Additionally, this is the second-lowest rated Sprint Cup race of any kind over at least the past four seasons. Keep in mind this excludes rained out races. This marks the lowest rated edition of the AAA 400 since at least 2000 (ratings prior to 2001 were not available) and the least viewed since at least 2001 (viewership prior to 2002 was not available). While the declining ratings can be partly attributed to the move from broadcast (ABC) to cable (ESPN), keep in mind that the AAA 400 aired on cable network TNT four times in the past decade (2002, 2004-06) -- drawing at least a 3.0 rating each year. The same can be said of last week's Sylvania 300. The 2.3 rating for that race not only trailed past editions of the race on ABC (2007-09), but TNT (2003-06) as well. So far this season, four Sprint Cup races have drawn less than a 3.0 rating, compared to just one last year. Eight races have drawn less than five million viewers, compared to just four over the previous two seasons combined. Overall, of the 23 NASCAR races that can be compared to last year, 18 have had a decline in ratings and 17 have had a decline in viewership. (ESPN) http://www.sportsmediawatch.net/2010/09/another-rough-week-for-nascar-24-rating.html#more