Aren’t you tired of professional sports blaming their slumping attendance on the ECONOMY? I am.
NASCAR claims their attendance is down because of the ECONOMY. Is it the Economy or is it just the fact they are losing their appeal. From what I have seen even the the TV viewership is down. That is not an ECONOMY issue. Just think what a Race Party you can have for the cost of the tickets. But, under the leadership of Helton and the heir of the France family, I personally believe it is the false, the ill-fated trust of the France heir, in Helton which has led to the downturn in FANBASE.
First they wanted to separate themselves from the “redneck” heritage of the sport. Then they decided that people came only to watch their big name, well financed, drivers. So they gave them “SUPER STATUS”. Automatic starting positions, regardless of qualifying time. What this amounts to is they do not have to set up for qualifying, They just get more practice on their racing set up. Then came the “CHASE”. Big deal. All that accomplished was a HYPE point. No longer would the best performer throughout the season be champion. Now only, what is it, 12 drivers, get to compete. This after a reset of points. An example a driver could be in the top 10 of every race. But because he hasn’t won a race it is possible he may not make the “CHASE”, he probably will but if the Race winners were evenly spread among twelve racers, He would start so far behind the the others that he would not have a chance of winning. He may have won the Championship under the old system. We will never know. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Now they have the NASCAR’s car. Nothing related to the showroom car. Unless NASCAR decides to open up their own dealership and sell these cars. Wake up FORD, CHEVY, and TOYOTA. How much can a decal cost. Let us consumers have some of that money you invest in NON brand cars. You can probably make more money that way. I ask you is a decal with your name on it worth the millions you pay for it? NASCAR is seeing a steady drop in fanbase. Even on TV which is free. Most is not related to the Economy. But to the lack of entertainment value.
As for the other sports. You have your STARS. You pay so much for. Do you really think they bring in that many people to see your TEAM. How many tickets do you have to sell to meet their Exorbitant pay. I remember a time One YANKEE player made more than the entire payroll of the Montreal Expos. What do they bring to the game that is so special. If you want to see real baseball watch your local Little League or High School team. You spend Millions promoting these players to make them seem to be supermen. Get real players and bring your cost down, so people can afford to attend games. I guess that is why the NBA, NFL, etc do not like the small venue teams. Usually in these areas you don’t have the Millionaires who can afford to attend the games. You will always have the die hard fans. That will somehow come up with the money to attend at least one game. Let’s see. A family of four, 2 Adults, 2 children. At an average of $60 dollars a ticket, that is $240. Plus an average of $20 to park. We are now up to $260 to see millionaires play a simple game. Usually attending a game means souvenirs for the children. A cheap souvenir usually costs $10, that takes us to $280 for the game. Lets not forget snacks. Usually $5 for popcorn, that is a lot of markup. Drinks for the kids which usually cost $4 ea. Beer for Mom and Dad. Minimum of $5 ea. So we now have spent $38 for snacks. Raising our cost to $318. Many times in order to take in a game we eat out. Even at Burger King that is at least a $20 bill. Now we are at $338 to watch players who make more for one game than we will in 1 to 3 months. Blame the drop on the Economy? Some teams have acted on this and dropped their ticket prices and snack price. They are gaining Fanbase. This will result in more licensed paraphernalia sale, and as the economy picks up this income will grow.
Wake up Owners and Players. I am a Union Man. I understand players want to get as much as they can. Owners you want a larger profit. I understand this. But what you don’t understand is you can price yourelves totally out of business. Isn’t it better to make $20 on one ticket and have 38000 people attend, or $4o and only have 18000 people attend. The 38000 will spend more on lower cost accesories than the 18000. Both be reasonable. Fanbase is the key to profits
That Is How I See It.