Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I'm guessing that the network fee will go up enough that Knoxville says "no thanks".

Charlotte is a different animal, I have no guesses there.

My guess is that outside of NASCAR, you won't see any auto racing on fox sports 1 as I believe F1 is going to NBC Sports in the near future.

On the plus side, this means more channels fighting for programming (Fox Sports 1, NBC Sports, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, CBS Sports, etc, etc.).

At some point, the big sports run out of programming to sell (MLB, NFL, NBA, NCAA FB and BB) and those channels will look for other things to fill time (hopefully that will mean TV time will be "cheaper" than what it has been in the past and you'll see more sprint car racing on TV.

I think the days of "Live" tv for sprintcars may be done however as ALL of these channels will pre-empt any dirt track racing programming in favor of any of the big sports (or shows related to them).

MavTV may become the new motorsports channel in the future, but right now it's kinda hindered by not being available to enough people (not on DirecTV or a lot of cable companies).

IMO Live TV (TNN) came years ago and took away a lot of the Charachter, Mystique and some

of the adult fun that made Knoxville a Special one time of the year event. Then they packed up they're

cameras and went home. As far as I'm concerned they can have their Live TV, It delays the show and

possibly the outcome of the race and the real race fans will find a way to be there in person or listen in

on some other form of media.

That would be ideal, and if I were a betting man I would put money on Turn2 getting to broadcast all 4 nights this year. It really is a win/win for the track....making money instead of spending it to be on a cable network. I would buy it at their current pricing structure.

The big question is do they have the infrastructure to handle the extra load? I suppose the server space and pipeline could be rented for one night, but they seem to have zero problem in that area so far so maybe it isn't needed?

Its times like this that I wish TNN was still around. Yes I know there were delays for commercials and everything but at least we got to see a lot of races on the network. Not everyone is able to go to Knoxville, Eldora, Williams Grove, Chico, etc but it would be nice to at least be able to watch those races live or a week after. Yes the internet is a great tool now but all that allows is current fans to log on and watch the race. If dirt track racing is going to survive, it needs to get air time on television or else the interest will just die off. Heck, I became a fan of sprint car racing because I saw it on TV and saw how cool it was. Word of mouth and having a fan take a friend or 2 to a race only does so much after a while.

Like it or hate it, Nascar is the top motorsports dog in this country and sadly I know some fans of Nascar that have never even heard of sprint car racing. There are several people in the demographic that could become fans but just do not know about it yet but unfortunitly Speed Channel and Fox Sports 1 has not done a good job of helping get new fans to the short tracks. Done a great job of talking about Nascar so much that those of us who used to love are now sick of it, but nothing for motorsports as a whole.

Has anybody ever heard of MAV TV??? just a thought !!

While that would be the first thought of many of us, here's something to consider.

The WoO Sprints are now sponsored by STP. MAV TV is owned by Forrest Lucas, of Lucas Oil fame. Not sure that would all work out very well.

Signature here.

I thought of that but the Knoxville Sprint Cup season is sponsored by Lucas and the Nationals is still a Knoxville deal and not a WoO sanctioned event as of now...

It's no different than when Ford Dealers of Iowa were the title sponsor. To be elgible for certain contingencies, you had to run a Ford Decal (even if you were sponsored by a Chevy Dealership or ran a Mopar Engine (Tony's car did with Lasoski at the wheel but the Ford sticker was applied to the wing and Mopar was still prominently displayed on the hood and wing).

Lucas is the WEEKLY sponsor of the races and sponsor the Late Model Nationals. I've heard that negotiations are ongoing for a title sponsor for the Nationals and that NO CONTRACTS have been signed for World of Outlaws sanctioning of any shows thus far (May, June, or the Nationals) -- that was as of the last Fairboard meeting anyway. Sounded like they anticipate signing the contractsthough and they are still negotiating a TV deal (with the change of Speed to Fox Sports 1, that may change things obviously).

If the FB signs a WoO contract for the Natls they had better NOT complain about NOT have any money for weekly shows... That is the BIGGEST waste of money the track can make... I know some members feel that they need to do it but NO.... That race is bigger than the WoO and even if the powers that be say no ... the drivers will all be there... it's the one race of the year they all want to win and it means as much to them as winning Indy does to the pavement guys..

The WoO needs the sanction of the Nationals worse than the Nationals need the sanction. I doubt if they demand a fee. It never pays more than show up points when they do sanction.