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

advertise knoxville nationals then show pinks all out {good show speed tv}

the times for the Nationals have been removed from my TV listings since last sunday

No matter what the program guides say, Speed was there on Saturday for the live broadcast, it was rained out after the C. They didn't return on Sunday for the taping of the rest so I doubt if they will ever show anything at all. Just might have to pack up and attend in person. I don't see anyone trying to do a live broadcast again soon as the last two for Speed have been postponed because of rain and they up and move on and abandon the broadcast. I don't think Speed is the way to go.

My wife told me if I went to one more Sprint Car race 
she would leave me.................I'm sure gonna miss 
that ol' gal. 

APlease remember ALL Speed cares about Now is NASCAR !!! they are NOT like TNN when they stayed to 3am est to cover Knight befor Kings royal or stay over nite to cover woo !!! Nascar is their only consern now; and some stupid chit show to fill in when nascar is not on !!!

Long Live  20 Time  World Of Outlaws Champion Steve 
Kinser #11 

I was told today from a buddy who has been attending the Nationals for some time now...we were talking today about his recent trip and all the rain they had, we were talking about the coverage with Speed and he had heard Knoxville was going to have Speed there next year for the 50th Nationals and after that no more coverage....Knoxville feels the LIVE feed they do on Sat. night is killing there attendance...and I can see there point.

Maybe next year both sides will reconsider the contract for the "really big shew" and just forget it. Admit it fanz, not great on tv is it?

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

Has anyone seen the ASCS coverage on Versus (Saturdays around 3pm MST)? It blows Speedtv away. Versus actually has replays and makes an attemt to cover the entire field. Versus seems to have picked up where TNN left off. Speedtv should stick to NASCAR, F1 and all the other (yawn) forms of motorsports.

They should black it out in the local area like other sports do. For those who want to be there but can not due to jobs and other reasons seeing it on TV is the only option.

See more racing videos at
http://www.youtube.com/user/dagunner

Pay Per View with a % going to the track will help that.

According to my sources television wanted $50,000.00 dollars to stay for Sunday's races.

who is to blame, speed tv or did the knoxville raceway not wanted it live sunday night??

It wasn't Knoxville not wanting them to stay.....As I said the wanted Fifty thousand extra dollars to stay over Sunday for those two races.

I think HBO is. Granted, it's really cool to have Speed do it and get to watch it for next to nothing - BUT - as we have seen, it doesn't work out. There are not a lot of networks that are not willing to touch sprint car/dirt track racing. ESPN doesn't really care - it's more viable for them to do utter bullshit. It seems to never really be done right. The best thing sprint car racing has going for it right now on the video end is Versus. Their broadcast are really good - the only drawback there is it's televised so late.

So unless Versus is willing to do it live - then the other option is something akin to an HBO PPV. And even then - how come HBO never came back for the Chili Bowl. It must have not made much and I'd believe it - as much as the hardcore fans like us bitch about it - we should face the fact. This is a first rate sport - the excitement is great - but it is so conditional on weather and track prep - goose eggs happen - add to that this sport lacks any real leadership or vision - and it makes sense that our sport is not viable at all. Just look at the leadership of this sport. It seems like every other sport got it - yeah fans at the venue are most important - but they market the living shit out of their sports. That has no happened - with any sustained success - in this sport.

This sport could use a dose of one of the best promoters of our generation - Dana White - promoter of that Mixed Martial Arts stuff. Look - that probably is a second rate sport - and despite the obnoxious arrogance of Dana White - the guy is simply a brilliant promoter. He built his stuff from the ground up - unlike the Selig's and Goodell's and Stern's who inherited an already popular product. White has eliminated almost anyone whohas ever went against him - no matter how much money they had behind him. I can't stand that sport personally ....... but it is led by a brilliant promoter and spinmaster. Our sports counter to that is what? John Katich? This sport is run by a collection of Joh Katich's. The few good promoters this sport has - have none of the capability to really make it bigger. When faced with the growing trend of marketing, television, internet, etc. etc. - this sport instead reverted BACKWARDS - instead of innovative promoters - we have backgate promoters. Probably one of the best promoters this sport has is Emmet Hahn - like him or not - he built his from the ground up - and generally it's on the up and up. He is truly an innovative promoter. But there are not many like him - add to that most promoters are constantly working against each other.

And it still gets worse. This sport relies on the same sponsorship system that existed decades ago. You got 40-50k motors - so that guys can thrill a few thousand fans and get 1k for your winning efforts. After fuel, pit pass, tires, etc. - they are lucky to break even. The sponsorship of years past is out the window - it's far more effective to advertise your business in other ways (internet, TV, etc.). This sport has no real presence or marketing value. It's not on TV - it's not seen by masses - it may as well be in the dark age. Whether your a 12 year old going for the first time - or a 40 year old goin' for the first time - it's usually a thrill. How in the hell can we have no real MEANINGFUL presence in in the wide world of sports? Look how many people are watching it every week? Just how many people attend a dirt track event on any given weekend? There are a lot of dirt tracks in this country - there's a ton of people between all of them. So there is some light in that.

I think we need more innovative approaches. I think we need a more passionate and better yet UNITED fan base. I think if promoters work together for the benefit of the entire sport - then fans would follow suit. When there is a PPV showing of the Chili Bowl (one of the best races on earth) by all rights 90% of dirt track fans should be buying it - not 15%. I think the sport needs better rules and opportunity. This sport is not quite the stepping stone it seems - in fact - it's kind of the opposite. How much young talent gets lost in the mire of the bullshit structure? Young talents but with parents and limited backing. Out there with 20k motors so they can get embarrased by those with 40k motors. How much talent does not get fully recognized because of the money structure? I bet a lot more than it seems.

I think the promoters could kill this sport. As they wrote the rules to allow and even influence 40-50k motors. Best way to put it. They wrote the rules to allow 5 times more spending then 20 years ago (maybe more, I am estimating) - but yet they have barely doubled the purses. Thats not a strategy for sustained success. Upping the costs of the sport in every way - and yet providing less and less return. I guess that is what I am getting it - the PRINCIPLES of the sport must change, we should probably be worrying more about how the quality racing this sport has can be sustained - rather than how we can get on TV and go to the next level. The premier class of the sport is clearly fading - just like the Bush Administration that never wanted to admit a recession - many fans don't want to admit that it is. But it has been fading for some time. This is really bad for the sport. Yeah I like 360's - but once the 410's are confined to lil tiny islands in the overall sprint car scene (which is perilously close if not here already) - it will be the 360's turn to fade - as their structure isn't much better (40k motors - $1,500 to win). Then what? 305's? ummm........

The trend has to be stopped. Thats great for those in Ohio, PA, and select other small areas that they have quality 410 racing - but the credibility of quality 410 racing is and should be goin' down the drain. Something the confined can't be that premier. Quality 360 racing is more widespread - but I truly think they will run into the same issues as well. The more I think about it - we are among the sports truly on the edge. If the economy ever tanks more than what it has the last 2 years - if we ever have a worse crisis - our sport as we know it is truly on the edge and could be one of the first sports to truly fall to it.

But I don't think this matters to the majority of fans of this sport. Most just care about what is going on in their backyard - with the track they are closest too or attend the most. A much smaller group cares about their region. Very very few care about the state of this sport nationwide. I don't address this near as much to those who frequent this forum - in truth we are the diehard fans - it's the other 70% of fans of this sport who we never see on here. I believe a majority of fans of this sport aren;t engaged enough to get on forums like this - to see what is happening outside of their backyard. Most down in my area could care less if 410's fail - we never see em - who cares? I care - this has been the premier division of sprint car racing for 2 decades - and the only series that represents a truly nationwide following (WoO). I think even though the fans in OH, PA, etc. have great 410 racing - they should care what is happening to it. Not every sprint car fan can just pack up and move there - besides......would ya'll really like it if they did? lol. Maybe it is necessary for the 410's and 360's to die off. Maybe we need sprint car racing to be a second slower. I think we need it where the top of the line motors are not 40-50k - but half that - and with an even bigger purse than what is being paid out now. I'm not quite sure how to attain anything - I am obviously just as clueless on specifics of how to change the problems in our sport as those who actually run the sport, as they can't seem to really solve it either. But even from the stands - I can clearly see them.

To me- our sport provides one of the greatest ironies in ALL of sports. This sport has 2 different worlds - literally. On one hand - it has become very elitist. Just look at the dough it takes to start - let alone maintain - an even semi-competitive team. In many ways - racing is more and more exclusively for the rich. It's hard to get funding - so bout the only way for a youngin' to even get out there for any length of time is.........rich parents, or a helluva connection.

On the flip side - our sport is one of the great values for fandom. A fan of stick and ball sports - will be charged out the ass to attend it - not ours. You can see millions of dollars of equipment for 10 bucks much of the time lol. The viewing of our sport is anything BUT elitist. You don't have to be rich to watch a race. Is this not opposite most sports? Look at football, basketball, or baseball. You don;t have to be rich to play the sport itself - just get a few friends and some pigskin. But you probably do have to be well off to have season tickets!

Maybe thats an issue - never much thought about like this until now. We are the opposite of the bigger sports. Our sport you have to be rich to participate, but even a bum could attend. Other sports - a bum could probably play - but you have to be well off to attend. If I was lookin for irony a few paragraphs ago - I think I found it but boy this post sure started as one thing and turned into another lol. Maybe I have been long overdue for a good rant. I hope/think I did make some decent points in it, maybe a few worth pondering for a moment.....

How much would could a wouldchuck chuck if a 
wouldchuck could chuck would

Neither... blame Mother Nature.

I'm starting to wonder if some will realize that, while we all love Sprint Car Racing, 99% of the country do not have any idea what as to what a sprint car is?

Yes, sprint car racing has its ardent followers, but your next door neighbor has no idea of it - and is likely to never care to learn what it is.....

Smarter minds than ours develop business plans for TV and TV networks - don't you think for a minute that there'd be more sprint car racing on TV if those networks felt that they could turn a PROFIT(sell ads) by televising sprint car racing? It's very much a boutique, or niche sport, with a very limited interest by the general public.

Any TV that we get, be it on Speed or on Versus, is due to someone's investing in the sport for a profit. But since TV costs money to produce, and live TV cost's even more, how can we expect any money losing show to sustain itself on TV? Knoxville decided not to fund the rained-out races and show the finals on live TV....while I don't know, I'm guessing that the Knoxville show on Speed was a "time-buy", with Knoxville buying air time from Speed, and then selling and retaining any advertising revenue. So a rainout just drove up the potential costs, which Knoxville chose to NOT support - hence, no TV on Sunday. And it's pretty hard to sell ads on such short notice....

I think that we need to get over our "manifest destiny" perspective of sprint cars on TV. It's not our right, but a privilege, to see any sprint cars on TV....

Complaining about the lack of it won't change much...IMO, it's time to let this thread die.....

Chuck.....

Regarding OKCfan 12's post, another problem is the younger generation.

From pre-school on they see the X Games and Monster Trucks on TV. The slow parts are edited out, so on the broadcast there's a wipeout every 2 minutes. To them even the best race is slow and boring.

Fifty years ago Boxing and Horse Racing were HUGE in this country. How big are they now?

On a positive note - I finally got around to watching the King's Royal that I had on the DVR for a while and it was a fantastic production. Very entertaining with great racing and very good production values. If you are wanting to get a friend interested in sprint car racing it would be a good example to show them.

Phil Taylor

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