Small crowd at Atlanta.

I was amazed at the small crowd at the Atlanta race yesterday. I enjoy the races at this very fast track and didn't think they would have trouble selling most of their tickets. To see all those empty seats was disturbing on one hand, but made me quite happy when I remember that this is another track owned by Bruton Smith and priced out of range of most families. Maybe the other tracks saw all the empty seats and will drop their prices so they can draw more fans.

I'm puzzled, is it the economy or the racing that has been keeping more fans at home? Does it go deeper than that, or has NASCAR reached the peak of their populatity and the fans base is beginning to slip? What are your thoughts?

Bumpertag in S. Carolina

updated by @bumpertag: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM

The answer in my opinion...a little of both, BT. I know the economy has had an impact, but I think there may be a fan issue as well. As the sport has evolved, NASCAR has failed to replace the fans lost through evolution....at a rate equal to the loss. They are attempting to reach new markets, developing things like their diversity program...etc. Although I haven't noticed much of a shift in their reported demographics...I tend to think their demographic may be getting younger, too....which ...in my opinion affects dollars spent on NASCAR. To make matters even worse...that poor the attendance is lower than desired after reductions in ticket prices. I hate to see them struggle...but they brought all this on themselves...along with our help...which came in the form of support.


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Founder/Creator - RacersReunion®

Well put Jeff. Looking at it from this view makes me begin to wonder what lies in their future. Will the very young "New" fan grow and continue to support NASCAR and their sponsors? When I went to my first race the ticket was $8.00. The next year it climbed to $11.00 and my income hasn't been able to keep up with the increased prices. The last ticket I bought was at Charlotte and it was $140.00 each and I had to buy 3. That was it for me, no more! How can the newer fans afford these tickets, and for what? From my point of view the racing doesn't live up to what I remember as a young fan. I can't buy tickets at todays prices.At today's prices I'm grateful for the coverage on TV, but it comes with a price. When the TV coverage was non-existant, we the fans bought our tickets and followed the sport and carried NASCAR up to it's peak. Then when TV started carring the races and the sponsors noticed the huge fan base, the money became the vocus, not the fans. Now the tracks are struggling to put people in the seats, so in my eyes this problem is self-inflected. $100 tickets, $10 parking, $5 hot dog and $3 cokes, and they don't see the problem... unbelievable!Maybe we are to blame for spending our money to support the racing we love. Well I have corrected that mistake for myself, and from the looks of the crowds, I guess I'm not the only one. Thanks

I heard there were lots of unsold $35.00 tickets at Fontanna a couple of weeks ago. hmmmmm. Bumpertag said:

Well put Jeff. Looking at it from this view makes me begin to wonder what lies in their future. Will the very young "New" fan grow and continue to support NASCAR and their sponsors? When I went to my first race the ticket was $8.00. The next year it climbed to $11.00 and my income hasn't been able to keep up with the increased prices. The last ticket I bought was at Charlotte and it was $140.00 each and I had to buy 3. That was it for me, no more! How can the newer fans afford these tickets, and for what? From my point of view the racing doesn't live up to what I remember as a young fan. I can't buy tickets at todays prices.

At today's prices I'm grateful for the coverage on TV, but it comes with a price. When the TV coverage was non-existant, we the fans bought our tickets and followed the sport and carried NASCAR up to it's peak. Then when TV started carring the races and the sponsors noticed the huge fan base, the money became the vocus, not the fans. Now the tracks are struggling to put people in the seats, so in my eyes this problem is self-inflected. $100 tickets, $10 parking, $5 hot dog and $3 cokes, and they don't see the problem... unbelievable!

Maybe we are to blame for spending our money to support the racing we love. Well I have corrected that mistake for myself, and from the looks of the crowds, I guess I'm not the only one. Thanks

--
Founder/Creator - RacersReunion®