Your ideas to fix Indycar

[ICWS]

I think IndyCar made a mistake in resigning with ABC/ESPN for 5 races each year in addition to NBC sports instead of signing with NBC and their cable networks (NBC Sports, USA Network, Universal) for the entire season. I think we can all agree that NBC Sports provides far better race coverage than ABC/ESPN, and so I don't understand why they didn't decide to sign with the NBC network due to this, and the fact that they wouldn't have to compete with NASCAR on the same network.

With regards to scheduling races, although in a perfect world we would have an even distribution of superspeedways, short tracks, road courses and street circuits, it's clear most oval tracks don't help IndyCar with respect to attendance. However, I do think IndyCar should consider going to oval tracks that don't have more than 1 NASCAR Cup race per year like Kentucky and Chicagoland. For me, I'd like to see those two tracks, along with tracks like New Hampshire, Michigan, and Phoenix, be added to the current slate of oval tracks (Indianapolis, Texas, Milwaukee, Iowa, Pocono, Fontana). I know that IndyCar struggled with attendance the last times they went to those tracks, but I believe if they scheduled those tracks during weekends with appropriate weather they could get fair attendance. In addition, I would like to see IndyCar race at the ovals at Lausitzring and/or Rockingham Motor Speedway and provide itself as a real alternative to Formula 1 in Europe. I realize this appears to be wishful thinking, but I would appreciate it if IndyCar would consider these venue options.

Now, with road courses/street courses, the main suggestion I would have is for IndyCar to go back to traditional tracks (Elkhart Lake, Portland, Cleveland, etc.) and consider racing at Sebring and/or Road Atlanta. They could add those races with St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Sao Paulo, and Toronto. I'm not a big fan of street course races, so if were up to me, I would drop the races at Detroit, Baltimore, and Houston. Of course, we would see how the Houston race does and then I may reconsider my feelings towards that race. I'm also not really a big fan of the races at Sonoma, Mid-Ohio, and Barber, because of how narrow those tracks are, although I'd be willing to keep Barber because of its attendance. I would rather see road course races at Mexico City, Watkins Glen, and Montreal be added in place of those races.

The other main thing IndyCar should do is start and end the season earlier. Ideally, IndyCar would start the season the weekend after the Super Bowl and end the weekend before the NFL regular season begins. This would help with TV ratings and give the series some relevance during the dog days of summer for American sports, when Major League Baseball and NASCAR would be the main competition. If IndyCar added the races I recommended, they could begin their season with the warm weather races like Phoenix, Fontana, Sao Paulo, St. Petersburg, Sebring, Road Atlanta, and Mexico City and establish some momentum early on before they head to the Indianapolis in May.

[Starter]

I think IndyCar made a mistake in resigning with ABC/ESPN for 5 races each year in addition to NBC sports instead of signing with NBC and their cable networks (NBC Sports, USA Network, Universal) for the entire season. I think we can all agree that NBC Sports provides far better race coverage than ABC/ESPN, and so I don't understand why they didn't decide to sign with the NBC network due to this, and the fact that they wouldn't have to compete with NASCAR on the same network.

If I recall correctly, there were no other offers on the table. Or at least none with close to the same compensation package as that offered by ABC.

With regards to scheduling races, although in a perfect world we would have an even distribution of superspeedways, short tracks, road courses and street circuits, it's clear most oval tracks don't help IndyCar with respect to attendance. However, I do think IndyCar should consider going to oval tracks that don't have more than 1 NASCAR Cup race per year like Kentucky and Chicagoland. For me, I'd like to see those two tracks, along with tracks like New Hampshire, Michigan, and Phoenix, be added to the current slate of oval tracks (Indianapolis, Texas, Milwaukee, Iowa, Pocono, Fontana). I know that IndyCar struggled with attendance the last times they went to those tracks, but I believe if they scheduled those tracks during weekends with appropriate weather they could get fair attendance. In addition, I would like to see IndyCar race at the ovals at Lausitzring and/or Rockingham Motor Speedway and provide itself as a real alternative to Formula 1 in Europe. I realize this appears to be wishful thinking, but I would appreciate it if IndyCar would consider these venue options.

To consider those options, you first need a promoter who wants to host a race. Not all of those mentioned do.

Now, with road courses/street courses, the main suggestion I would have is for IndyCar to go back to traditional tracks (Elkhart Lake, Portland, Cleveland, etc.) and consider racing at Sebring and/or Road Atlanta. They could add those races with St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Sao Paulo, and Toronto. I'm not a big fan of street course races, so if were up to me, I would drop the races at Detroit, Baltimore, and Houston. Of course, we would see how the Houston race does and then I may reconsider my feelings towards that race. I'm also not really a big fan of the races at Sonoma, Mid-Ohio, and Barber, because of how narrow those tracks are, although I'd be willing to keep Barber because of its attendance. I would rather see road course races at Mexico City, Watkins Glen, and Montreal be added in place of those races.

The same comment applies as above. Also, Baltimore was one of the better attended races last year.

The other main thing IndyCar should do is start and end the season earlier. Ideally, IndyCar would start the season the weekend after the Super Bowl and end the weekend before the NFL regular season begins. This would help with TV ratings and give the series some relevance during the dog days of summer for American sports, when Major League Baseball and NASCAR would be the main competition. If IndyCar added the races I recommended, they could begin their season with the warm weather races like Phoenix, Fontana, Sao Paulo, St. Petersburg, Sebring, Road Atlanta, and Mexico City and establish some momentum early on before they head to the Indianapolis in May.

An early season start is definitely an idea worth considering.

[ICWS]

If I recall correctly, there were no other offers on the table. Or at least none with close to the same compensation package as that offered by ABC.


To consider those options, you first need a promoter who wants to host a race. Not all of those mentioned do.


The same comment applies as above. Also, Baltimore was one of the better attended races last year.


An early season start is definitely an idea worth considering.

I'll admit to not remembering what the specifics where in regards to the ABC/ESPN deal compared to other deals offered, if there were any. It just seemed like it would make perfect sense for IndyCar to commit fully to NBCUniversal and their subsidaries considering the quality coverage they already provide and, as I mentioned, they wouldn't be competing against NASCAR on the same network, and could potentially cross-promote their races during broadcasted NHL games, Triple Crown horse races, and PGA tournaments on NBC.

In regards to race promoters, that's the unfortunate situation for IndyCar, because I believe the series can provide a good product at some of these tracks, yet as you mentioned not all of those promoters want IndyCar there. That's why I would like the series to take matters in their own hands and get those involved in the series with an active interest and deep enough pockets to promote races, like how Michael Andretti promotes the Milwaukee race.

And I agree that Baltimore has good attendance, but for the sake of having a good racing track, I would exclude it. Of course, for now IndyCar has to have tracks like Baltimore and Barber where the on-track product isn't so great, but the attendance is better than other races.

[Chris R]

I agree about the TV package - but I believe it was a case of beggars can't be choosers.... In the long haul, it may have been more prudent to take the smaller pay package from NBC to have a unified/committed TV partner....

As far as tracks are concerned, Starter is right - there has to be mutual interest... I am also not so sure the venues mentioned were any better than what we have - some of those tracks were left because Indycars "outgrew" them. Others did not have the local economy to support Indycar or anything else for that matter....

As for the season. Indycar needs to be Indycar. They should start and end at the best time for Indycar - not because of the NFL or anyone else. I tend to think they ought to race every other weekend from March 1 to Nov 15 more or less....

I also think they may be well served by downplaying the idea of a series championship (not eliminating it - just make it less of a focus) and increase the focus on RACES - it is a subtle difference - but rather than reward the teams for seasons - increase the payout for each race. I am thinking that one of the problems with "competing" with other sports is that if you end the season by focusing on the championship you are defacto making it the most important race of the season and if nobody watches for whatever reason you have marginalized a whole season worth of work in less than 2 hours..... I don't have any great ideas - it just seems to me that the end of the season race being both important and more or less a bust is just bad.....

[Chris R]

I'll admit to not remembering what the specifics where in regards to the ABC/ESPN deal compared to other deals offered, if there were any. It just seemed like it would make perfect sense for IndyCar to commit fully to NBCUniversal and their subsidaries considering the quality coverage they already provide and, as I mentioned, they wouldn't be competing against NASCAR on the same network, and could potentially cross-promote their races during broadcasted NHL games, Triple Crown horse races, and PGA tournaments on NBC.

In regards to race promoters, that's the unfortunate situation for IndyCar, because I believe the series can provide a good product at some of these tracks, yet as you mentioned not all of those promoters want IndyCar there. That's why I would like the series to take matters in their own hands and get those involved in the series with an active interest and deep enough pockets to promote races, like how Michael Andretti promotes the Milwaukee race.

And I agree that Baltimore has good attendance, but for the sake of having a good racing track, I would exclude it. Of course, for now IndyCar has to have tracks like Baltimore and Barber where the on-track product isn't so great, but the attendance is better than other races.

I hear you about the tracks - but I really don't think some of the "classic" tracks provided much better racing - it jsut seems that way - or we only remember the best anyway. Baltimore had some good racing this year as did Barber. Laguna has typically been a snooze fest... I think Portland produced a few good races - but most were only ok.... I am jsut thinking the tracks are not as bad as it might seem....

[00steven]

Go back to what worked, simple as that.

[Starter]

Go back to what worked, simple as that.

When was the last time it worked?

[ICWS]

I hear you about the tracks - but I really don't think some of the "classic" tracks provided much better racing - it jsut seems that way - or we only remember the best anyway. Baltimore had some good racing this year as did Barber. Laguna has typically been a snooze fest... I think Portland produced a few good races - but most were only ok.... I am jsut thinking the tracks are not as bad as it might seem....

Fair point on Baltimore and Barber. I would agree that Laguna Seca, despite its history, didn't provide that great of an on-track product. I just think Portland would be a good addition since it is not a NASCAR market, and so it seems advantageous to have a race there where they wouldn't compete with NASCAR for fans.

[ICWS]

As for the season. Indycar needs to be Indycar. They should start and end at the best time for Indycar - not because of the NFL or anyone else. I tend to think they ought to race every other weekend from March 1 to Nov 15 more or less....

I disagree with respect to you view on the starting/ending of the season. If the series wants to improve T.V. ratings they need to do their best to avoid having to compete with other sports that would influence their viewership. If IndyCar, as you suggested, schedule their races into September through November, I think that they might as well run most of those races on Saturdays to avoid the NFL. Of course, they then would also be competing with college football on Saturdays. So either way, I think the best option for the series to improve T.V. ratings would be starting the season after the Super Bowl and before the Daytona 500 and ending towards the start of the NFL regular season. This of course would require the series to move and add warm weather races towards the beginning of the calendar.

[Jag_Warrior]

When the IRL/ICS signed the TV deal (unless there's been some sort of more recent update), NBC had no connection to Versus. While it might sound like a better option than ABC/ESPN now, signing such a deal would have put the Indy 500 on a channel that most people had never heard of at the time. And since no one else wanted any races at all, it was either take what was being offered by ABC/ESPN and Versus, or pay for airtime on Speed or some other outlet. And with "the family" already trying to cut corners and pinch pennies, paying for anything more than paperclips seems to be an issue these days.

I like some of your other ideas though.