Stay in the America's

[seppefan]

Indycar to race in.......China, Russia, Asia.....memories of ChampCar /CART. Indycar has many tough decisions to make while bedding in the new car, engines, aero. Perhaps turning a profit would be a good one. Can the series and team owners afford these races where i doubt many people would turn up anyway. They lost Surfers which was the biggest race attendance after the 500 and I would suggest an attempt to return there should take preference while building the Series in Brazil, Mexico,Canada and the USA would provide sponsors with the markets they need. Do not get me wrong as I would be the first to buy tickets if the series came to europe having attended Rockingham, Brands, Zolder, Assen and having a great time. Race control, tech control, tv coverage ( the commentators must go ) are all in need of serious work so i would suggest getting the product right first before having a look elsewhere if the demand is there and the number of races is possible. I have always enjoyed the top level of US open wheel racing as it is unique ( one third, one third, one third please ) so do not get carried away when its own house is not as yet in order. Focus on the America's for the health of the series and our enjoyment.

[FIAT1]

America, Canada and Mexico.

[heliocastroneves#3]

Yup, and not only road courses.... Keep the balance, and don't start being like American F1. Assen might have got a good attendance in 2007, but that race was just boring. :(

[Chris R]

The Americas plus ONE or TWO races in other markets just for intrigue/ something different - maybe even alternate "international" venues so that you whet fans appetite in different markets every other year or so - that probably makes street races less viable in those markets - but so what - use road courses (or ovals where applicable)..... A race at one of the European ovals every 2 or 3 year would probably draw a nice crowd and create a buzz.... if they take the time to do it right....

[anthonyvop]

IndyCar should race where it is most profitable and advantageous for the Series. If China, Brazil...or wherever is profitable for IndyCar then by all means race there!

When IndyCar was shopping around their season finale after being dropped by homestead they had ZERO TAKERS. Nobody in the USA thought it was worthwhile to pay the sanctioning fee and spend money on Marketing and support for a race. They finally had to settle on renting the Las Vegas Track. So now the ICS has to pay for everything. Workers, Marketing....etc. all on IndyCar's dime. Remember how well that went with Champ Car?

[heliocastroneves#3]

What about going to the Lausitz oval, the Rockingham oval and Laguna Seca?

[Chris R]

IndyCar should race where it is most profitable and advantageous for the Series. If China, Brazil...or wherever is profitable for IndyCar then by all means race there!

When IndyCar was shopping around their season finale after being dropped by homestead they had ZERO TAKERS. Nobody in the USA thought it was worthwhile to pay the sanctioning fee and spend money on Marketing and support for a race. They finally had to settle on renting the Las Vegas Track. So now the ICS has to pay for everything. Workers, Marketing....etc. all on IndyCar's dime. Remember how well that went with Champ Car?

The problem seems to be that in the past some of the deals that were too good to be true, were - while it seemed more profitable to go overseas, it seems to have not been a good long term decision.... I agree with your basic premise - as long as they are savvy enough to pick true "winners" where ever they go (and they actually sign on with people who are legit and have $$ and will pay them....) problem is, the track record for all AOWR organizations in picking viable overseas (heck, even domestic for that matter) events is pretty poor - seems like Surfers was the only really good one for all parties involved.....

[anthonyvop]

What about going to the Lausitz oval, the Rockingham oval and Laguna Seca?

Break out your checkbook and voila....

Seriously. Would their be a draw in Germany or the U.K.? I don't think so. Laguna for all the glory of the corkscrew has been suffering from declining attendance for all its events for years and wouldn't be conducive to much passing for today's Indycar.

[00steven]

Unfortunately the times have changed. Indycar has to go where the money is, no matter where that may be.

[nigelred5]

Break out your checkbook and voila....

Seriously. Would their be a draw in Germany or the U.K.? I don't think so. Laguna for all the glory of the corkscrew has been suffering from declining attendance for all its events for years and wouldn't be conducive to much passing for today's Indycar.

What about TOMORROW's Indycar?? Will it be any racier?

The problem with a lot of overseas events is the time zones. IT results in either tape delays or races run at strange hours only the diehards will be watching. SPonsors really shouldn't care where they are racing as long as the TV numbers are OK. Problem is, they aren't.

Honestly, if I'm not attending in person, does it really matter where they are racing? What I always loved seeing about the foreign races was seeing "MY" cars racing at places like Lausitzring, Brands Hatch, Assen, Zolder, etc... Anyone have the money to get Indycars at Spa?? What a different situation CART, CCWS and Now indycars are in that has them yet again looking overseas for fans and sanctioning fees. CART expanded overseas from a position of strength and demand, to the point three ovals were constructed just to hold the races. CCWS was going out of desperation, and I fear Indycar is doing so as well. I'd love to see them back at Surfers and Motegi. China still makes no sense to me.... There will never be a fan base there, so unless they are trying to entice a Chinese manufacturer that sells cars here(???) or possibly some of their companies that actually market products under theinr own brands into the series, I just don't get it. They can do that here. Korea makes more sense if they are pursuing a manufacturer and insist in going to Asia. They could pursue Hyundai here considering how many vehicles they produce here now. Have them sponsor Barber. I can't see anywhere in Europe really longing to see Indycars with all of the other open wheel series racing in Europe, and Russia? Really?? I know Randy is a Vegas guy, but we're stooping so low now they are even considering Going to Russia, which essentially means doing business with the Russian Mob?Opulence, I has It!.(Can I get a mini Giraffe).... uh, No Thanks....

I agree, for now, stick to North and South America. I 'd like to see them back at Montreal. As much as I'd like to see another race in Mexico, It looks like Carlos Slim and his son want F1, and in Mexico especially, what Carlos wants, Carlos usually gets.

[zako85]

I don't care where the races are. They just need to get a little more interesting. More close racing, more overtakes, better cars, and more professional driving.. However, I think having a race or two in Europe would not be a bad idea. As Formula 1 branched out into more Asian countries, there are now a lot of Former F1 tracks without a major open wheel event. Imola, Magny-Cours, Hockenheimring (now alternating with Nurburgring), and Estoril.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

America, Canada and Mexico.

How could two whole continents
Loose their name to one constituent?
Where were we when the U.S. went
And took the word America away?

[heliocastroneves#3]

Well, I can understand it that IndyCar goes to places were the money is.... Because IndyCar is losing money every year.. And I can't understand it as they produced great racing on Milwaukee and New Hampshire to take two examples, and the attendance is just bad.... :(

[FIAT1]

How could two whole continents
Loose their name to one constituent?
Where were we when the U.S. went
And took the word America away?

My bad. Thanks, selfish thinking on my part.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

My bad. Thanks, selfish thinking on my part.

It's all light-hearted. :)

[anthonyvop]

Well, I can understand it that IndyCar goes to places were the money is.... Because IndyCar is losing money every year.. And I can't understand it as they produced great racing on Milwaukee and New Hampshire to take two examples, and the attendance is just bad.... :(

You might think it is great racing but the vast majority thinks it isn't. Face it the New Hampshire race was a fiasco.

I've said it before and I will say it again.....The problem is the Product.
IndyCar had a chance to fix one of the major issues with the new Car for 2012 but they are messing that up again.

No "major" series is a Spec Series. F1, LeMans, WRC, DTM, WTCC, MotoGP, V8 Supercars. Even NASCAR. I know under the Sheetmetal the Cars are the same but NASCAR goes out of their way to push they are different manufacturers.

That is only one of the problems with the Product. BB's officiating, No-Name drivers and a complete lack of modern marketing outside of the Indianapolis area(Gene Simmons? Come on!) are some of the others.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Yes, stay in the Americas, so that people can watch the race on TV. The final race at Motegi drew a 0.1 rating and 112,000 viewers. That's a disaster even for Versus standards. Have a second race in Brazil and cash the hefty sanctioning fee but avoid China.

Saturday, September 17, 2011 Broadcast & Cable Final Ratings (http://thevoiceoftv.com/nielsen-tv-ratings/saturday-september-17-2011-broadcast-cable-final-ratings/)

[heliocastroneves#3]

New Hampshire might have been a fiasco, but the racing was great... :)

[anthonyvop]

New Hampshire might have been a fiasco, but the racing was great... :)

There was?

That is debatable. But even if it was nobody remembers

[heliocastroneves#3]

Well, at least in my opinion the racing was great... I know not everyone agrees with me, but that makes this world interesting; different people with different opinions. :)

[anthonyvop]

Well, at least in my opinion the racing was great... I know not everyone agrees with me, but that makes this world interesting; different people with different opinions. :)

Agreed

I was just pointing out that what the people remember is the fiasco with the rain restart, Oriol Servia being robbed and Power giving the double 1 finger salute.

[nigelred5]

Yes, stay in the Americas, so that people can watch the race on TV. The final race at Motegi drew a 0.1 rating and 112,000 viewers. That's a disaster even for Versus standards. Have a second race in Brazil and cash the hefty sanctioning fee but avoid China.

Saturday, September 17, 2011 Broadcast & Cable Final Ratings (http://thevoiceoftv.com/nielsen-tv-ratings/saturday-september-17-2011-broadcast-cable-final-ratings/)

Which adds up to a zero in the 18-49 segment! ouch! My question for those rankings though is; Do they reflect viewers recording and watching a midnight race at 10am sunday morning, or tuesday evening after work? I still see the commercials they want me to see(even if they are occasionally passing by at 4x speed). Noone ever seems to answer that question. Matter of fact, I rarely watch ANYTHING live on TV anymore other than F1 because it is usually on at 7 or 8 am on sunday morning and I find it a nice way to kick off my day, or a football game, and even that is questionable.

[Lousada]

Yes, stay in the Americas, so that people can watch the race on TV. The final race at Motegi drew a 0.1 rating and 112,000 viewers. That's a disaster even for Versus standards. Have a second race in Brazil and cash the hefty sanctioning fee but avoid China.

Saturday, September 17, 2011 Broadcast & Cable Final Ratings (http://thevoiceoftv.com/nielsen-tv-ratings/saturday-september-17-2011-broadcast-cable-final-ratings/)

Good thing they banned internet streams or the rating would be non-existant! /sarcasm

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Good thing they banned internet streams or the rating would be non-existant! /sarcasm

I disagree. Why would anyone to watch the stream if he or she has access to Versus? Why sit in front of a computer when you can sit in your couch and watch the race in HD on your big flat-screen TV set? It's beyond me. The only thing they achieved by disabling the stream is cutting of fans who live in countries where there is no TV coverage, like mine. Would it have been so hard to implement an IP based filter for the official stream? Hulu and a lot of other sites seem able to do that.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I liked some of the action at New Hampshire, but when you screw up the ending like they did, it undoes anything we saw....

Stay mainly in North America, visit Brazil, look maybe again at Mexico if the deal is right. Maybe one race in Asia and Australia and look at one event in Europe. Get the right deal though. Quit throwing it out the searching for the market. Do the marketing...do the survey's in countries for their racing tastes. Stay on ovals where you can within reason..keep that tradition alive...because without ovals, this is a formula car spec series. That is the other thing. This new car roll out has to be one year and then let the teams go and change the cars. Open it up or die.....

[nigelred5]

I disagree. Why would anyone to watch the stream if he or she has access to Versus? Why sit in front of a computer when you can sit in your couch and watch the race in HD on your big flat-screen TV set? It's beyond me. The only thing they achieved by disabling the stream is cutting of fans who live in countries where there is no TV coverage, like mine. Would it have been so hard to implement an IP based filter for the official stream? Hulu and a lot of other sites seem able to do that.

Because some of us have computers that are wirelessly linked to our 52" lcd flat screen tv's and can watch that streaming video of things that aren't available on television, like ESPN3. and apparently many folks DON't have access to versus without paying the comcast piper. they are still blocked even though they don't have Versus via cable or satellite.

[anthonyvop]

I disagree. Why would anyone to watch the stream if he or she has access to Versus? Why sit in front of a computer when you can sit in your couch and watch the race in HD on your big flat-screen TV set? It's beyond me. The only thing they achieved by disabling the stream is cutting of fans who live in countries where there is no TV coverage, like mine. Would it have been so hard to implement an IP based filter for the official stream? Hulu and a lot of other sites seem able to do that.

Every day more and more people are dumping cable and the dish for just strictly internet streaming.
Many times I am not at home on the sofa to watch a race. I have watched every ALMS race live either thru or on my laptop. I even watched qualifying on my phone once while waiting for my flight at the airport.

Streaming isn't the future. It is here now and is the only form that is showing growth. ICS shot themselves in the foot by dumping it this year.

Then again there isn't even a Versus website anymore.

[nigelred5]

Every day more and more people are dumping cable and the dish for just strictly internet streaming.
Many times I am not at home on the sofa to watch a race. I have watched every ALMS race live either thru or on my laptop. I even watched qualifying on my phone once while waiting for my flight at the airport.

Streaming isn't the future. It is here now and is the only form that is showing growth. ICS shot themselves in the foot by dumping it this year.

Then again there isn't even a Versus website anymore.

I agree, and maybe it's because NBC is a partner in HULU and they definitely know all about controlling streaming of their properties. It makes no sense to me to dump streaming especially if you run the exact same feed as the TV broadcast. My brother has a set up in his computer that catches the network signals to the local broadcasters that commercials are on the way, and then use that to filter out the commercials, then watches the programs commercial free. streaming or tv, it doesn't matter, it works. He's done that for years. Just send the content out and track who's watching it. hell, put it up on podcasts and I'd watch it.