2010 Indianapolis 500

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Originally Posted by hornet

If the casual fan knows nothing about the foreign drivers, isn't that more a reflection on the fans than the quality of the "product"? Either Indy wants to be an all American event, in which case it can't claim to be a globally important race, or it plays in the international pond. Can't have it both ways.

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Excellent point. I hear all this whining about "Too many foreign names" from a few people, and it makes me laugh. The guys who do the most whining about this would then turn around and tell me that the 500 was the most important race on the planet in its heyday when 32 out of 33 were Americans....

The fact is, this is a unique and absolutlely wonderful event, but the actual cars racing and the level of competition has evolved into a stale mess because the fact is 33 Dallaras with the same motors on THIS track produce a very static and race where only a few easy passes are made. In short, I can see more battles on some f1 races. That is not good...

The coverage doesn't help either. How many passes did they show Kanaan make as he charged to the front? He was the ONLY guy out there in the first 50 laps really shaking the tree and ABC/ESPN showed....the leader....

A lot of the problem with the "product" is the nature of the cars, but when someone does manage to do something, TV often misses it....

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

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The coverage doesn't help either. How many passes did they show Kanaan make as he charged to the front? He was the ONLY guy out there in the first 50 laps really shaking the tree and ABC/ESPN showed....the leader.....

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This is huge! Kanaan should have been the story of the day... last ditch qualifying after 2 wrecks, started smack in the back, passed his way all the way through the field, finally challenging for the lead, then an untimely pit stop cost a shot at the win. Nope. Very little focus on Kanaan, hardly any of his passes on TV, etc. (& Kanaan is such a likeable guy too...!)

A decade plus with no track record ..... A decade plus of declineing attendance and TV ratings

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Originally Posted by hornet

If the casual fan knows nothing about the foreign drivers, isn't that more a reflection on the fans than the quality of the "product"? Either Indy wants to be an all American event, in which case it can't claim to be a globally important race, or it plays in the international pond. Can't have it both ways.

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This viewpoint is so wrong. The fans are never wrong, they are the customers, they pay the bills. If this series ever wants to be relevant as bigtime racing, it should listen to what the fans want.
However, I think "foreign" is just a buzz word. What is actually meant, I think, is that the drivers are unknown and not selected on talent. They just happen to be foreign. If it was obvious that this or that driver was driving in Indycars because (s)he's an actual talent, his/her nationality wouldn't matter much in the end.

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Originally Posted by e2mtt

In today's economy, to have a single sporting event that pulls in 180,000 to 250,000 is fantastic. All attendaces are down everywhere, Nascar races that always sold out have empty seats, MLB stadiums are nearly empty in some cities, and even a lot of NFL teams are having attendance problems. So you aren't pulling 1995 numbers... well it ain't 1995 right now!

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You are correct here. Attendance during the "month" was reportedly up, and it was certainly not down! This should not be spinned (spun?) as something bad.

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Low TV ratings... TV ratings are low everywhere. A lot fewer people sit down & watch TV events start to finish. The current ABC broadcast team leaves a lot to be desired. Get used to lower ratings, Indycar better get used to attracting people in ways other then just getting them to watch a race broadcast.

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If only it were that easy. This is not the normal across-the-board ratings drop, but another chapter in a trend.

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Originally Posted by Lousada

If only it were that easy. This is not the normal across-the-board ratings drop, but another chapter in a trend.

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My opinion is that the "split" killed off OWB even worse than originally imagined. At first I am sure that many of us thought that after 3 years together, OWB, Indycar and Indy500 would start to come back... however both TV ratings and attendance have trended downward in those three years of 'unification'.

I liken it to no NFL in Los Angeles for 13 years... an entire generation of fans has been lost, now polls show little support for an NFL return to LA and zero support of any kind involving public funds, whereas one year after the NFL left (1998) it was 100% do what you have to to get a team in here...

An entire generation of Indycar fans has been lost, can a newer generation be encouraged to restart old traditions ? maybe not...

Let's put it this way: our 10-year-old daughter had absolutely no interest in watching the I500. And your talking about a kid whose parent's attended CART races year after year. TG's version of Indy hasn't cultivated "the next generation of fans" for a long, long time... and the ratings/interest continue to decline. The coverage sucks, the drivers aren't all over ESPN Sports Center, you can't read about the series or the drivers in the newspaper, etc.

Compare that to the Red Sox. They replace about a quarter of their players every year yet sell out every home game and most of their road games. They have been cultivating Red Sox Nation like crazy and have won over kids and parents alike all over the place. We're talking about an incredibly slow and "boring" sport: baseball. Here in CT, our daughter and most of her classmates love to talk about the latest Red Sox exploits. The owners of the Sox have made their team matter to the next generation of fans and are the stronger for it. I hope Barnhardt and his team can do the same.

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Originally Posted by Lousada

However, I think "foreign" is just a buzz word. What is actually meant, I think, is that the drivers are unknown and not selected on talent. They just happen to be foreign. If it was obvious that this or that driver was driving in Indycars because (s)he's an actual talent, his/her nationality wouldn't matter much in the end.

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Bullseye! :up: I'll offer up three "foreign" names and let's see if anybody thinks they would have helped or hurt ratings and attendance: Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya and Paul Tracy.

And let's say they were all sponsored by a "foreign" automaker: Ferrari (in blood red Dallaras).

I'll go double or nothing on the crow eatin' contest. Anybody want to bet that those particular foreign boys WOULDN'T increase ratings and attendance with their presence? :dozey:

I don't follow this series as much as I used to follow AOWR overall, but I think I'm still something more than a casual fan. But even I couldn't tell you exactly and accurately which drivers are American and which are Canadian, Australian or English - cause I couldn't pick the majority of them out of a lineup these days. A lot of casual fans still think that Paul Tracy is an American, and thought that Roger Yasukawa was Japanese. I've never heard Tracy say "aboot", but he's Canadian, and Yasukawa is as American as I am. So who would Americans rather see at Indy (or any other race), the "foreigner", Tracy, or the American, Yasukawa?

So I fully agree with Lousada, that "foreign" is just a buzz word for "unknown" and not necessarily selected on talent.

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Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

Bullseye! :up: I'll offer up three "foreign" names and let's see if anybody thinks they would have helped or hurt ratings and attendance: Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya and Paul Tracy.

And let's say they were all sponsored by a "foreign" automaker: Ferrari (in blood red Dallaras).

I'll go double or nothing on the crow eatin' contest. Anybody want to bet that those particular foreign boys WOULDN'T increase ratings and attendance with their presence? :dozey:

I don't follow this series as much as I used to follow AOWR overall, but I think I'm still something more than a casual fan. But even I couldn't tell you exactly and accurately which drivers are American and which are Canadian, Australian or English - cause I couldn't pick the majority of them out of a lineup these days. A lot of casual fans still think that Paul Tracy is an American, and thought that Roger Yasukawa was Japanese. I've never heard Tracy say "aboot", but he's Canadian, and Yasukawa is as American as I am. So who would Americans rather see at Indy (or any other race), the "foreigner", Tracy, or the American, Yasukawa?

So I fully agree with Lousada, that "foreign" is just a buzz word for "unknown" and not necessarily selected on talent.

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Jag, you are preaching to the converted. PT is a home boy from my neck of the woods, and he started off karting just 15 minutes from where I sit, but to most Americans, they have NO idea he isn't from the US.

The fact is, Americans like colourful, talented drivers. Everyone loved Alex Zanardi when he raced in CART, and I didn't see a campaign to keep Nigel Mansell out of a seat so some American could have a ride.

The only point I agree with some of the America first guys is that the ride buyers of questionable talent is not helping things. That said, this sort of thing was inevitable when the cost of racing at Indy became more than building a roadster in the garage down the street and getting 6 buddies to show up and be the pit crew.

Racing has changed, and maybe in some ways for the worse. It is less romantic, but the fact is large amounts of money are needed to be on the track and competitive, and the drivers who can line up sponsors are going to get rides. Don't matter where they are from. Tony George hated that reality in 1992 when he heard how Jeff Gordon couldn't get a sniff, but the fact is John Bickford didn't understand that an unhearlded kid racing sprint cars (unhearalded in OW rear engine race cars) had to have more than talent and a clean attitude. It isn't any different now, and it hasn't been much different for years. Talented drivers often get screwed over in all forms of racing.

Indy will be more important if they get the lost generation back and they need to do that with an interesting product. The drivers nationality isn't a deal breaker if they are fun to watch and provide a great show. THAT is the problem right now...the show isn't what it should be.

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Originally Posted by SarahFan

A decade plus with no track record ..... A decade plus of declineing attendance and TV ratings

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So what are you doing to fix it?