Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Did anyone else notice the very lackluster attendance of yesterday's race? Looking at the pics on WCYB's Facebook, maybe 20% of the seats were occupied. There appeared to be very few campers there. I ate dinner at State Line downtown Friday night and it was barely busier than the average Friday night. Parking wasn't an issue on State St.
I know NASCAR has really taken a hit in popularity over the past few years and that the rules on the track were changed from more "bumping" to a cleaner race that a lot of people find boring. The cost of attending the event has been cited as a reason for the decline, but with so many obviously vacant seats, the tickets had to be very cheap in the secondary market. A decade ago the place was jammed - today, they can't give the seats away.
What do you blame for the huge race attendance decline and how do you see this impacting the local economy?
Official total was about 38,000--same as Texas a week ago (40,000). Bristol holds about 150/160 ish. It was painful looking at all that open metal.
But that is where the sport is now. Indy, except for the 500, landed at somewhere around 20,000 Both are niche sports these days. The younger crowd has no patience to sit for three hours when they can get immediate gratification from a variety of electronic devices without leaving their couch.
Hurts on the local economy? Has to be large, but is has been gradual. Except for maybe a few fuel stations and fast food joints, nobody gets much from the Speedway any longer. Hotels fill up, but AirBnB has taken some of that. Restaurants are meh. Any other service business is sucking wind based on the small crowds. Likely even the local constabulary finds fewer dollars from the tourist crowd that used to pile in and getting a speeding ticket on the Bristol Highway was just part of the deal.
Changing times. Racing was good. Core audience shows up. With a cloudy day and chance of rain walk up line was nothing. But realistically, what did that cost them? 10,000 or so maybe? Still a tiny audience.
It is what it is. NASCAR 2019 and beyond. Appeals to a few, and like Indy Car refused to do, they have to right size for their audience. Maybe run some midweek shows at more local tracks where fans can get closer to the drivers and teams. That helps to develop a fan base. But Indy Car refused to do it and now you have a bunch of "who?" running in the series, and no fans. NASCAR will likely follow the same path to obscurity, Yes, really hurts the local businesses, but it is not new for 2019. Been dwindling for several years.
Attendance is awful at pretty much every NASCAR track but it's a bigger deal at Bristol because people remember the days of years-long waits for tickets. I have heard and read from numerous people that next year's Spring race will be the final one at Bristol with the track only hosting the night race in late Summer. Most likely the Spring date will be moved to the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in 2021.
I haven't seen any numbers but I'd say there has been a steady decline in the economic impact of the Bristol races over the last 10 years or so. When I first moved here in 2006, you could tell in Johnson City that it was race weekend. From scalpers, to restaurants running specials and holding events, and a noticeable increase in traffic. That's just not the case anymore.
I think for the future, the track should try to attract additional football games (maybe a college bowl game?) and concerts. I think a music festival could be successful as well, but the days 160,000 people filling the place for a NASCAR race are gone.
Attendance is awful at pretty much every NASCAR track but it's a bigger deal at Bristol because people remember the days of years-long waits for tickets. I have heard and read from numerous people that next year's Spring race will be the final one at Bristol with the track only hosting the night race in late Summer. Most likely the Spring date will be moved to the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in 2021.
I haven't seen any numbers but I'd say there has been a steady decline in the economic impact of the Bristol races over the last 10 years or so. When I first moved here in 2006, you could tell in Johnson City that it was race weekend. From scalpers, to restaurants running specials and holding events, and a noticeable increase in traffic. That's just not the case anymore.
I think for the future, the track should try to attract additional football games (maybe a college bowl game?) and concerts. I think a music festival could be successful as well, but the days 160,000 people filling the place for a NASCAR race are gone.
Back in the mid-2000s and earlier, you'd basically have to get your summer tickets right after the spring race. At least East and Central in Sullivan County were let out early on race Friday.
Bristol has diversified over the last several years and I don't think the impact is going to be as severe as some might imagine. Still, it's a big loss for the region.
Brian France is an idiot and has ruined the sport for me. The stage racing, the playoff format, drivers with no personalities, cookie cutter tracks. Gag me.
Ticket prices are a drop in the bucket compared to lodging costs, though it would make sense to drop prices a little to get more butts in seats and sell more merch and concessions. With crappy motels running $300/night, it's a $1000 weekend for a family. Just not worth it anymore.
I think for the future, the track should try to attract additional football games (maybe a college bowl game?) and concerts. I think a music festival could be successful as well, but the days 160,000 people filling the place for a NASCAR race are gone.
This. So, so much this. The 2016 Battle at Bristol drew a crowd of 156,990. Reviews from friends and family in attendance were overwhelmingly positive.
Building on your suggestions, a country music festival would be a huge draw, and the parallels with Bristol's country music history are obvious.
It can't just be a football game- it would have to be the right football game. TN/Va Tech worked due to the specific teams, the novelty, and the decades of both sides wanting to make that game a reality. A bowl game would interfere with the annual Speedway in Lights. I think any potential football game would have to be one of the first games of the year against two national powerhouse teams. These are always televised and played at a neutral site.
What do you blame for the huge race attendance decline and how do you see this impacting the local economy?
The core fan base for NASCAR seemed to be UAW factory workers, at least back in the day. That industry was decimated and the factories that are still around cut wages significantly. A relative was in skilled trades and was making around $60K with minimal OT.....in the mid-90s! She was a big fan and went to some of the races if I recall. I was just on vacation and while relaxing in the hot tub, a guy from Canada said he was a NASCAR fan. One guy from the Northeast asked his opinion on why the decline and he had the exact same opinion as mine, their core fan base is now either jobless or making significant less money than in past decades. Another relative works for a newer Honda plant. Takes them a few years to top out at around $20/hour. That is barely over $41K/year. There is some OT, but she just told me this year they were supposed to work three Saturdays in Feb. for OT, but they cancelled all of them. That is $720 in OT gone.
A co-worker who is a diehard race fan when to the race. He posted on Facebook how dead it was. He also went another year and showed me how high the local, no frills hotels were jacking up their rates. I don't care how many billions of dollars some corporations have, if they aren't raising wages, who can afford to attend? If the company does pay great wages, are they hiring NASCAR fans, or even racing fans in general?
I feel racing isn't just as popular as it was back in the day. The Indy 500 basically has to host an EDM festival over the weekend just to get people to buy a ticket to either carb day or the race when really they are just there for the party. My younger relatives were also more about the party scene than the race, though as they got older, they did at least seemed to stay until the race was over (in the past they'd party from the night before and leave before the race even ended). An older relative who has passed and went to many races always stayed to watch the winner go around and wave at the crowd. I went to my first Indy 500 about six years ago, went to one more since then (a group of us take turns going with a relative). As soon as the race is over it seems like it is a full-on beeline to get into cars and take off. I don't know about the NASCAR races, but the Indy 500 is just too long of a day for me when it comes to the race.
Lastly, most of what I read the younger generations complaining about when it comes to urban living is the lack of mass transit. Most hate driving, want the easiest, shortest drive to their place of employment. The younger generations just don't seem to embrace the open road, the freedom a vehicle brings, etc..
Lastly, most of what I read the younger generations complaining about when it comes to urban living is the lack of mass transit. Most hate driving, want the easiest, shortest drive to their place of employment. The younger generations just don't seem to embrace the open road, the freedom a vehicle brings, etc..
While I do agree with the majority of your post, I'm cherrypicking this portion for response.
As a member of a younger generation who not only gained the freedom a vehicle brings during the height of gas price spikes but was also spat out into the workforce with the economy in throes of recession, my generation never enjoyed the opportunity to embrace the open road. None of us could afford it. Most of us still cannot.
There's also that pesky global warming issue that we young whipper snappers are trying to stave off - largely by cutting consumption. But, I digress...
The core fan base for NASCAR seemed to be UAW factory workers, at least back in the day. That industry was decimated and the factories that are still around cut wages significantly. A relative was in skilled trades and was making around $60K with minimal OT.....in the mid-90s! She was a big fan and went to some of the races if I recall. I was just on vacation and while relaxing in the hot tub, a guy from Canada said he was a NASCAR fan. One guy from the Northeast asked his opinion on why the decline and he had the exact same opinion as mine, their core fan base is now either jobless or making significant less money than in past decades. Another relative works for a newer Honda plant. Takes them a few years to top out at around $20/hour. That is barely over $41K/year. There is some OT, but she just told me this year they were supposed to work three Saturdays in Feb. for OT, but they cancelled all of them. That is $720 in OT gone.
A co-worker who is a diehard race fan when to the race. He posted on Facebook how dead it was. He also went another year and showed me how high the local, no frills hotels were jacking up their rates. I don't care how many billions of dollars some corporations have, if they aren't raising wages, who can afford to attend? If the company does pay great wages, are they hiring NASCAR fans, or even racing fans in general?
I feel racing isn't just as popular as it was back in the day. The Indy 500 basically has to host an EDM festival over the weekend just to get people to buy a ticket to either carb day or the race when really they are just there for the party. My younger relatives were also more about the party scene than the race, though as they got older, they did at least seemed to stay until the race was over (in the past they'd party from the night before and leave before the race even ended). An older relative who has passed and went to many races always stayed to watch the winner go around and wave at the crowd. I went to my first Indy 500 about six years ago, went to one more since then (a group of us take turns going with a relative). As soon as the race is over it seems like it is a full-on beeline to get into cars and take off. I don't know about the NASCAR races, but the Indy 500 is just too long of a day for me when it comes to the race.
Lastly, most of what I read the younger generations complaining about when it comes to urban living is the lack of mass transit. Most hate driving, want the easiest, shortest drive to their place of employment. The younger generations just don't seem to embrace the open road, the freedom a vehicle brings, etc..
I can get the economy a few years ago, but things are somewhat better here now. The traditional NASCAR demographic has always been more working class. Sure, if you're absolutely dead broke, you won't be going, but you won't have much discretionary income for anything else either. Tickets had to be next to nothing with so many in the secondary market.
I did hear about the hotels being jacked up. That's a bummer, but if they're sitting there with a lot of open rooms, you'd think rooms would start adjusting in price on platforms like Hotel Tonight. It's better to get $100 for a room than it sit unoccupied while demanding $300 for it.
I went to the Indy 500 once and Carb Day twice. Carb Day is cool, but after a day out in the sun drinking like that, I'm spent the next day. The 500 was cool once to say I did it, but if you don't get there early, there are big parking problems and standing on a mound isn't any fun.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Ridge
While I do agree with the majority of your post, I'm cherrypicking this portion for response.
As a member of a younger generation who not only gained the freedom a vehicle brings during the height of gas price spikes but was also spat out into the workforce with the economy in throes of recession, my generation never enjoyed the opportunity to embrace the open road. None of us could afford it. Most of us still cannot.
If you're driving a car that's fairly reasonable on gas, you can get to Asheville and Knoxville and back for under $20 at current prices. I've driven all the over the eastern half of the country, sans Louisiana and Delaware. Gas hasn't been expensive for at least five years.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
