Quote:
Originally Posted by Salamus
This fascination with expanding beyond North America is really worrying to me. It just isn't the right time to do something like this.
The series is struggling with grid numbers which have slowly declined. Not to mention that the series struggled to get 33 cars for the Indy 500.
Teams are on a tight budget and expanding the schedule will further put stress on these finances. Penske, Ganassi, and Andretti may have the funds but what about KV, Dale Coyne, and other smaller teams?
Most current sponsors have little to no presence in the world outside of North America, which makes these international races redundant. Maybe new sponsors will come in but IndyCar's minute presence in the media isn't very convincing.
IndyCar has struggled to attract viewers in the United States, although there has been a slight increase this year. Obtaining a strong fanbase in North America should be their first primary goal.
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I don't see why IndyCar can't do both. It gives good exposure abroad and if somewhere like Dubai is willing to pay good money, others could follow suit and the IRL can use that money to help market and promote the series at home.
The biggest problem I see with the series is with the current TV broadcasting contract with NBCSN. Since F1 shared broadcasting with the BBC and Sky, over here, TV audiences have started to fall. People are reluctant to pay for something when it was originally it was free.