2013 Indianapolis 500 Race

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by Lazyking

Do people really care that much about the appearance of the car to stop watching? I would think as long as the action was good, it wouldn't really matter.. I'm a casual indycar fan who has enjoyed the racing so much this year, I've become a bigger fan. I think casual fans if they watched five mins of the 500 would have stayed.

Now, could the look be improved? without a doubt.

The look not only matters; it's essential. Racing maybe enough for me or you but to recover the series, the cars need to look the part

Lot's of junior single seater championships race well but they don't draw interest. The cars need to look the part as befits a premier series otherwise the interest will continue to flatline.

I think Walker appreciates this.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Lazyking

Do people really care that much about the appearance of the car to stop watching? I would think as long as the action was good, it wouldn't really matter.. I'm a casual indycar fan who has enjoyed the racing so much this year, I've become a bigger fan. I think casual fans if they watched five mins of the 500 would have stayed.

Now, could the look be improved? without a doubt.

I don't think it helps. Both TV audiences and track attendance are down on last year. When the DW12 was launched, there were two versions. The one that's being used now,


and this one.


At the time, questions were raised about the need for the airbox.


Aesthetics aside, I believe the fundamental problem is the spec nature of IndyCar. It doesn't allow for innovation, variety or competition, which both Miles and Walker have been talking about and which is at the heart of IndyCar racing. IndyCar was never about spec racing and if you go back through the history of the sport, there have been many different manufacturers competing with each other. Without competition you get stagnation.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Go into any household in America and ask them to name an Indycar driver. The only one that might pop up is Marco Andretti and that's because of his father and grandfather's racing legacy when Open Wheel racing was still a blip on the radar in the United States. They couldn't even promote Ryan Hunter Reay, so there's no way they can promote Tony Kanaan a relatively unknown middle-aged Brazilian driver outside of a small niche who is likely close to retirement.

It's not just the cars, if you think people cared more about Penske's 1994 Merc Ilmor than they did Al Unser Jr then you're kidding yourself. That's why 400,000 people at the track and 10% of the total tv viewing population went crazy when Emo crashed at Indy and were cheering for Al to win the race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnNDdJm80BA It's also another reason why every single points NASCAR race this year has outdrawn the thriller that was the 2013 Indianapolis 500. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Danica Patrick and Kasey Kahne are all household names for various reasons. Also, they have up and coming future household names like Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney waiting in the winds.

Yes the cars need work, and the race cars at Indy need more horsepower than the pace car, but without big name drivers it just won't draw outside of a small and dying niche like it currently does. And it's up to Indycar to do it, nobody else, it says a lot when the biggest driver headline at Indy this year was Kurt Busch testing for Andretti.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by Canada ALMS fan

One has to wonder - If they had the same crew that does the broadcasts on NBCSN would that have helped the ratings at all? Marty Roth is terrible and I wanted to reach through the TV and grab Cheever by the throat, it was hard to listen to him. For the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" they sure have amateur hour in the booth.

Canadian Chicane Marty Roth does Indycar commentary?


If this were the case, then the NBCSN broadcasts wouldn't be the lowest they've been since they went to the Versus network back in 09 and consistently down from 2012 which was consistently down from 2011. Most Casual Sports fans hear much worse than Marty Reid, but they still don't watch Indycar. I'll admit Underacheever was cringe-worthy, but he's no worse than the Waltrips or most NFL commentators.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by DS"

But not by a large margin, as it seems. The potential for good ratings is there. If only the NBC Sports Network would score much higher ratings, or IndyCar got somehow back to ESPN, things would look more bright for the series.

Thanks for explaining the ratings, by the way.

It will be a pretty large margin come the finals, but here is the overall graph for recent overnight Indy 500 vs Coke 600 ratings, typically the final brings in increased margins or success for NASCAR due to reasons previously mentioned:




*Note the Danica Bump in 2005


Indy 500 was on ABC. Coke 600 was on FOX, every tv viewing household in America has both.

P.S. The final rating (market share) was a 3.7 not the lowest ever (2010 3.6), However with 5.7 Million viewers it was the least watched Indianapolis 500 in history.


Final for Coke 600 was 4.3 and 7.1 Million viewers, down one point from last year.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

Canadian Chicane Marty Roth does Indycar commentary?

They say the brain is first to go...

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

It will be a pretty large margin come the finals, but here is the overall graph for recent overnight Indy 500 vs Coke 600 ratings, typically the final brings in increased margins or success for NASCAR due to reasons previously mentioned:




*Note the Danica Bump in 2005


Indy 500 was on ABC. Coke 600 was on FOX, every tv viewing household in America has both.

P.S. The final rating (market share) was a 3.7 not the lowest ever (2010 3.6), However with 5.7 Million viewers it was the least watched Indianapolis 500 in history.


Final for Coke 600 was 4.3 and 7.1 Million viewers, down one point from last year.

Interesting to note that Monaco on NBC drew 1.5M this year too. The chart for Indycar is just depressing, getting even tougher to find sponsorship going forward now.

[mountainstar]

I think the important thing to note is all the seating they took out at the track earlier this year so it would not look empty.

I remember a few years ago when big swaths of empty seats started appearing, Tim Northcutt tried to explain it away as everyone getting up to use the bathroom at the same. We know strange things go on in Indiana but even this was a bit unlikely.

So what I'd be concerned about is even the local faithful in Indiana have given up on the kool aid and whatever is served them as "indycar" by the hulman george and the "tradition" is dying out fast, as all traditions do eventually. Time moves on and the speedway is a relic of the 20th century. It is the past and not the future.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Canada ALMS fan

Interesting to note that Monaco on NBC drew 1.5M this year too. The chart for Indycar is just depressing, getting even tougher to find sponsorship going forward now.

And F1 has plans for up to 3-4 races here by 2016 which will mop up the dollars from the trendy old CART crowd who have moved our cards back over to F1.

People would probably be amazed how little commercial dollars flow into the indy racing league. You can paint a car a bunch of pretty colors but that doesn't mean you are flush with dollars.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

And F1 has plans for up to 3-4 races here by 2016 which will mop up the dollars from the trendy old CART crowd who have moved our cards back over to F1

And yet you are still here

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

And yet you are still here

"Some men just like to watch the World Burn."

[marcostraz]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

It will be a pretty large margin come the finals, but here is the overall graph for recent overnight Indy 500 vs Coke 600 ratings, typically the final brings in increased margins or success for NASCAR due to reasons previously mentioned:




*Note the Danica Bump in 2005


Indy 500 was on ABC. Coke 600 was on FOX, every tv viewing household in America has both.

P.S. The final rating (market share) was a 3.7 not the lowest ever (2010 3.6), However with 5.7 Million viewers it was the least watched Indianapolis 500 in history.


Final for Coke 600 was 4.3 and 7.1 Million viewers, down one point from last year.

Two things:
1) The chart for Indycar is just depressing like someone said before, but NASCAR it's not so much better;

2) The trend is not proportional to the level of the field (actual field is more competitive than pre-reunion period)...so, I don't think is not a problem concerning the racing competition...also beacuse the last two Indy 500 was two of the most exciting race in the last years...

[FordCosworthPanoz]

That's for the 500, most NASCAR races on FOX score 3.8-5.0s. Most Indycar Races on NBCSN score 0.1s to 0.4s and on ABC 0.8s to 0.9s. So basically for every other race Indycar wouldn't even be close to even being on that chart.

NASCARs ratings really have leveled off after double digit declines from 06-2010. 2011 Ratings were up, 2012 Ratings were down and 2013 ratings are steady.

When you score better than the Indy 500 does EVERY weekend in the early season, you're doing pretty well.

The Daytona 500 scored a 9.9.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

"Some men just like to watch the World Burn."

Yes it is fun to drop in every so often, talk to old friends and see what befuddling decisions and backward thinking the hulman georges have deployed lately.

[fasteric]

http://www.replicarz.com/ShowAdditio...?number=A18107this could be a 240 mph race car at indy

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by fasteric

http://www.replicarz.com/ShowAdditio...?number=A18107this could be a 240 mph race car at indy

Why the headlights, are the Hulman Georges planning a night race? Would certainly be different.

[formerf1champ]

I've just found out that this year set a new record for the fastest ever 500. I'd be disappointed if I was Arie Luyendyk, that's not a bad stat to have next to your win.

Also, F1 plan to have 3-4 races in America in a few years??? When will these idiots ever learn?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by formerf1champ

I've just found out that this year set a new record for the fastest ever 500. I'd be disappointed if I was Arie Luyendyk, that's not a bad stat to have next to your win.

Also, F1 plan to have 3-4 races in America in a few years??? When will these idiots ever learn?

I wouldn't be that disappointed, he held that record for over 20 years and still holds the lap record, .

[formerf1champ]

I looked up that he's got the single and 4 lap record. It's not a bad treble he had. I suppose the amount of yellows in the race the most significant factor in deciding how quick the race is. So maybe, he's still got the two better ones.