NASCAR: Even If You Build It, They Might Not Come

Providing NASCAR fans with a great racing venue is no longer enough. Tracks continue to undergo changes and renovations but that doesn’t mean it will bring back fans to the seats.

For years, racetracks that stayed afloat by their involvement with NASCAR have depended on an abundance of fans to pack their stands and keep them in the black. Through a series of unfortunate events including an economic downturn and a sanctioning body that seemingly changed their rules as often as Jimmie Johnson won a race, attendance at events across the board suffered. Tracks such as the legendary Bristol Motor Speedway, which I can recall attending and barely having room in my own seat, are now looking at half to three quarters of the attendance they once took for granted.

You see, just as the economy suffered dives and dumps, so did NASCAR. The late 1990’s saw a boom that bombarded the mainstream sports fans with rainbow colored cars driven by hollywood-esque superstars. Companies couldn’t wait to write a big fat check to slap their name on Jeff Gordon’s firesuit or Dale Earnhardt’s quarter panel. Somewhere along the way the fad slowed down and as companies kept a tight hold on their big fat checks, so too did the fans.

At the time of the dot com boom NASCAR was the hot topic, to it’s very own fault. Here we are in January 2016, and a little known track called Richmond International Raceway is removing its backstretch grandstands. A place where Ricky Rudd and Kevin Harvick once bounced off each other in front of a background of shoulder to shoulder race fans has now become a barren sea of bleachers and oversized banners executing a C+ attempt at pretending there aren’t empty seats under it. The problem spans across the country as I have seen the same marketing cover-up at  New Hampshire Motor Speedway, another racetrack that used to pack a full house around it’s 1.058 mile oval.

In an attempt to cover the problem which is ultimately fan attendance, tracks are simply making a ticket to their event appear more exclusive, when in reality the demand has diminished.

Plain and simple, the problem the sport faces is growth and fan acquisition, which is a business issue that cannot necessarily be fixed simply by money. With the advent of Twitter and HD TV, attendance for an event isn’t at a premium, and can run an average of $1,000 for a family of four per weekend. My total bill for the August Pocono weekend after tickets, food and drink and lodging eclipsed the $1,000 mark with ease.

I love NASCAR, just as my fellow fans do and I will always continue to attend as many races as possible and do my part to bring new fans in and support the sport as a whole. Factually, the sport simply isn’t in a growth phase anymore, and I don’t see it ever growing at the rapid rate of the late 90’s in my lifetime.

More racing: The NASCAR Charter System Is Just As Bad As it Is Good

Racetracks learned a lesson that cannot only be taught to other tracks, but to businesses across the globe. When times are good, move forward with caution; do not expand 1,000% and assume it’s a ride that will never end.

Lesson: If you build it, they may not come.