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JohnRoderick · 11-29-2018, 04:13 PM

While there are many factors, the downfall to NASCAR and the NHRA is mostly about the money.

On April 1, 1970, President Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which banned cigarette advertising from television and radio. Tobacco advertising circumvented the television and radio ban by flooding all types of racing with advertising money. Hence the Winston Cup was established in 1971. Drag racing also benefited, from 1975 to 2001 Winston was also the NHRA’s championship sponsor. The money in racing was flowing so well that Bill Jenkins was the 2nd highest paid athlete in 1972.

Throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s, auto racing’s cash cow was based on a recession resistant product that had very limited effective advertising platforms. Auto sports was essentially well funded by a loophole, which brought the completion and product to highest levels.

The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) in 1998 effectively killed all tobacco racing sponsorship and, in my opinion, ended the golden era of racing. Winston ended its NHRA and NASCAR sponsorship in 2001 and 2003, respectively. While Coca Cola, Sprint, & other companies have stepped up as primary sponsors, these companies spend their advertising budgets across many platforms and aren’t forced to focus their advertising budget on racing, unlike R.J. Reynolds. Hence, NASCAR and NHRA, as well as other forms of racing, must now compete with other entertainment platforms for advertising dollars.

The stiff competition for sponsorship and the high cost of performance has all but eliminated the grass roots professional racer. The days of racing producing exceptional individuals like Bill Jenkins, Lee Shepherd, and Bob Glidden are basically over. While I am sure outliers can be singled out, today’s professional racer has to bring the cash to the table in order to compete, aka rent-a-ride. Thus, we are left with nepotism and the extremely rich as the face of auto racing, as opposed to the most talented or entertaining. Force-feeding a legacy to the consumer is not entertaining, nor does it yield the best product. Fundamentally, I believe NASCAR and the NHRA have failed to effectively adapt to more competitive advertising and entertainment markets.

11-29-2018, 04:13 PM	#34
JohnRoderick Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 75 Likes: 5 Liked 11 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Why is NASCAR Dying ? Video ! While there are many factors, the downfall to NASCAR and the NHRA is mostly about the money. On April 1, 1970, President Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which banned cigarette advertising from television and radio. Tobacco advertising circumvented the television and radio ban by flooding all types of racing with advertising money. Hence the Winston Cup was established in 1971. Drag racing also benefited, from 1975 to 2001 Winston was also the NHRA’s championship sponsor. The money in racing was flowing so well that Bill Jenkins was the 2nd highest paid athlete in 1972. Throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s, auto racing’s cash cow was based on a recession resistant product that had very limited effective advertising platforms. Auto sports was essentially well funded by a loophole, which brought the completion and product to highest levels. The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) in 1998 effectively killed all tobacco racing sponsorship and, in my opinion, ended the golden era of racing. Winston ended its NHRA and NASCAR sponsorship in 2001 and 2003, respectively. While Coca Cola, Sprint, & other companies have stepped up as primary sponsors, these companies spend their advertising budgets across many platforms and aren’t forced to focus their advertising budget on racing, unlike R.J. Reynolds. Hence, NASCAR and NHRA, as well as other forms of racing, must now compete with other entertainment platforms for advertising dollars. The stiff competition for sponsorship and the high cost of performance has all but eliminated the grass roots professional racer. The days of racing producing exceptional individuals like Bill Jenkins, Lee Shepherd, and Bob Glidden are basically over. While I am sure outliers can be singled out, today’s professional racer has to bring the cash to the table in order to compete, aka rent-a-ride. Thus, we are left with nepotism and the extremely rich as the face of auto racing, as opposed to the most talented or entertaining. Force-feeding a legacy to the consumer is not entertaining, nor does it yield the best product. Fundamentally, I believe NASCAR and the NHRA have failed to effectively adapt to more competitive advertising and entertainment markets.