NHRA & ESPN must HATE sportsmen.

[BobOrme]

Originally Posted by Mike Carr

NHRA also used to have a live, all-day Sunday show on Pay Per View for a while, but I think I know why they don't now--NHRA would want too big of a cut from the cable/satellite providers for the providers to make any money.

That was done at three national events in 1997. It was a shot at seeing how much interest such programs would draw. They didn't draw enough PPV viewers to continue doing PPV the next season.

I think the main reason they didn't draw enough viewers was because hardly anyone knew about it. Apparently it was under-promoted by ESPN and the NHRA to the point that some cable systems refused to provide the programs to their customers. I knew about the PPV because I was working in drag racing. My home town population was roughly 300,000 at the time. I assumed that PPV programs that were made available by major TV outlets would automatically be picked up and be available on all cable systems with the channel capacity to carry it. I was wrong. As the first PPV approached, I didn't see it available on my local cable system's schedule. I called them and asked about it, and I was told I was the only person in my city who asked for the program! They would not make it available for me to buy, so I missed the first one. A couple weeks before the second PPV was to be broadcast, it was the same deal - not on my cable system's schedule. I went down to their central office and talked to several people trying to get them to carry it. The answer was no....not enough interest. The next day I bought a DirecTV dish and receiver. The day after that, I installed it, and took my cable box down to their central office. I told them to cancel my service, and I told them why.

Given the number of hoops I had to jump through just to pay my $14.99/ event to see the second and third events, it's no wonder there weren't enough viewers to continue that type of programming.

The availability of such programming also likely scared the hell out of national event track owners. The Sunday front gate receipts (and parking and concessions) are make or break a season for some of them, and to see that cash flow diminish because live Sunday full event elimination coverage was available in the comfort of any fan's living room for $14.99 may also have been part of the reason the PPV ended after a three race trial.