NHRA boots ESPN!

[jwsamuel]

Be careful what you wish for ....

Say what you want about ESPN, it is a major sports network. If you're a motorsports series and are not on a major network, you are not going to get much attention at all.

I wonder if a very small piece of the decision was the countless times ESPN let women's softball, soccer, ______________ (you fill in the blank) run long and push back their drag racing broadcast. That drives me nuts!

Scott

[Dave Muller]

Originally Posted by Tar Heel

I wonder if a very small piece of the decision was the countless times ESPN let women's softball, soccer, ______________ (you fill in the blank) run long and push back their drag racing broadcast. That drives me nuts!

Scott

That's the part that always bugged me about ESPN. And it's not only other sports events--if the soccer game before went 45 minutes long they would still show some half hour "just talking about sports" show before finally getting around to drag racing over an hour late.

On the other hand, I don't like this trend to live coverage at all. I don't think drag racing lends itself to that at all with oil downs and the need to do such extensive between-rounds work. Have you noticed that they cram the first round into about 1/3 less time to make room for all the dead time between semis and the finals? I hate to think of having the whole season that way with NHRA running the show.

[skills]

As a fan I thought the ESPN coverage was terrible. Hopefully whomever gets the contract will make it look more like the real track action. Our sport isn't just fuel cars, and I believe the more you show the more fans you will get.

[FireSale]

Originally Posted by skills

As a fan I thought the ESPN coverage was terrible. Hopefully whomever gets the contract will make it look more like the real track action. Our sport isn't just fuel cars, and I believe the more you show the more fans you will get.

I agree with this. The fuel classes don't make for good live TV viewing. The racing is often decided by lane conditions and engine failures cause extensive delays in the action. Sportsman racing is more competitive, fast paced and has a better variety of cars to watch.

NASCAR has been able to train legions of fans to sit for hours watching kinda stock bodied cars for round and round for hours, so why can't NHRA give it a shot? At least fill the gap between fuel rounds with quarters and semis of Sportsman class eliminations? Educate viewers about the nuances of handicap and .90 racing and see what happens.

Dale

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by skills

As a fan I thought the ESPN coverage was terrible. Hopefully whomever gets the contract will make it look more like the real track action. Our sport isn't just fuel cars, and I believe the more you show the more fans you will get.

Do you really think that Super Gas and Super Comp with their throttle stops will attract more fans and increase TV ratings?

Jim

[goinbroke2]

You know, show the wheels in the air launches and one car catching the other, then close in on the finish line, maybe slo-mo for effect and it'd work. Pinks proved you can race 9sec or 19 sec and make an exciting show of it.

Put camera's in the chaser car

Put several close camera's to pan along the track so it visually seems faster/more exciting

Put camera's down low to watch the front wheels lift up and off the line

Get somebody who knows how to build excitement, heck if they can show soap box derby cars starting and then coasting along a hill and pump fans up why in hell can't somebody figure out how to pump up two cars jumping the front and screaming to the finish?????

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by goinbroke2

You know, show the wheels in the air launches and one car catching the other, then close in on the finish line, maybe slo-mo for effect and it'd work. Pinks proved you can race 9sec or 19 sec and make an exciting show of it.

Put camera's in the chaser car

Put several close camera's to pan along the track so it visually seems faster/more exciting

Put camera's down low to watch the front wheels lift up and off the line

Get somebody who knows how to build excitement, heck if they can show soap box derby cars starting and then coasting along a hill and pump fans up why in hell can't somebody figure out how to pump up two cars jumping the front and screaming to the finish?????

You hit the nail on the head. You need someone who can build the excitement. The current announcers are very boring at the national events. A really good announcer or commentator that knows the classes and their system can make all of the classes real interesting. Some of the fans like a long handicapped race between a low hp car and a big inch killer. I also think NHRA should mix up the run order. InStead or all of the pro classes then some sportsman they should be intermixed. That might keep some fans in the stands to watch sportsman. They also need to figure out how to speed up the pro classes. Takes way to long between runs and classes.

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by goinbroke2

You know, show the wheels in the air launches and one car catching the other, then close in on the finish line, maybe slo-mo for effect and it'd work. Pinks proved you can race 9sec or 19 sec and make an exciting show of it.

Pinks was not a successful show because it showed 9 or 19 second cars. The cars were secondary.

Pinks was a successful show because of the off-track drama between the competitors. The show used off-track scenes to set up the conflict and build the tension. The cars only served as a resolution to the conflict and tension. If you cut out all the off track activities and just showed the cars running, Pinks would not have been successful.

It's all about drama, tension, conflict and resolution.

Put yourself in the shoes of a fan, or in the shoes of someone who is not a fan but happens on the race coverage while he or she is flipping

Jim

[Chris1529]

Fox Sports now has FS2. That is a premium channel where I live. I think they were showing some Nascar (at least qualifying) on that channel earlier in the year.