NHRA article on yahoo (not good news) (3 Viewers)

[TSK]

Now you get to the question of whether national events are held for spectators and TV viewers or for racers.

And that depends on if the sanctioning body gets paid to air their races, like NASCAR. Or, if the sanctioning body has to pay to have their races shown, like NHRA.

 

[Jim]

And that depends on if the sanctioning body gets paid to air their races, like NASCAR. Or, if the sanctioning body has to pay to have their races shown, like NHRA.

Paying for TV time can be very lucrative if done correctly. You buy the time from the TV network, then sell the advertising yourself and pocket the difference as profit. Until the advent of local sports networks, most baseball teams did it that way. They bought airtime to televise games and sold the advertising. It's nothing more than a long infomercial. The type of deal NHRA has with Fox is very common.

 

[Jeff]

Paying for TV time can be very lucrative if done correctly. You buy the time from the TV network, then sell the advertising yourself and pocket the difference as profit. Until the advent of local sports networks, most baseball teams did it that way. They bought airtime to televise games and sold the advertising. It's nothing more than a long infomercial. The type of deal NHRA has with Fox is very common.

Was it my imagination, or have there been more commercials on the last telecast?
Granted there was a Rain delay, but...

 

[Jim]

Was it my imagination, or have there been more commercials on the last telecast?
Granted there was a Rain delay, but...

I thought the same thing. That's one way to bring in more cash.

 

[Professional Fan]

I don't know about everyone else but there is no way I would travel 2000 miles to watch or participate in a 1 day race. It just wouldn't be worth the effort or expense for such a small amount of fun time...and fun time is why most of the independent teams race their cars. I would just save my money and stay home and go out for a nice dinner.

Eugene, I'm with you as a fan. I'll go to 9 of the 11 races this year if the rest of the schedule happens. Had to fly to all 9 from California. If all events were one day I doubt I would go to any. Not worth the expense and time for one day. Maybe I'm not the typical fan. However, I do like the shortened two day pro events. Less cost but also more drama with only two rounds of qualifying. Recently Leah and Hulk went into the last round of qualifying not in. That rarely happened with 4 qualifying sessions.

 

[dutch52]

one thing i have't heard is "there r 2 many races ".. vegas and charlotte" should have only 1 race each ..
thats what i c .. eliminate some venues ..

 

[Jim]

Maybe I'm not the typical fan.

You are not the typical fan. If the typical fan was willing to fly to 9 of 11 races, NHRA could hold every race at Indy and let fans travel to them. Every team could be based in the industrial park across the street from the track and stay in their own homes every evening.

 

[Jim]

one thing i have't heard is "there r 2 many races ".. vegas and charlotte" should have only 1 race each ..
thats what i c .. eliminate some venues ..

Sponsors want a specific number of races on TV. Where would you put the races from Charlotte and Vegas? There are not that many tracks left that can handle a national event.

 

[mick]

normalcy will return. hard to imagine rite now, but it will happen.

 

[Walter]

Everyone has correctly said cutting costs is one of the keys. Some bright minds have made sound suggestions to the NHRA over the last few years (Dale Armstrong being one) to accomplish this, but the NHRA will not pull the trigger on it. Maybe the mega-teams that are really well-funded are blocking that with the NHRA, maybe not. That was one of the key issues precipitating the CART/IRL split.

If you cut costs for a season, there is a larger pool of sponsors who can pay the freight. Runaway costs shoots the tab through the roof for a sponsor and fewer can pay to play (even in non-pandemic or economic boom times).

Cutting hospitality is a non-starter. Sponsors need the on-site activation to get the ROI they need.

You cannot reduce what teams have at their home base, but some effort could be made to curb expenses at the track. Shorter events (reduced food and lodging costs) and fewer team personnel allowed (keeping in mind that the short turnaround window mandated by live TV means you need enough folks to keep the cars safe.

Some here have mentioned that the NHRA model of paying to be shown and then selling ads themselves may be the key to more revenue. I respectfully disagree. If that were true, NASCAR, IndyCar, and other sports would still be doing it. The harsh reality is that TV money is huge for many motor sports.

If there are no changes made, the future for the NHRA may not be so bright. It ain't the sport, that is just fine. It is the economic model that needs adjusting and that can only come from the top.

 

[Pete]

Now you get to the question of whether national events are held for spectators and TV viewers or for racers.

all three

 

[Pete]

E It ain't the sport, that is just fine. It is the economic model that needs adjusting and that can only come from the top.

PERFECTLY STATED!

 

[Jim]

all three

You can't do all three and do it right.

 

[mick]

not sure where to put this. don't want to start a new thread.
new sponsor/s on the horizon? fox networks committed to nhra into future? IMO it's time to change something; as in when you tune into a nat. event broadcast you will watch ONE nitro class;
and the participants will race for at least double what they do now.......take a deep breath.....time to end top fuel. Nitro FC to be the premiere (series sponsor name) nhra class.
let HD or similar sponsor the PSB class. PS can also be funded by someone like JEGS or Summit. PM, and NH can also find presenting sponsors. rotate classes per nat. events as per recent.
dragsters are not gone. tickle the combination in nitro injected, raise the nitro percentage, and have that class cackling it's way to 4.00 sec., 300mph runs.
the dragster class still runs all the nat. events.......PSB, PS, PM, and NH all run a 14-18 race season....... four pro classes presents too many names and too many (series sponsor) winners for fans
to keep track off........one nitro class. one set of stars. one set of cars. pretty sure chevy, ford, dodge, and toyota would appreciate it too.

 

[Cliff]

Mike, T/F has always been the quickest & the fastest, & is our version of Indy Car & F-1. If there would be a door car that is equivlent of NASCAR, it would be Pro Stock. Just my 2 cents. BUT, if you want one fuel class, why not combine T/F and F/C? Streamlined body, say 160 " WB min & go from there. A funny car is a streamlined, front motor T/F & it wouldn't take much to lengthen the chassis & develop a streamlined body based on current F/C bodies. This idea goes back to the 1970's.

Am wondering if you remember IHRA running F/C as the Pro class years ago & how that worked out. IHRA also added injected nitro w/ nitrous to T/F & a few cars ran, but nobody actually ran nitrous. If you would run an injected nitro class, what about Top Alky? I dunno, there have been lotsa discussions on this in the past & someone said why should we change the classes? We're drag racing, not NASCAR or F1, etc
Maybe just go to heads up for Nat'l events & sportsmen to Divisional races? All this just me talkin' w/ 1 cup of coffee. heh

 

[mick]

Mike, T/F has always been the quickest & the fastest, & is our version of Indy Car & F-1. If there would be a door car that is equivlent of NASCAR, it would be Pro Stock. Just my 2 cents. BUT, if you want one fuel class, why not combine T/F and F/C? Streamlined body, say 160 " WB min & go from there. A funny car is a streamlined, front motor T/F & it wouldn't take much to lengthen the chassis & develop a streamlined body based on current F/C bodies. This idea goes back to the 1970's.

Am wondering if you remember IHRA running F/C as the Pro class years ago & how that worked out. IHRA also added injected nitro w/ nitrous to T/F & a few cars ran, but nobody actually ran nitrous. If you would run an injected nitro class, what about Top Alky? I dunno, there have been lotsa discussions on this in the past & someone said why should we change the classes? We're drag racing, not NASCAR or F1, etc
Maybe just go to heads up for Nat'l events & sportsmen to Divisional races? All this just me talkin' w/ 1 cup of coffee. heh

for sure cliff. hard to know if the recipe is perfect already, or if wholesale changes would harm or help......sure would be nice to see the professional purse increase though.

 

[Cliff]

Amen to that! The driver who finishes last in Indy 500 gets more than T/F winner. I was thinking about drag racing way back in the 1950's. Wally Parks never wanted drag racing to become professional; wanted it to be sportsmen only, even the fuelers. I saw a video of some Calif racers going to the first Nationals in 1955, wondered where did they get the $ for OTR costs? Well they had a sponsor & that is why they went. I don't think drag racing has ever been at the point where a racer could win enough to cover costs, regardless of class. Look at Top Alky today. What does it cost to run a competitive car? 1.5 million per year or more? Look at the purses they get. Well, see what happens if Camping World becomes the sponsor. Maybe we will have nitro pick ups w/ camper shell..... heh heh

 

[sammi]

If you have read High Performance by Dr. Robert Post it was clear Wally P never wanted to pay racers any cash. He did have a taste for beautiful headquarters buildings set next to a beautiful golf course.

 

[none]

Amen to that! The driver who finishes last in Indy 500 gets more than T/F winner. I was thinking about drag racing way back in the 1950's. Wally Parks never wanted drag racing to become professional; wanted it to be sportsmen only, even the fuelers. I saw a video of some Calif racers going to the first Nationals in 1955, wondered where did they get the $ for OTR costs? Well they had a sponsor & that is why they went. I don't think drag racing has ever been at the point where a racer could win enough to cover costs, regardless of class. Look at Top Alky today. What does it cost to run a competitive car? 1.5 million per year or more? Look at the purses they get. Well, see what happens if Camping World becomes the sponsor. Maybe we will have nitro pick ups w/ camper shell..... heh heh

Cliff,

A little googling shows that the cost of an Indycar (just the car) is 3-8 million. Then add trucks, trailers, spare parts, people, etc.

Last year the winner Simon Padenaud earned $2,669,529.00 or about a third of what his car costs. R/Up Alexander Rossi earned $759,179.00

So I guess you could invest on the low side, be at the track for 4 Million or so and grab the last place check. That sounds like a brilliant business move.

Alan

 

[Pete]

You can't do all three and do it right.

sure you can...good payouts + smoothly run race = excitement and satisfies the fans.... covers all bases