NHRA Leaving ESPN for Fox Sports 1 in 2016

[CRR]

I'm reading that Fox will have 3X the hours of broadcast compared to ESPN.

Yes, but will it be 3X of "real" content?

 

[Jimbo]

Let's all say a prayer for Fox Sports that this works because if it does not I am not sure what the next move will be for the N.H.R.A.

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[StockersRock]

Going to Tee this thread up. Can someone explain how much sportsman/Lucas oil series coverage Fox will have starting next year? Could anyone out there on the board compare and contrast the current amount of sportsman coverage on ESPN with the new amount Fox will be offering? Looking forward to your answers-Thank you!

I am thinking that that will be the step back from what they had before. Unfortunately.

 

[StockersRock]

I'm actually looking forward to seeing how this comes off. As has been mentioned, this pretty much takes ESPN out of the auto sports field entirely. I've always felt that the people running ESPN are, at their heart, stick and ball people, and thier relationship with car racing was a love/hate one.

All of major sports media is stick and ball first. Even NASCAR is still niche compared to the big four USA sports and even golf and soccer now. NASCAR coverage on any good size market or nationally syndicated sports talk radio is non-existent. Here in New England, we have Sprint Cup coming to New Hampshire this week. With the MLB All Star Break, this is notoriously the slowest sports news time of the year (today in particular - exactly why the ESPY's are tonight). Are either of the big Boston sports radio stations talking about the race? Not that I've heard.

 

[club]

and wow about the "pay us so you can stop paying us" clause! Sure makes the NHRA execs look dumb.

This is in almost every contract. ESPN (or any company) makes commitments based on how long a contract is, ie employees, equipment, infrastructure etc. so a penalty clause for an early out is standard. Ever buy a smart phone on a 2-year contact? Try leaving after 6 months and see what happens, yep you pay to not pay the carrier. Or get out of your building lease early. Even some home/car loans have penalties for paying them off early.

 

[cknight]

Just so we never have Ralph Sheheen on there.....

 

[StockersRock]

Just so we never have Ralph Sheheen on there.....

Unless there is too much confliction with the Feb. - May part of the NHRA schedule with Supercross, I have a feeling you will be very dissapointed.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

From the "for what it's worth" department..........

I saw where Will Hanna posted on his Facebook page where he researched FS1 to be stronger in viewership over ESPN2 by a factor of 2-1.

Sean D

 

[PDQ]

well this is a real pisser for me I won't be up grading my package to watch nhra I am 68 years old and have been racing on and off since I was seventeen, when you could call sunday night and pay to hear a recap by d mac I did. when direct tv starting broadcasting the race all day I paid 500 bucks to buy there system for that purpose only and nhra should have learned right then that there tv package was not going to be very popular with the masses because I can remember steve evans beggin us to call people and get them to tune in. I know espn was shitty to us but i believe more of us fans have better access to them then fs1, so over the years thanks nhra for raising on us back bone of the sport sportsman racers and fans for the increase of licensing fees, tech fees, entrance fees, seat belt fees that every two years a door car has to replace that the sun hardly touches, you have finally priced me out of the sport my car is for sale and i guess i will see what this thing called golf is all about.

 

[Jimbo]

Let's try and think positive that with a New man running the N.H.R.A. and now changing from ESPN to Fox Sports these changes will be able to get the N.H.R.A. moving forward again.
I don't thing there is any question that we need to find new viewers, sponsors, racers, and people who love drag racing for this sport to once again thrive.

Just my opinion.
Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[mick]

i sincerely hope that fsn1 reaches the same or more viewers and pays big dividends for nhra, it's racers and sponsors moving
forward with this new broadcast package and nhra in-house production......honestly i can't wait to see it; i think it will easily be on par
or likely better than now......but.....i will watch the four events on the fox national channel and most likely (as stated earlier)
none of the fsn1 broadcasts as i refuse to be duped into thinking that nhra drag racing is somehow exclusive enough to spend
additional money on.....it is not.....it is an awesome niche' sport worthy of new audience and fans, but will those new fans be TV junkies that
already pay for 500 channels? and suddenly become devoted nhra fans? .....the espn networks are included in their 500 channels;
why wouldn't they have been watching for years already?......i have to agree with earlier statements that question a certain percentage
of subscribers that will not upgrade, coupled with fsn1's reach being much less than the espn networks.
i hope i'm wrong.....i hope fsn1 negotiates for better network package placement.

 

[sammi]

I like the idea of in-house production. As a member of NHRA ( of wait, I forgot about Asher telling me I don't have a say in the running of the company)I am interested to see if the deal involves NHRA buying time from Fox and then generating incoming via the ad sales. I hope the potential for NHRA to generate profit from the broadcasts realistically exists.

Oh wait...I almost forgot...doesn't John Force Racing have a production company. Just sayn.

 

[Jim]

Well, here's a suggestion.
I remember when ESPN2 was NOT on my local cable, I (and, perhaps, others) called, wrote and otherwise kept reminding the local management that I (we) wanted our ESPN2. We got it.
Some oldies may also remember the "I want my M-TV campaign".

Squeakey wheel and all that......

PS: FOX has a LOT of juice with cable operators.

 

[RebilasPhoto]

well this is a real pisser for me I won't be up grading my package to watch nhra I am 68 years old and have been racing on and off since I was seventeen, when you could call sunday night and pay to hear a recap by d mac I did. when direct tv starting broadcasting the race all day I paid 500 bucks to buy there system for that purpose only and nhra should have learned right then that there tv package was not going to be very popular with the masses because I can remember steve evans beggin us to call people and get them to tune in. I know espn was shitty to us but i believe more of us fans have better access to them then fs1, so over the years thanks nhra for raising on us back bone of the sport sportsman racers and fans for the increase of licensing fees, tech fees, entrance fees, seat belt fees that every two years a door car has to replace that the sun hardly touches, you have finally priced me out of the sport my car is for sale and i guess i will see what this thing called golf is all about.

Wait till you see that a round of golf costs about 4 times more than adding Fox Sports to your cable package.... #youllbeback

 

[PJ]

We wanted change, we have a new guy at the top, a new PR person and a new network. I'm not saying it's all rainbows and unicorns yet but let's see if it works out and like Jim said, if you don't get fsn1 now, start squawking to you cable company to add it

 

[PDQ]

Probably will be Mark some courses around where I live are not to expensive though. I know NHRA and I want the TV package but I can still hear the great Steve Evans asking us viewers 15 or 20 years ago to call all our friends to tune in, I don't think it put many in the seats on Sunday then and It won't now or ever, TV just doesn't do the real think any justice.

 

[mike]

not a huge fan of how Fox treats non-NASCAR motorsports (Indian Jones couldn't figure out the Le Mans TV schedule this year). But one thing Fox does seem to get right is to schedule a reasonable amount of time for live events so their broadcast schedule is stays more reliable than ESPN's does.

 

[DrRocket]

To be sure, Fox has had their moments.

Anyone remember the time Fox, during drivers' introductions at the beginning of the show, "blanked out" the logos from the hoods of companies that hadn't bought any commercial time during the broadcast?

Everyone was pretty upset about that one. I think this was back in the early 2,000s.

 

[Bob]

Probably will be Mark some courses around where I live are not to expensive though. I know NHRA and I want the TV package but I can still hear the great Steve Evans asking us viewers 15 or 20 years ago to call all our friends to tune in, I don't think it put many in the seats on Sunday then and It won't now or ever, TV just doesn't do the real think any justice.

A big problem with the ESPNPPV broadcasts was some cable systems wouldn't carry them, period. I was in their offices, begging my cable company to let me buy the shows, and they refused to make them available. I had to buy a DirecTV satellite system to get the programs.

 

[Treeshaker]

I would think that Fox bought the Speed channel as a platform to build off of and as such, once they acquire the rights to more programing it will become a staple of most cable and satelite providers. I watched the women's USGA tournament Friday round on FS1 and they did a much better job than I had ever seen on The Golf Channel, and the Saturday and Sunday rounds were on Fox with extended coverage and I thought the coverage was excellent. If NHRA telecasts can see the same type of exposure/quality, I think it is a great move for the sport.

ESPN coverage of the NHRA had become stale more than a decade ago. I doubt if the casual fan could tell the difference from an event today to one anywhere in the past. Television viewers have become bored with them and watch other fresher shows. I hope NHRA does not bring the same director to the new production company or it will be the same old story.