I'm not buying the economy excuse for the empty seats anymore. The number today at Talladega was alarming. Based on the overhead shots there was easily 35-55k empty seats. The section from turn 4 and the beginning of the tri-oval was 60-80% empty. That area alone is about a 1/3 of the 175k seats there. There was numerous empty seats besides that. The one thing i do believe is obvious is a lot of tracks, Dover, Charlotte, Talladega, Atlanta, Michigan have too many seats. The boom hit and a lot of the tracks went a little too crazy throwing up seats. Even at Nascar's peak i don't think Atlanta, Talladega and Charlotte ever sold out. The Talladega date was moved from the boiling summer to the fall to help the poor attendace and without knowing if the date change would really pay off they added a lot of seats in the late 90's. The firecracker 400 faced the same problem. Other than Indy, Daytona and Bristol no track needs more than 125k seats IMO.

The other reason you can't blame the economy and high gas prices is other sports are doing just fine. Ticket prices for pro football and college football are nearly as high at NASCAR's anymore yet they are having no trouble filling up their stands. Since i've been attending races 90% of people that go are from a 4 hour radius, Pocono has always been PA,NJ,NY: Dover PA,NJ,MD,VA,DE: Michigan: MI,OH,IN. There's always people in their campers from long distances but the majority have always been from a 300 mile radius. That's the same as the pulling power from just about any major state university football game.

If the product was better and the tracks didn't go a little overboard in their seat building the problem wouldn't be so bad. I just believe the economy and gas prices are the problem. The country loves it sports.

The race today was great. But its not the product, its economy and gas prices. I wish people would see facts.

Smokefan05 - 06 October 2008 01:43 AM

The race today was great. But its not the product, its economy and gas prices. I wish people would see facts.

But why aren't other large events being affected if it's the economy? Most of these tracks are drawing what they were before the boom hit in the late 90's early 2000's. The economy any gas prices are having a slight impact but not nearly as much as you believe.

Smokefan05 - 06 October 2008 01:43 AM

The race today was great. But its not the product, its economy and gas prices. I wish people would see facts.

Speaking for myself, I haven't attended a NASCAR race since
the late 80's. The rules, restrictor plates and now the COT
are my reasons. Like many, I have the "you only live once,
enjoy it" attitude. I still attend NHRA events yearly and
at least 4 or 5 concerts a year, the economy won't change that.

I agree with the economy to a point , but if you put all your eggs in that basket and not take a look at your product you are a idiot.

Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta over the weekend had its largest attendance ever with 113k over the 3 days

Smokefan05 - 06 October 2008 01:43 AM

The race today was great. But its not the product, its economy and gas prices. I wish people would see facts.

hogwash..........

I'm not really a NASCAR fan, but economic reasons and fuel prices dictate many of the things that I would normally be doing for entertainment. A lot of factors impact ticket sales for any event so this subject is pretty complicated.

Reality is that in that area, there is currently a gas shortage. There is potential that people have chosen not to take the longish drive out to the track because of it.

However, the number of empty seats was signficant. Then again, at the football game in Houston yesterday there were significant numbers of empty seats in the second tier as well. So who knows?

The track is in the middle of nowhere, the only thing to do is watch the race .

PAfan08 - 06 October 2008 01:31 AM

I'm not buying the economy excuse for the empty seats anymore. The number today at Talladega was alarming. Based on the overhead shots there was easily 35-55k empty seats. The section from turn 4 and the beginning of the tri-oval was 60-80% empty. That area alone is about a 1/3 of the 175k seats there. There was numerous empty seats besides that. The one thing i do believe is obvious is a lot of tracks, Dover, Charlotte, Talladega, Atlanta, Michigan have too many seats. The boom hit and a lot of the tracks went a little too crazy throwing up seats. Even at Nascar's peak i don't think Atlanta, Talladega and Charlotte ever sold out. The Talladega date was moved from the boiling summer to the fall to help the poor attendace and without knowing if the date change would really pay off they added a lot of seats in the late 90's. The firecracker 400 faced the same problem. Other than Indy, Daytona and Bristol no track needs more than 125k seats IMO.

The other reason you can't blame the economy and high gas prices is other sports are doing just fine. Ticket prices for pro football and college football are nearly as high at NASCAR's anymore yet they are having no trouble filling up their stands. Since i've been attending races 90% of people that go are from a 4 hour radius, Pocono has always been PA,NJ,NY: Dover PA,NJ,MD,VA,DE: Michigan: MI,OH,IN. There's always people in their campers from long distances but the majority have always been from a 300 mile radius. That's the same as the pulling power from just about any major state university football game.

If the product was better and the tracks didn't go a little overboard in their seat building the problem wouldn't be so bad. I just believe the economy and gas prices are the problem. The country loves it sports.

You don't believe it is the economy? I guess you also don't believe that the stock market has just dipped below 10000, the lowest since 2004. I guess you also think the credit and foreclosure issues are not that serious.

This stuff is serious. It is affecting decisions within every household, not just within this country, but worldwide. Discretionary dollars, such as those used for attending races or taking family vacations just are not there for many, many people. NASCAR's core base, many of whom attend the Talladega races, are likely amongst those hardest hit.