On the Right Track
A NASCAR BLOG BY Jeff Gluck
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Chicagoland's Saturday race was a bad move
Jul
17
The viewers have spoken.
The television ratings for Saturday night's Chicagoland Sprint Cup race plummeted 22.9 percent from last year, and the viewership was down 19.4 percent.
Ouch.
In a year when the ratings have been up or at least flat in many events, those numbers are crazy.
The decline can be due to only one reason: Moving the race from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night.
Chicagoland was already selling out its races anyway. So the move to install lights and host the race on a Saturday night was somewhat puzzling.
Proponents of the move are those who support Saturday night Cup races. There are times when racing on Saturday night serves its purpose, like in the summer race at Daytona (that race drew a 4.5 rating compared to Chicagoland's 3.7 – the least-watched race of the season).
In a sport that is always trying to get as many eyes on its events as possible – TV is the best way to do that – it just doesn't make sense to move the race from a Sunday afternoon (when many fans are available to watch the race) to Saturday night (when many fans already have other plans).
These numbers are the strongest evidence yet that Saturday night racing is not always good for the sport. Let's hope the powers that be see a lesson in this.
The television ratings for Saturday night's Chicagoland Sprint Cup race plummeted 22.9 percent from last year, and the viewership was down 19.4 percent.
Ouch.
In a year when the ratings have been up or at least flat in many events, those numbers are crazy.
The decline can be due to only one reason: Moving the race from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night.
Chicagoland was already selling out its races anyway. So the move to install lights and host the race on a Saturday night was somewhat puzzling.
Proponents of the move are those who support Saturday night Cup races. There are times when racing on Saturday night serves its purpose, like in the summer race at Daytona (that race drew a 4.5 rating compared to Chicagoland's 3.7 – the least-watched race of the season).
In a sport that is always trying to get as many eyes on its events as possible – TV is the best way to do that – it just doesn't make sense to move the race from a Sunday afternoon (when many fans are available to watch the race) to Saturday night (when many fans already have other plans).
These numbers are the strongest evidence yet that Saturday night racing is not always good for the sport. Let's hope the powers that be see a lesson in this.
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Comments
4 responses to "Chicagoland's Saturday race was a bad move"
Awan DerLustig said:
Jul 17, 2008 at 4:57 PMIt was the first year of the change! Let's see what happens next year. Besides, you apparently have not sat in the heat of July during the Chicagoland races! Otherwise, you would be grateful for the relief from the heat by running the races at night.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportRun Jump said:
Jul 17, 2008 at 6:46 PMI actually like the Saturday night races. I prefer them over the Sunday ones. I did turn off this one early though. Once Kyle Busch began to dominate, I checked out. Yeah, JJ gave him a good run for his money, but the end result was predictable. I'm just weary of the Kyle Busch show every week. Ok, I get it, he's a good driver. But that doesn't make him any more palatable. Seeing him win...well...it makes me want to throw myself in front of a truck.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAnonymous said:
Jul 21, 2008 at 2:32 PMThis was the first year that I have not attended the Chicago race since the begining. The reason: It was not at 1 pm. I don't do races that get me home at 2 am. Jay Fox
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAnonymous said:
Jul 23, 2008 at 7:44 PMI also think you need to look at the fact this race is on cable with TNT. Yes, I know it was TNT as well last year, but what do you expect when a top 5 tv market in the nation on cable. I think it is crazy the Daytona Coke 400 race and the Indy 400 are on cable as well.
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