When there are such awesome things like Rally in the world, why is NASCAR the dominant motorsport in the United States? That is a question I’ve been asking myself, along with “What made NASCAR become so popular in the first place?”.
I’ve found a few points that make it so popular:
It is easy to spectate. Hillclimbs and Rally Races are hard to spectate. You have to go out to the middle of nowhere and bring a seat and your own beverages. NASCAR lets you come to a stadium where you can park, buy tickets and sit in a stadium style seat where you can easily order beverages or pick them up.
Many times people will go to a NASCAR race to support their favorite driver (and have a nice day out). They get to watch their favorite driver go around every corner and crash if that happens. Stage races only allow a spectator at glimpses of the driver throughout the stages. So spectators may be disappointed with the amount of time they see their favorite driver(s).
Alcohol. So many of the NASCAR sponsors are alcohol related. Even a whole series was named after a shit beer. Alcohol is the biggest reason I think NASCAR is watched. It is an excuse to sit around, drink beer, eat some food and hang out with some buddies. This makes me wonder why many Rally races in the US remain alcohol free. I get the safety part of it, but at least push for alcohol in some areas if it will make the sport more popular. The rallies in Europe have some trouble with alcohol, but then again, look at how popular they are.
Marketing. NASCAR was almost tailor built for advertising and sponsorships. This resulted in a positive feedback loop between the sponsors and NASCAR. Promote NASCAR and your stuff gets promoted too. So the marketing teams of many many companies worked with NASCAR to help promote NASCAR and themselves. Really, it is an excellent business strategy where if NASCAR got huge, any sponsor would also get a ton more coverage. I am quite sure this is what Rally America is hoping to do with Rally. It has achieved a ton of coverage thanks to the X-Games, and Rally America is hugely responsible for that.
I’ve got some more ideas kicking around in my head, but most of them are infants. I’ll post some more about why NASCAR is so popular later.
But now I would like to hear what you think about what makes NASCAR the dominant race league in the US.
June 4th, 2008 |
