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IndyCar Deals Itself a Terrible Blow
I had really hoped that this afternoon's announcement would reveal a title sponsor. Instead, its just about the worst possible news we could receive.
This is per Curt Cavin this morning.
ABC, Versus to share IndyCar series TV coverage
This kills any chance for building momentum in 2009. Who watches Versus? I'm a total sports nut and even I don't watch Versus!!
The IndyCar Series will return to ABC-TV for five races in 2009, including the Indianapolis 500, but the rest of the races will move from ESPN and ESPN2 to Versus, series and television officials confirmed Wednesday.
This is per Curt Cavin this morning.
ABC, Versus to share IndyCar series TV coverage
This kills any chance for building momentum in 2009. Who watches Versus? I'm a total sports nut and even I don't watch Versus!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by SoHoosier on -
I agree that the increased coverage will be good...no more waiting for stupid golf tournaments to end, but at least I could see it when it got on. We don't get Versus.
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Permalink Reply by CC8820 on -
I am really hyped about the new tv deal ! All that extra coverage I have been missing on tv. Sure we have the indycar.com streaming video that always keeps it interesting to say the least. I say lets give it a year befor we judge them and see how they do.
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Permalink Reply by B-Dawg on -
With all the gains the series has made this year, this just seems
like a HUGE step backwards. I really hope I'm wrong about it. If nobody watches the races on TV,
sponsors have no reason to put their names on cars and the series
fades away. Meanwhile, even though NASCAR's ticket sales are down,
they're still on every week, and that's where the sponsors, fans and
drivers will be trying to go.
The momentum this year has been in the IRL's favor, and in my opinion this just sets it back five years. The extended coverage and stuff...I'm all for that. That's what they needed to be workin on the past few years. But they have to get the word out to people who don't know the sport, not just the diehard fans. The way to do that is to get in front of as many eyeballs as possible, meaning on a mainstream network... You could have the best circus in the world, but if you have it in a barn back in the woods you ain't gonna get many curious people in there to see it, in other words...
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Permalink Reply by xorpheous on -
If nobody watches the races on TV, sponsors have no reason to put their names on cars...
...bingo. :(
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Permalink Reply by B-Dawg on
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If the idea is to "grow" the Versus network, it would make more sense (to me) to put some IRL programming on there, and add and add over a few years. Putting the majority of the races on there from the start does not seem to be the right way to do it. I'd never really heard of Versus until this past morning. It may turn out to be the best thing that ever happened...but my confidence in TG's marketing strategy is a bit shaky right now... or maybe we can blame this one on Gene Simmons.
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Permalink Reply by Kyle on -
The idea that sponsors are looking for tv exposure to the masses is misconstrued. If a sponsor is doing their homework hitting fewer but more in your demographic is what you want rather than just shot gunning your logo on TV. For some (like Target) any eyes are potential customers but for many others they are after a certain market of people and they are puring over the data to look at who's watching and when. That's why speed is a very tough sell, it has a very limited demographic of people watching. ESPN is the same boat. It might pick up more casual fans to watch a race for the series simply because of it's position in the market. HOWEVER when they do nothing on their other channels to promote the series you are again getting a very limited band of viewers that's not attractive to all sponsors. You need a tv partner that is going to promote via other mediums than just the channel that the race is on and just the time that the race is on. I said this before Comcast might not be the best solution but if the IRL did their homework and built a solid contract this could be a major sell for potential new sponsors who want the viewers who watch E!, The Golf Channel, Style Network, etc.
Bottom line, for a sponsor who is tracking their ROI it's not about pure number of eyes seeing the logo.
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Permalink Reply by B-Dawg on
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Last night I checked and saw Versus is channel 151, right after SPEED on Dish Network. When I tried 151, the screen went blue and said something to the effect that Versus is aubscription channel, etc, etc. To get it, I'd be having to upgrade to the premium package, and basically get 125 more channels that I'll never watch...as it is, I only watch about ten of the channels I get now. Just give me Versus without charging for a bunch of other stuff that's of no interest...
Sorry, just had to vent...
One point, though... a lot of people point to the 1979 Daytona 500 as the race that really started NASCAR on the course it's on. There was a blizzard over a lot of the country and people were stuck inside. A lot of them turned on the CBS broadcast out of curiosity (or boredom) and saw an exciting race, including the famous fight at the end. Of course now people have a lot more options than they did in '79...cable TV, the internet, whatever, so if the same thing happened today, the results with ratings and so on might not be what they were back then. What really worries me about this new deal is that a lot of people like me will have to put in some effort to find the races. A longtime fan will do that...a casual fan or somebody flipping through the channels might not.
But I tend to be wrong a lot (and get reminded of it every time), and I really hope I am this time, too. Hopefully this turns out to be the best thing that ever happened.
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Permalink Reply by Gilbert K. Arnold on -
Hey People: Regardless of your views of the IRL's decision to go with VS, shouldn't we wait until we actually see what the network is going to do. We might be pleasantly surprised. They've got from now until next March to get their ducks in a row. And I'm sure they had some pretty concrete ideas in mind when they pitched their proposal to Tony George and company. Considering how we've been treated by ESPN and the Mickey Mouse network, it's worth looking at other options. Right now the ICS/IRL doesn't have enough pull to get what it should be getting from the current coverage providers. In the meantime we get a network that is willing give us top billing, and is willing to spend the money to become a major competitor to ESPN/ABC presentations. If this works out the way TG and crew thinks it will, we can say to the other guys "go urinate up a woven hemp hawser."
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Permalink Reply by B-Dawg on
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You could be right...and I hope you are... Let's just hope the sponsors and fans will have the patience to work with the network and help it grow. Again, I WANT to be proven wrong...
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Permalink Reply by Ken Cleaver on -
I agree gilbert, ABC/ESPN sucks.
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Permalink Reply by Michael on -
Well VS has the NHL too I think. I don't know if that is good or bad. Not sure I want to upgrade my TV package to get it.
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Permalink Reply by joey kowailw on -
i agree gilbert. what have we seen yet? perhaps vs might get themselfs put on lesser packages. but it is worrying i think the first package you get them on dish is the top 250 package.
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