It’s just a glimmer of a thought, but in a Time Online article, they touch on a lot of things. It’s a phenom of a read, but the part that caught my eye was the statement that “NASCAR is considering changing its points system, which currently rewards sustained excellence over the 36-race season rather than giving huge bonuses to drivers who win races.”
They’re recognizing that drivers need a wee bit more incentive to get their butts across the finish line first, and suspect that the incentive to win could generate more bumping on the track. Other than that, they don’t expound on it. Me, I remember thinking the measly points already rewarded for winning doesn’t count. Winning does need to be rewarded, and big.
But then, the premise of adding weight of more points for wins, is all in the name of excitement.
In addition to the points mention, the great Time article touched on issues we, as fans, have been making note of in blogs, Twitter and Facebook for some time now.
They touch on the economy and dwindling audiences, including the 25% decline in TV audiences since 2005.
They touch on how the passion of the drivers was what generated fan focus, but of the last few years, with NASCAR putting the kabash on driver “interactions,” fan attention has faded a bit.
Hence, the “have at” routine this year… in hopes of inspiring the fans once again. Of course, they didn’t count on Carl Edwards‘ personal vendetta against Brad Keselowski.
The item that most caught my attention was the premise on the length of the races.
I’m a diehard fan, but the Cup races, designed to reward driver, equipment and team endurance, are pretty long. Too long for my taste. I personally think the Nationwide races are the perfect length. The Time article noted that NASCAR needs to deal with the shorter attention span of its fans.
Brad Daugherty chimed in, in the article noted that he can put the race on, go do something else, go shopping, come back and the race is still going.
I spend the time blogging and Tweeting… and if you count ALL the pre-race shows, I can turn on the TV, hit up SPEED TV, then ESPN, then FOx for the race, then ESPN or SPEED after the race. Hence, I could get a a good 12 hours of NASCAR. Some days, it’s kind of cool. Other days, overdose is just too much!
But with Time talking about all our sports’ issues, it’s great to see the bits get out into more of the mainstream than just within our own channels of fan-chat.
[Time]
