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Standardized Start Times A Win For Fans

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by Matt Mercer, Special To NASCAR commentary and pictures,2010 NASCAR schedule,NASCAR video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I'm the writer of The Catfish Show NASCAR Blog, which you can access through the links on the right. Follow me on Twitter: @mattmercer

October 9, 2009 12:55 pm CDT 4 Comments

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The news this week that NASCAR would institute standardized start times beginning in 2010 is welcome and long overdue. For too long, NASCAR’s obsession with ratings, specifically on the west coast, has been misguided. I think NASCAR may finally be realizing that it takes more than a supposed west coast-friendly start time to produce ratings. The actual racing needs to be good. Fans have to know when the darn thing actually starts.

The NFL and MLB have consistent start times that you can bank on with just a few notable differences. NFL games start at 1:05 and 4:05 on Sunday afternoons. Most baseball games begin at 7:05 and day games begin at 1:05. In the 1990s as the sport was in its largest growth period, the networks negotiated the deals with individual tracks, but the start times were almost always consistent. The last 8 years with the addition of Fox, NBC, TNT, and re-entry of ESPN threw that old model in the trash can and it was for the worse. Fans for years were accustomed to races beginning at 1 and that was no longer the case. Oh sure, NASCAR would say coverage begins at 1 but the races themselves may not start until 2:30 in some cases. The Daytona 500, the Great American Race, has seen a start time in the last several years of 3 or 3:30. Simply put, fans will have other things to do if you start a race that late. It puzzles me that the NFL draws huge ratings for 1 PM games, but NASCAR can’t see that’s a great time to start an event? Hello, no one wants to sit around all afternoon watching pre-race coverage for 90 minutes. Fans at the track especially suffered in the last several years. It’s high time that was put to an end.

The heavy hand of NASCAR can be used for good. Double-file restarts have saved the TV ratings and fan attention from being even worse this year. Maybe this is an indication that NASCAR will start listening more and putting their collective heads in the sand less.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: How to fix NASCAR, NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, NASCAR Bidness, Sprint Cup Series 

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Comments

4 Responses to “Standardized Start Times A Win For Fans”

  1. User Avatar BethAnne on October 10th, 2009 5:18 am

    I totally agree Matt! Now, I don’t even bother tuning in when the supposed “start time” is listed. I’m not interested in watching an hour to 90 minute NASCAR infomercial before the race. I’m already a fan ! I just want to see the race!

  2. Bruce E. Simmons (NBaP) on October 10th, 2009 10:12 pm

    I think it’s great that they’ve finally seen that they need to return to the ways of yesteryear.

    Like many, I was very accustomed to the 1 p.m. (ET) start times.

    Fox admitted to this being their bad in the press conference, which was pretty big of them, considering all the networks were probably salivating behind the same premise of trying to slide the perceived end-times of the show into their other televised events.

    I mean heck, thank the lord me didn’t miss a second of AFV last year near the end of the Phoenix race.

    As far as NASCAR listening to the fans: I think it’s a good premise, but I feel it necessary to say that when the economy was going gang-busters, they did what they wanted, when they wanted.

    Now that the economy has hit their attendance #’s, NOW they’re appearing to listen to the fans.

    I’m not sure that is the true case, but empirically speaking, that’s what it looks like.

  3. T Houston on October 11th, 2009 11:47 am

    This was long overdue but may be a bit too late for fans like me. I used to love to be there at the start and then it became impossible to wait for the start as all the pre-race stuff bored me off to doing something else. Then I learned something…this new car makes only the last 50 laps worth watching. So yes, I may not know when the race will begin, but if I tune in around 4:30pm, I will catch the good part.

  4. User Avatar Charlie Turner on October 14th, 2009 8:35 pm

    I cannot watch ABC’s pre-race coverage. Unwatchable TV.

    The consistent start times are good. At least for me, a lifetime resident of the eastern time zone. I can’t speak for west coasters.

    But the best part is the stated commitment to wave the green 15-20 minutes after the TV start time. Genius

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