Promoters Newsletter

Are We Now A Back Gate-Driven Sport?

Stewart Doty — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:01:22 +0000

As the new season gets underway, we already read commentators who ask, “Are we becoming a back gate-driven sport.” If the sport is becoming back gate-driven, and we think that’s probably a hasty conclusion, the reason would be demographic change. Racing rose to prominence bolstered by the enthusiastic backing of the Baby Boom Generation. Not long ago, all a promoter did was open the gates and a large established fan base begot sizable crowds. Promoters benefited from 50 years of accumulated enthusiasm for racing among the largest demographic group in our society, possessing plentiful disposable income, and fewer leisure time distractions. Now, as Boomers retire, difficult to reach generations lacking Boomers enthusiasm for the automobile, following their own X-Games “sports,” driven to distraction by a bewildering number of leisure time choices replace them. Event promotions effective with the Boomer generations do not capture their interest. More frustrating for promoters, traditional media solutions such as radio and TV, are too expensive, fragmented and ineffective with younger generations. When, or if, the day comes that short track racing is predominantly back gate-driven; we’ll have no reservation recognizing it. It’s not the badge of dishonor as some think it is. After all, sportsman drag racing flourishes as entrant-driven sport. Millions of young families still look for affordable nearby entertainment, short track promoters have it, and the media to reach younger potential fans are effective. We’ll make up our mind when promoters have had enough time to tailor their racing and entertainment to younger audiences and become smarter digital communicators.

Take Care Of Graying Fans

Stewart Doty — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:15:16 +0000

During a recent telephone conversation, a caller made us think about something infrequently discussed, “The fans that made NASCAR are on fixed incomes now, he said, and they won’t pay for inflated hotel and travel costs.” As he expressed his opinion about what ails attendance at big-league race events, we thought about what short tracks do for “fixed-income” fans. Short track races are low priced, and nearby. Except for special events, they do not involve travel or lodging. But do promoters take care of the fans that built our sport as well as they could? First to come to mind is senior menu pricing, which we see often at short tracks, but there is more to it. Baby boomers made short track racing. Now, they have dough to spend and time to enjoy it. They are retiring at a rate to 10,000 per day, many looking for a reason to get out of the house. Our friend says, “Short tracks are one of the last places a guy can go have beer with the boys.” New fans are the lifeblood of the sport, but keeping the customer you already have is the cheaper than finding a new one, and we worry that promoters accidentally write them off older fans, in favor of new fans. There is the tendency in our youth-oriented world to regard older fans as a dying market, but they are actually a “renewable resource” because every day another new fan gets old. Restaurants are packed on “senior night.” As we grow more gray, we watch more acquaintances struggle through sand and gravel, up difficult inclines, over curbs, and steps, to get to their favorite seat. Seniors go to the mall and the grocery store, park at the door, and use a courtesy scooter. But, as more loyal and long-time race fans use walkers, canes, scooters, what are short track promoters doing to make tracks “barrier free?” Do we see scooters available at tracks? Not yet! Seniors go to movies, baseball games, and the arena. Why? Access is easy. We often see senior ticket prices, and this is good. We see shuttles carrying fans from their cars to the ticket windows, even the grandstand, but too few. There are unique challenges at race tracks, such as long-time fans that prefer “their seat” high in the stands, and this is difficult to make easier. But, do we see wider aisles in food stands, wider doors on restroom buildings, more HC stalls in the johns or increased HC seating with preferred sight lines? Not often enough! How about paved walkways from handicapped parking to ticket windows, to the seats? Why not think about adding these things, then make them known, offered in recognition of decades of loyalty to the sport and the track? Keep the fan base that built your track. Give them a reason to come out to the track, not a reason to stay away!

Online RPM Now Tablet Enabled

Stewart Doty — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:19:42 +0000

The flip-page online edition of RPM is now a go-anywhere document you can read wherever you have an Internet connection. With recent software upgrades, subscribers to the printed edition of Racing Promotion Monthly can view, download, and archive the online edition using their iPad, tablet or smartphone as well as desktop or portable computers.

We’re Here To Help You…

Stewart Doty — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:39:46 +0000

Gregg McKarns found Jody Deery’s tax dollars put work in an unexpected way! Rockford Speedway was specifically mentioned in a National Weather Service “Special Weather Statement,” the kind we see often on the creeper at the bottom of the TV screen. Here’s a portion of the text: “At 11:20 P.M., National Weather Service Doppler RADAR indicated strong thunderstorms along a line… The following locations may be impacted…” The list that followed included nine communities, two state and two county parks, two college campuses, two fairgrounds, and one privately owned business… Rockford Speedway. We presume the forecasters included the Speedway because it, like the parks, is known to host campers. We wonder, however, if, as the storm moved on down the road, the NWS mentioned Five Flags Great America, almost due East in the next warning? Here, the warning was harmless coming just before midnight on a non-race night, but as summer arrives, we will routinely see these warnings, many of questionable accuracy, creeping across TV screens everywhere, in the late afternoon or the dinner hour, as your editor leaves the motel for the race track, and as fans decide whether they will go to the races that evening. As a tornado survivor, we note these warnings. But, on the flip side, we’ve witnessed great race programs go uninterrupted to completion with spectacular thunderstorms adding a dramatic backdrop. Somehow, the specific mention of a lone private business in a government public warning makes us uneasy. It smacks of an overstep by bureaucrats overeager to show us that our tax dollars are well-spent without consideration of the effect on business. Maybe we are too sensitive after several seasons of bad weather, worrying that the seed of doubt planted by the mention will compel fans to stay away. McKarn’s was philosophical, calling it free publicity, and we can see his point. At least the forecasters regarded the Speedway as important enough to mention among other community facilities. What do you think?

Here They Come Again…

Stewart Doty — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:31:21 +0000

The season of ill-timed, unimaginative news releases is upon us. Promoters, get with your PR folks and remind them that they write not just for the track website, race news Websites and race papers, but should also do so for the local TV, radio, and daily or weekly papers, and nearby entertainment Websites, and that one release does not fit all! They must have two different goals and strategies in mind–one for trade outlets, one for the wider Fourth Estate. The trades are easy to please. Pre-race publicity, race narratives, and race results are their bread and butter. Just get them in well-written by the deadline and it’s handled. But, these releases are inappropriate for reporters, producers, or editors for local broadcast outlets or print media. Generally, they are too long and too detailed. Reporters refuse to edit them, and dump them because they report “old news.” The only time race results interest them is for the ten-o-clock news on race night or the morning-after sports or morning paper, and only then when formatted and delivered as they wish. We still receive many Friday, and Saturday race results Sunday night or Monday, too late, not worthwhile to anyone outside the trade. For TV, radio, papers and the local web, your PR folks must be more imaginative and more persistent, becoming personally acquainted with reporters, editors, and Webmasters, discovering what they look for, building stories around their wishes, delivering them in the way they prefer. One more note: make sure your PR folks use their spell checker, a grammar checker, and Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style,” ($9.95 from Amazon) as reference when they write.