Impact of the Economy on NASCAR’s Fan Base
Is our current economic recession situation problem affecting the business of NASCAR as far as the fan base is concerned? There are many speculators who believe the current economic conditions are affecting attendance at races. Is this true and what is really going on?
I believe that the current economic conditions are not affecting the fan base too greatly. First of all let’s not forget, as mentioned in our class, that many NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races draw larger crowds than one NFL Super Bowl, one NBA Finals game and one Major League World Series game combined.
NASCAR has the largest turnout compared to any sport so what is there to worry about? The fan base is also moving from one crowd to another, so even if NASCAR is losing its traditional fan base, it is gaining a new crowd and the numbers pretty much will even out. NASCAR is moving toward a more corporate fan base due to business deals. These are wealthier people who are willing and able to actually buy more merchandise as well, which will increase profits.
In conclusion, the ‘die-hard’ fans of NASCAR will still make it out to a race even if the economy is bad. Money might be tight, but I believe that even if it’s their only vacation of the year, true NASCAR fans will somehow make it work and go out to races near their homes. I don’t think NASCAR has much to worry about in these economic times. (The economy is constantly fluctuating anyways.) NASCAR could, however, make it a priority to market to the new wealthy crowd to keep NASCAR appealing and also still make it accessible for the traditional crowd as well!
And that’s the view from here.
SV