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Topic: The main reason fan attendance is down and will be down at many venues
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Page 3 of 3 of 52 replies
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July 05, 2016 at
03:35:02 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: revjimk on July 05 2016 at 03:19:03 PM
"But one suggestion/possible partial solution for tracks on race night and trying to resolve the kids sports situation, would be to allow 'kids in their team uniforms to get in for 1/2 price" sounds like a good idea to me....
Slight diversion: Ever notice how kids don't do self organized playground & pickup games any more? Its all adult directed. When was the last time you saw a bunch of kids playing sandlot baseball? I always enjoyed that more, no pressure, no coaches yelling at you. I remember one Saturday we played all day & I got 36 at bats (or maybe 32, I fergit, MANY years ago!)
In Denver, where I live, there are plenty of parks with nice basketball courts & you hardly ever see kids playing, even in the black neighborhoods. I've heard people say Denver's not a b-ball town (true) but also heard sportscasters bemoaning that fact on TV
So if its a playground/sandlot game, kids can go to races any time they want (or Dad will take them)
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Another way to increase attendance would be to let all naked women in for free. That could also cut down all the chatter about car counts, track conditions, concession prices, etc. 
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July 05, 2016 at
03:53:21 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Murphy on July 05 2016 at 03:35:02 PM
Another way to increase attendance would be to let all naked women in for free. That could also cut down all the chatter about car counts, track conditions, concession prices, etc.
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Can't argue with that.... 
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July 05, 2016 at
04:25:45 PM
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Another observation from 50 + years of attending races I noticed the shift in attendance about ten years ago starting to go south. From talking to many former fans they got tired of the backgate promoting that many tracks went too instead of actually promoting the races.. Tons of complaints from sitting through hours and hours of door bangers running 6-10 classes a night. Plus I agree with Murphy's idea.
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July 05, 2016 at
05:38:15 PM
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Eddyville had their night of fire last weekend and it would have been $120.00 for tickets. Both kids fall into the adult price. Then add 5 to 10 for parking.
I said screw that and loaded up the dirt bikes and drove right by the drags to bluff creek. 50 bucks for gas and snacks and the trails were perfect.
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July 05, 2016 at
06:01:56 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: from a sponsor on July 05 2016 at 04:25:45 PM
Another observation from 50 + years of attending races I noticed the shift in attendance about ten years ago starting to go south. From talking to many former fans they got tired of the backgate promoting that many tracks went too instead of actually promoting the races.. Tons of complaints from sitting through hours and hours of door bangers running 6-10 classes a night. Plus I agree with Murphy's idea.
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I agree, this is why the WoO, Allstars, ASCS national have full bleachers and saturday night tracks are having a hard time getting any spectators unless you are there for the Door slammers as you put it.
The other reason and people won't say it is because most saturday night spectators are in some way hooked up with a car. I go to tracks that change what classes run each week but have a class of sprint cars, limited 360 spec head, ascs 360, wingless 360, and change Mods , late models, steet stocks, 4 banger class. And you see different people in the stands because of the class that is there. That class is not there the people you saw last two weeks are not there.
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July 06, 2016 at
09:52:31 AM
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Posted By: egras on July 04 2016 at 07:32:00 PM
There has been talk of fan attendance being down at a lot of shows--especially weekly shows it seems. It seems like the WOO ruining sprint car racing has been brought up, the economy, yada yada yada. What surprises me, is that no one has brought up the real culprit in the demise in not only grass roots race attendance but attendance in a lot of other entertainment brands. KID'S SPORTS!!!!!!!
I'm a father of three and two of my kids are in Jr. High right now. I had not one open night in the entire month of June and I refuse to let my kids do the travelling club sports. My nights are full enough just doing the local "free" town sports. I had to skip my daughter's softball game to attend the WOO show in Rockford, but some folks won't miss one of their kids games for anything--because they have been told that they are bad parents.
My wife and I used to get together with my sister (who lives 2 hours away) about once every two months and go out for a night on the town for supper and gambling. Haven't done that in two years. Why? Her 11 year old son is in a ball tournament every single weekend from the 1st of April to the middle of July!!!!! Then, when baseball is done, for some reason, they begin a mid-summer basketball league. Followed by fall soccer league. Followed by a 6 month basketball league. We're not talking a quick game on Saturday morning. We are talking entire weekends--sometimes beginning on Thursday nights and not ending until Sunday night.
My point? How can any of those people attend a race when they have been convinced that the only way their kid will play on their high school baseball team is to give up 6 full summers and drain their bank account? How can people in their upper 50's to low 70's attend a race when all of the other grandparents are at little Johnny's baseball game in Timbucktoo. (Some of them 6-8 hours away for 8 year old kids!)
I have to become the bad parent and not only skip a game here and there but if the kid wants to go to a race, I tell him he is going to have to skip a ballgame.
Some of you may not think this is a big deal, but you are VERY mistaken. Went to Dubuque Iowa for 4th of July. Hit the casino on Saturday night. Dead. Usually packed on 4th weekend. The bars--Dead. Live bands. Dead. What did we see everywhere? On Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th? Little kids with baseball uniforms and parents and grandparents all over the place. Our hotel was packed with nothing but kids in tournaments.
I remember the good old days when we mustered up 6-8 little league teams right in my little home town, we played on tuesday and thursday night for the month of June and then come Saturday night, my parents either took me to the race track or we went on a family vacation.
Those days are gone. And with it, R.I.P. family night at the track, adult softball leagues, etc. etc. etc.
You may think I'm nuts, but I can name 50-100 people that would be at the local dirt track if it werent for their kids or grandkids sports being scheduled now every single weekend. And I'm in a town of 3000.
The economy is shifting--not tanking.
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This is 100% the truth. Morons think they can craft the perfect athlete child by hustling them around the countryside to every bullshit tournament known to man. Face it people, little Johnny or Susie has about a 1000% greater chance of success in life if you reinforce their academics and don't fall into the travel team sports trap. Its a classic hustle perpetrated on parents getting them to shell out thousands of dollars in the false hope their kid will be a star. Total crap. I say one to two organized sports on the city level should be the maximum. You're burning your kids out and make no mistake about it they'll be hooked on smack before they ever get a chance to try out for the bigs. The feeling of failure will be strong because Mommy and Daddy have been shoving the dream of big time athletics down their throats. When the reality sets in that life isn't fair and Johnny just plain sucks at ball he will undoubtely turn to partying and drugs. That is just the way it works. Set them up with and encourage attainable life goals and they'll do fine. Everything else is a pure lie.
Cheers!
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July 06, 2016 at
11:16:41 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: 91RI on July 05 2016 at 12:45:02 AM
I witness the overboard sports dedication, and it drives me nuts. It does not seem healthy or helpful to me. I watched one of my friends get burnt out by his son's non stop lacrosse, and it didn't appear to help anyones quality of life, or opportunity at the next level. I blame coaches who want to inflate their own importance, and specialty coaches looking to line their pockets. I played college lacrosse, and i don't think that the nonstop camps and tournaments really help. I started in my junior year of high school, skipped 6 years while in the Navy, and was still a starter for 3 years in college. Outside of the season, I played with race cars plenty and had a life. I had plenty of teammates who lived the full time lacrosse life style growing up and they were no better than the pick up hockey, little league baseball, high school lacrosse and summertime surfer teammates. I have also coached and watched players come to me after spending a fortune on personal coaches. They had inflated egos and bad habits built up by these "experts" that I had to fix as a volunteer coach. Best bet, live a balanced life and work your ass of at practice and you'll make it. 52 weekends of tournaments is just putting laps on the engine, and your body doesn't get a rebuild. I hope that makes sense. My point is, bring the kid to the races, because if they have it, they'll make, if they don't have it, I hope they are smart.
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As a lacrosse coach I agree with this post 100%. I also coach club, but this is my last year doing that. The weekend tournaments keep me away from the track too much during the summer. I can only do the same thing for so long before I go nuts. Early recruiting in that sport has gotten absolutely ridiculous (kids verbally committing when they are a freshman in high school to D1 schools, and half the time they dont even pan out).
Where'd you play in college and when? You usually don't see a crossover of lacrosse guys who follow sprint car racing, so my interest is piqued. I was always looked at as the "redneck" on my team. All in good fun though.
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July 06, 2016 at
01:07:18 PM
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Posted By: Johnny Utah on July 06 2016 at 11:16:41 AM
As a lacrosse coach I agree with this post 100%. I also coach club, but this is my last year doing that. The weekend tournaments keep me away from the track too much during the summer. I can only do the same thing for so long before I go nuts. Early recruiting in that sport has gotten absolutely ridiculous (kids verbally committing when they are a freshman in high school to D1 schools, and half the time they dont even pan out).
Where'd you play in college and when? You usually don't see a crossover of lacrosse guys who follow sprint car racing, so my interest is piqued. I was always looked at as the "redneck" on my team. All in good fun though.
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"You usually don't see a crossover of lacrosse guys who follow sprint car racing,"
Sometimes I wonder if the only crossover sport is "cornhole".....
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July 06, 2016 at
01:17:47 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: henry chinaski on July 06 2016 at 09:52:31 AM
This is 100% the truth. Morons think they can craft the perfect athlete child by hustling them around the countryside to every bullshit tournament known to man. Face it people, little Johnny or Susie has about a 1000% greater chance of success in life if you reinforce their academics and don't fall into the travel team sports trap. Its a classic hustle perpetrated on parents getting them to shell out thousands of dollars in the false hope their kid will be a star. Total crap. I say one to two organized sports on the city level should be the maximum. You're burning your kids out and make no mistake about it they'll be hooked on smack before they ever get a chance to try out for the bigs. The feeling of failure will be strong because Mommy and Daddy have been shoving the dream of big time athletics down their throats. When the reality sets in that life isn't fair and Johnny just plain sucks at ball he will undoubtely turn to partying and drugs. That is just the way it works. Set them up with and encourage attainable life goals and they'll do fine. Everything else is a pure lie.
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parents doing everything they can to keep all those MRI machines in business...
Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better
weather." Van May
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July 06, 2016 at
04:04:00 PM
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Geez, I didn't realize that kids extra-curricular activities taking precedence just started recently. Where I'm from that's been going on forever. I don't think I've been to race yet, even a regular weekly show that didn't have a decent crowd. WG weekly shows attendance have been down the last few years but I don't think that has anything to do with kids and their activities. Other tracks that are doing things right(Port Royal for instance), the attendance is WAY up. As for the comment about kids being more interested in their i-phones, that is certainly true even with adults. Most of the people at the races these days are checking their i-phones as much as they are watching the show(young or old).
A
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July 06, 2016 at
05:25:41 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: HoldenCaulfield on July 06 2016 at 04:04:00 PM
Geez, I didn't realize that kids extra-curricular activities taking precedence just started recently. Where I'm from that's been going on forever. I don't think I've been to race yet, even a regular weekly show that didn't have a decent crowd. WG weekly shows attendance have been down the last few years but I don't think that has anything to do with kids and their activities. Other tracks that are doing things right(Port Royal for instance), the attendance is WAY up. As for the comment about kids being more interested in their i-phones, that is certainly true even with adults. Most of the people at the races these days are checking their i-phones as much as they are watching the show(young or old).
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& it drives me up the wall...
Still no Smartphone for me (he says on laptop....)
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July 06, 2016 at
10:23:00 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Johnny Utah on July 06 2016 at 11:16:41 AM
As a lacrosse coach I agree with this post 100%. I also coach club, but this is my last year doing that. The weekend tournaments keep me away from the track too much during the summer. I can only do the same thing for so long before I go nuts. Early recruiting in that sport has gotten absolutely ridiculous (kids verbally committing when they are a freshman in high school to D1 schools, and half the time they dont even pan out).
Where'd you play in college and when? You usually don't see a crossover of lacrosse guys who follow sprint car racing, so my interest is piqued. I was always looked at as the "redneck" on my team. All in good fun though.
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I played at the University of Rhode Island from 96-99. I was the team redneck too. During pre season practice we had to put the goals in the field house after each practice. Since I had a big 1978 GMC 3/4 ton pickup, we used my truck to haul the goals. My radio was set on the country station and the knob was missing (in the ash tray). 4 underclassmen rode with me to load and unload the goals and this was called "redneck patrol". Back then I had not even seen a sprint car in person, I grew up around asphalt stock cars.
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July 07, 2016 at
05:23:59 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: revjimk on July 06 2016 at 05:25:41 PM
& it drives me up the wall...
Still no Smartphone for me (he says on laptop....)
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Yeah me too but what are you gonna do? That's today's society unfortunately. It is nice to hear updates from other tracks but I'd rather watch the live action in front of me.
A
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