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August 1998

                              The Fans Have Spoken
                                           (Part One)

A special Thank You to all the great Florida stock car fans who have taken the time to respond to the Florida Stock Car Racing fan survey.

Yes, the Fans have spoken. And what you have to say is very
interesting, to say the least. While there is still a very positive attitude toward the Speedways and the sport and entertainment of stock car racing in Florida, there is definitely signs of discontent from the fans and drivers. We have received nearly 200 surveys and the messages are clear: it's time for the short tracks to make some changes.

Accommodating the desires of the spectators of sporting events has been a vital part in the success or lack of it in with every competitive sport in America. Without high fan morale and support for their local tracks the owners and managers are fighting an uphill battle to compete in an ever increasing game of entertainment marketing. Fans may be fickle, and they may even expect too much, but they pay the admission fees, are responsible for the sponsorship dollars, and the voice of the stock car fan cannot be ignored.

Some of the key areas of comment have to do with the quality of the amenities that the Florida Stock car track are offering their public. Cleaner facilities is one recurring theme:
 "Keeping the spectator areas clean and safe for women and children. Getting my wife to go to a track with a bad rest room is impossible."

 Interesting when you consider that 40% of all respondents to the survey referred to the cleanliness factors and access: "better bathrooms, [track name omitted] for example is a disgrace" and "better facilities for the handicapped and the grand stands, and design the stands and walkways for easier access." Better food and lower prices for admissions was also a frequent theme, along with "More accessibility to the drivers for autographs, pictures, etc. " One respondent summed it up with a simple request: "Try to make the property more appealing to fans"

The complaint frequently mentioned about admission prices being too high seemed to relate to the question 'What do you enjoy most when at the track?'. The majority of fans expressed the desire to experience an "action packed night of non-stop racing excitement." What you have said is you want to see real competitive (and fair) racing. Faster clean- ups, short or no intermissions, longer races with more cars are high in importance.

Racing night is show time. It's entertainment. The same old thing gets old. More special events and and attractions are needed to get the fans to spend their money. And you spend a lot if you regularly make it to a short track in Florida. A family of four is going to spend $50 even if it spends frugally. At 30 races a year that $1500. The average could easily be $3000. You better have some darn good entertainment if you want to keep us coming back.

"Make each night special. such as TBARA, Florida Pro and other traveling series alternated to spice up the weekly event." is another consistent comment made in the survey. "trucks and motorcycles, touring series, TopCops, American Race Trucks, Legends -longer races 200 laps etc." It seems we want a variety and not "the same old thing every week."

Two other sentiments expressed by Florida's racing family concern driver purses and rules. "Pay a guaranteed purse, don't cut the purse do to lack of cars! that doesn't go for all tracks but there's 3 in North Fl. that do! Cars will not pull to a track if there's a possibility the purse will be cut do to lack of cars ! THAT'S WHY THESE TRACKS HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING CARS !!!!" "Get higher car counts. Instead of having 8 classes with 10-12 cars in each, drop 3-4 classes and have 20-24 cars in each class. I think track owners believe that by adding a car class, they will get more cars. I have seen this backfire. All it does is redistribute the cars/drivers/money and give less action packed racing. I would pay a couple of dollars more to see few classes with higher car counts."

From the fans point of view as well as some drivers is the opinion there is a lack of consistency in applying rulings on the track. This is interpreted as favoritism. "Be more friendly to the drivers to build the car counts. Make the rules the same at every track in the state" and "Longer races and more consistent with how they handle the drivers, Stop having track favorites and make it fair for everyone who competes".

In the world of marketing, perception is reality and there is a strong perception that the racing rules are not administered fairly in too many cases. This brings up the contrast between stock car racing as sport or is it entertainment. In fact it's both. Unlike the WWF which is pure entertainment, (sorry to disappoint some of you with that statement), stock car racing must have clearly written rules which are enforced, equally and fairly. To do other wise makes a farce out of the sport as a
sport and is terribly unfair to the stars of the show. The men and women who race on short tracks are very competitive people who do what they do because they love it. They are done a disservice if tracks don't have competent race directors who are professional in their on track management and rules interpretation.

But first and foremost the fans understand racing is a business. And the fans are pretty strong in their views on how tracks advertise, or don't. It's almost as if there is a lot of people shaking their heads out there: "they just don't get it", "The tracks need more public relations" ,"more media involvement ". It's always amazed this writer how a business with the size of revenues generated by stock car tracks could even think about doing business without the services of a full time marketer-promoter-media person. Especially when the competition for the entertainment dollar is so fierce.

As the TV schedule of NASCAR and other racing continues to
accelerate, it may soon come to short track closures such has has happened in other parts of the country. If owners want to continue to pay 1970 purses as we approach the year 2000, and continue to apply 1970 marketing to a world where your marketing skill determines your success or failure, then they will fade away. Only the strong survive, and in 1998 strong means understanding your audience and being able to satisfy their demands.
                                 Stay tuned for Part Two

                                                   --Jack Smith

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