Let the excuses begin ...

[Don Quixote]

http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2008/05/indy-tops-box-office.html

Swiped this link from Dolan. See last paragraph. IRL 500 down, and lower than the 600. The plummet continues.

[aportinga]

But the league needs more time :rolleyes:

2009 - Danica gets dropped in a Craftsman Truck and the IRL is left with nothing to market itself... The ratings tank again.

[Don Quixote]

True. My theory is that the Danica hype is doing far more harm than good. It may attract some short term "entertainment tonight" type fans, but it is driving off long term race fans. Once the little self promoting bitch bolts to greener pastures, not only will the Danica fans be gone, but another subset of the true old Indy 500 fans from back in the day has been chased off. Thanks :tony:.

[Andrew Longman]

So it was down even over last year's rain interrupted race? That's actually hard to imagine.

But attendance, particularly infield GA, was up. I haven't seen the infield that full in years. Is that a result of Indy/midwest area fans having more renewed interest than people nationally? Or did IMS just promote the hell out of the race this year? Both?

I'll say this though. The Sunday Star Ledger, other than to list the start time (which was wrong) had NOTHING about the 500. It had a whole page on the 600 and it mentioned how many I500 winners were in Nascar but also predicted none of them would win because they all pretty much suck (and Franchitti is hurt).

On Monday, they gave a whole page to 500 but the bottom half was all about the Danica stomp.

I haven't talked to a single person who saw or cared about the race except for some Kiwis I've talked to though work who are pretty please Dixon won.

[ChrisB]

Nascar spent the first 3 weekends in May having races.

Indy spent them either doing nothing or having lots o' qualifying that not many outside of the local area care about.

Indy *could* do something to make the May run-up to The 500 more interesting to the rest of America, but they won't :rolleyes:

[KLang]

It should be mildly entertaining to see how this is spun over at gomerville. :D

I'll wash up before I return. ;)

[Don Quixote]

Its CART's fault. :laugh:

[Wheel-Nut]

But attendance, particularly infield GA, was up. I haven't seen the infield that full in years. Is that a result of Indy/midwest area fans having more renewed interest than people nationally? Or did IMS just promote the hell out of the race this year? Both?

FWIW . . . .

Some say the infield GA was more of a concentration of "fans" do to the new MotoGP track. Turn 1 GA is no longer available, :confused: at least that is what I have read on the WWW.

[dando]

http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2008/05/indy-tops-box-office.html

Swiped this link from Dolan. See last paragraph. IRL 500 down, and lower than the 600. The plummet continues.

Interesting that the overnights differ so much from the final ratings. IMO, a double digit swing is a pretty significant variance, but I'm not a media expert, I just read them on the Innerweb. :gomer:

-Kevin

[Sean Malone]

4.7 for the 800lb gorilla

4.5 for the Danika league.

I agree with Don Q, they need to pull the bandaid that is Danika off and ship her flat chest off to NASCAR where she wants to be anyway. Sure it will hurt for a minute, but will help the wound in the long run.

[SurfaceUnits]

[:gomer:] They haven't yet addde the furrin results from the 16 furrin countrees reprasented [/:gomer:] thats' what the negst VISIoin is gone to be - ENternashnul

[aportinga]

So it was down even over last year's rain interrupted race? That's actually hard to imagine.

But attendance, particularly infield GA, was up. I haven't seen the infield that full in years. Is that a result of Indy/midwest area fans having more renewed interest than people nationally? Or did IMS just promote the hell out of the race this year? Both?

I'll say this though. The Sunday Star Ledger, other than to list the start time (which was wrong) had NOTHING about the 500. It had a whole page on the 600 and it mentioned how many I500 winners were in Nascar but also predicted none of them would win because they all pretty much suck (and Franchitti is hurt).

On Monday, they gave a whole page to 500 but the bottom half was all about the Danica stomp.

I haven't talked to a single person who saw or cared about the race except for some Kiwis I've talked to though work who are pretty please Dixon won.

I keep on sounding like a broken record but I think the media in general see TG as a complete baffoon and thus see the series as the same.

If true the series won't go anywhere on TV or on print.

[aportinga]

Nascar spent the first 3 weekends in May having races.

Indy spent them either doing nothing or having lots o' qualifying that not many outside of the local area care about.

Indy *could* do something to make the May run-up to The 500 more interesting to the rest of America, but they won't :rolleyes:

No doubt - OW is gonna die a painful death over the next few years as a result of events and mistakes such as these. And it's not like the fan boys at the IRL can claim that TG needs more time... NASCAR has always been screwing with OW. They should have a position and legal counsel that works to predict these things and drive them towards the legal end if necessary (i.e. ChampCar in Phoenix last year).

No excuse and no reason to think this will not continue... Don't be surprised if Rahal is swooned into F1 during the 09 off season... Then what will the IRL have to stand on?

[chop456]

The only thing that needs to happen for the coke-addled dimwit's self-immolation to be complete is for NASCAR to run the 600 at noon and destroy the last shred of leverage that the irl has for a TV package.

Good night, idiot. :tony:

[aportinga]

The only thing that needs to happen for the coke-addled dimwit's self-immolation to be complete is for NASCAR to run the 600 at noon and destroy the last shred of leverage that the irl has for a TV package.

Good night, idiot. :tony:

I forgot that - good point!

[Sean Malone]

The only thing that needs to happen for the coke-addled dimwit's self-immolation to be complete is for NASCAR to run the 600 at noon and destroy the last shred of leverage that the irl has for a TV package.

Good night, idiot. :tony:

If NASCAR decides that a 'unified' open wheel series is a serious threat and worth having an all out war, which moving the 600 to noon would be, the return volley would be to lose the BY 400.

NASCAR is already more popular, they won the open wheel war. It would look worse for them to move the 600 to noon than just continue status quo i.e. the most poular racing series in America.

Now if like many are predicting and IndyCar becomes so marginalized that we're comparing 4.7 ratings to 1.7 ratings than there wouldn't be a need for a war anyway. there is still time

Like Mike Kellner said after the remergerfication announcment, I'm hoping we can all get behind IndyCar at some point in the future if/when they fix some of the glaring problems (crapwagons, Gene Simmons, Danikers etc).
The thought of only having only NASCAR as a major racing series in the states is depressing to say the least.

[sadams]

The thought of only having only NASCAR as a major racing series in the states is depressing to say the least.

From the ashes of CART/Champ Car something else will rise. Most likely ALMS. Look at the teams that already play that game: Andretti Green,Fernandez,Penske and now De Ferren.

Just a matter of time and the ALMS will be a Major Racing Series in the states.

[pchall]

Pre 1997 the residents of Indianoplace (aka Gomerville) were so wrapped up in the perquisites of The Month of May they just couldn't see that outside of Indiana fewer and fewer people cared. The Hoosiers just wanted a month where they could drive around Marion County in a faux pace car and parade up and down pit lane with their bronze cards. Any event in May would have threatened their little status seeking souls. Doing something sensible like holding a couple races on the first two weekends of May would have taken too much glam off their parochial little event.



Indy *could* do something to make the May run-up to The 500 more interesting to the rest of America, but they won't :rolleyes:

[DagoFast]

Like Mike Kellner said after the remergerfication announcment, I'm hoping we can all get behind IndyCar at some point in the future if/when they fix some of the glaring problems (crapwagons, Gene Simmons, Danikers etc).
The thought of only having only NASCAR as a major racing series in the states is depressing to say the least.

Get behind it? Help rebuild what that idiot destroyed? Not me.

FTG killed something I loved. Real AOW racing is dead and gone. Watching him swirl down the drain taking his paw paws track with him will be a joy for me to watch. And really, it's all thats left.

I'm a hater.:D

[cameraman]

Don't be surprised if Rahal is swooned into F1 during the 09 off season.

Dream on. GP2 maybe but F1:rolleyes:

[Sean Malone]

From the ashes of CART/Champ Car something else will rise. Most likely ALMS. Look at the teams that already play that game: Andretti Green,Fernandez,Penske and now De Ferren.

Just a matter of time and the ALMS will be a Major Racing Series in the states.

Ok. Sure.

[Don Quixote]

Good night, idiot. :tony:
Step 1 - France schedules the Coke 600 at noon
Step 2 - the idiot kicks the BY 400 out
Step 3
Step 4
...
Step x - Indy 500 is run by Tin Tops. Idiot claims ultimate victory, proclaiming that this has been his vision from the very beginning. Gomers dance in the streets worshiping his royal inheritor's backside. All will be right with the world, trust me. :gomer:

[aportinga]

Dream on. GP2 maybe but F1:rolleyes:

I have no problem with that... As far as F1 is concered I see no more then a test role throughout a season.

Sorry for not being specific.

[aportinga]

Step 1 - France schedules the Coke 600 at noon
Step 2 - the idiot kicks the BY 400 out
Step 3
Step 4
...
Step x - Indy 500 is run by Tin Tops. Idiot claims ultimate victory, proclaiming that this has been his vision from the very beginning. Gomers dance in the streets worshiping his royal inheritor's backside. All will be right with the world, trust me. :gomer:

First off TG could not kick the 400 out no matter when the 600 is run. Without that race the IRL loses millions.

[SurfaceUnits]

Americans have no reason to care about AOW

[nrc]

It's the starched earth, I tell ya!

[extramundane]

If NASCAR decides that a 'unified' open wheel series is a serious threat and worth having an all out war, which moving the 600 to noon would be, the return volley would be to lose the BY 400.

I think that would hurt TG/IMS far more than it would NASCAR. It might give The Idiot a couple moments that he can feel like he actually has a pair (and, no doubt, one step closer to gomer canonization for kicking out The Evil Empire), but once he realizes that his largest revenue stream is gone...


From the ashes of CART/Champ Car something else will rise. Most likely ALMS. Look at the teams that already play that game: Andretti Green,Fernandez,Penske and now De Ferren.

Just a matter of time and the ALMS will be a Major Racing Series in the states.

Don't discount the ability of ALMS/IMSA management to screw it all up. And even if they don't, for every disillusioned open-wheel fan who sees ALMS as the natural inheritor of CART/CC, there's another disillusioned open-wheel fan who doesn't particularly care about multi-class sportscar racing. As much as I like it (or at least the idea of it, if not always the execution), I don't see the ALMS ever expanding much beyond its current level of visibility.

[cameraman]

Don't discount the ability of ALMS/IMSA management to screw it all up.Don't forget the ACO, those guys have real potential...

[Gary]

But I thought AOWR just needed CC to go away, so all the AOW drivers & teams would be together again in one series? I thought it didn't have anything to do with the IRL product or management?

Silly me.

BTW, anyone know how the IRL ratings compare with the WWF?

[Don Quixote]

BTW, anyone know how the IRL ratings compare with the WWF? Not a fair comparison. Not even NASCAR can touch WWF. :laugh:

[Sean Malone]

But I thought AOWR just needed CC to go away, so all the AOW drivers & teams would be together again in one series? I thought it didn't have anything to do with the IRL product or management?

Silly me.

BTW, anyone know how the IRL ratings compare with the WWF?

It hasn't been the WWF for years.

[Don Quixote]

It hasn't been the WWF for years.
:D

http://www.freaklopedia.com/Iron_ons/steve1.jpg

[cameraman]

Maybe Tony needs to switch to horses. The Preakness drew a 5.5/13

The WWE ratings seem to have dropped to around a 2.9

Indy bump day was a 1.1/3 while NBC Poker was 1.2/3

The NBA playoff games were in the 3.0 to 3.6 range

[Don Quixote]

Let's face it. Give him 12 years and he could run the Superbowl to below 3.0

[dando]

It hasn't been the WWF for years.

Get the F out! :gomer: ;)

-Kevin

[dando]

Maybe Tony needs to switch to horses. The Preakness drew a 5.5/13

The WWE ratings seem to have dropped to around a 2.9

Indy bump day was a 1.1/3 while NBC Poker was 1.2/3

The NBA playoff games were in the 3.0 to 3.6 range

More numbers for numbers geeks:


Running numbers:

•NHL. Detroit's NHL and NBA teams had simultaneous prime-time playoff games Saturday and Monday. Locally, hockey kept the local ratings race pretty close. In Detroit itself, Saturday's Stanley Cup Finals game drew 8.4% of households on Versus as the NBA Pistons' playoff game drew 12.6% on ABC. Monday, hockey's Red Wings drew 11.7% locally — the Pistons drew 16%.

Nationally, Versus' Saturday NHL game drew 1.2% of U.S. TV households — triple last year's Anaheim-Ottawa Finals opener — in the most-watched cable-TV Finals game since 2002. Monday's NHL game got a bigger audience — drawing about 1.3%.

•NBA. ABC's Boston-Detroit game on Saturday drew a 4.6 overnight, translating to 4.6% of households in the 56 urban markets measured for overnight ratings — and a 21% increase over a San Antonio-Utah game in the time slot last year. Monday, ESPN's Celtics-Pistons game drew a 5 overnight — up 35% from comparable coverage last year.

On NBA playoffs so far, ABC is averaging 3.7% of U.S. households (up 28%), as ESPN (up 32%) and TNT (up 12%) average 2.5%.

•Racing. ABC's Indy 500 coverage Sunday drew 4.5% of U.S. TV households, up 5% from last year's rain-delayed race. But Fox's Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race, drew 4.7%, up 4% from last year. That's the fifth time this NASCAR race outrated Indy since 2002 — the first year it happened.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2008-05-27-mma_N.htm

-Kevin

[Sean Malone]

Get the F out! :gomer: ;)

-Kevin

The point being, if you are going to make retarded veiled insinuations at least get the names right.

[oddlycalm]

Pre 1997 the residents of Indianoplace (aka Gomerville) were so wrapped up in the perquisites of The Month of May they just couldn't see that outside of Indiana fewer and fewer people cared.
Yup, they got their one race that gets ratings almost as good as a single NASCAR event and every other city and venue on the post-1996 OW schedules gets an ice pick to the ear in the process. :shakehead :thumdown:

Meanwhile NASCAR's got 35 other races to ring that cash register and the EARL posts endless .1 ratings. Quite a vision....:yuck:

oc

[SurfaceUnits]

The point being, if you are going to make retarded veiled insinuations at least get the names right.
point being, wrestling was at its peak with the WWF, the E toney georged it into utter foolishness and mediocrity :tony:

[Gary]

The point being, if you are going to make retarded veiled insinuations at least get the names right.
The point being, I just haven't been keeping up with phony sports entertainment, not since Gorgeous George and Dick the Bruiser (who used to live close to me on Kessler Blvd). By the way, what name does professional wrestling go by these days?

(Duh, thanks for the update, Sean. ;^)

[Sean Malone]

point being, wrestling was at its peak with the WWF, the E toney georged it into utter foolishness and mediocrity :tony:

Professional wrestling was at one time NOT utter foolishness and mediocrity?

I don't get your point.

[SurfaceUnits]

Professional wrestling was at one time NOT utter foolishness and mediocrity?

I don't get your point.you have hope for AOWR, I don't get your point.

[Sean Malone]

you have hope for AOWR, I don't get your point.

I'm on an open wheel forum. What's your excuse?

[SurfaceUnits]

I'm on an open wheel forum. What's your excuse?I'll be attending the US Nationals at the end of August. The only real racing left in/near Indy.

I listen to the wind, to the wind of my soul
Where I end up, well, I think only God really knows
I swam across the setting sun, but never, never, never, never
I never wanted water once, no never, never, never

I listen to my words, but they fall far below
I let my music take me where my heart wants to go
I swam across the devil's lake, but never, never, never, never
I'll never make the same mistake, no never, never, never

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf0VP01JauQ

[Insomniac]

Maybe Tony needs to switch to horses. The Preakness drew a 5.5/13

The WWE ratings seem to have dropped to around a 2.9

Indy bump day was a 1.1/3 while NBC Poker was 1.2/3

The NBA playoff games were in the 3.0 to 3.6 range

WWE ratings have come down a lot. Way back, I think WCW and the WWE both had higher ratings than 2.9 monday nights. I think 4.0 and 5.0 was common at one point.

[SurfaceUnits]

Isn't almost magical how the blue skies return to the Hoosier state once the irl500 mercifully ends and the gomers and their associated crap leave. Magical I say.