LITTLE ROCK — Once upon a time not so very long ago, NASCAR was a red hot television property. Network executives were in a tizzy when discussing the future of the next great American sport.
And then, poof, stock car growth hit a brick wall.
In 2005, NASCAR averaged a 5.3 rating for its season on NBC and Fox. The Daytona 500 scored a 10.9 rating across the country.
In 2010, NASCAR’s season ratings fell to the mid 3s. The Daytona 500, marred by faulty track conditions, scored a 7.7.
NASCAR’s not hot anymore. Particularly disturbing to NASCAR and its network partners has been the decline in young eyeballs.
For today’s Daytona 500, Fox is breaking out a new strategy it is banking on to appeal to more viewers.
It plans to focus more on the drivers and not their “dingle flappers,” as David Hill, chairman of Fox Sports, proclaimed this week.
Translation: Fox, which shares NASCAR coverage with ESPN, will emphasize the animate, not the inanimate equipment changes that seems to mesmerize the hardcore NASCAR gear heads but leave must-have casual viewers with brain lock.
“We’ll be getting back to focusing on the daring young men in their flying machines,” Hill said.
Case in personality point: Jimmie Johnson. He has won five consecutive Sprint Cup series championships. Hill calls it “one of the more remarkable sports accomplishments of all time.”
“If he had done this in Formula One, he would have been knighted and parades would be held for him,” Hill said. “If the Steelers or Packers had won five straight Super Bowls, statues would be going up for them around the country.
“In NASCAR, it’s ‘Well, yes, he won again?’ ”
Sports, Pages 27 on 02/20/2011