By KEN BELSON and DAVE CALDWELL
After years of jam-packed races, sky-high television ratings and record merchandise sales, Nascar has seen attendance at nearly every track slip this year as recession-weary fans continue to cut costs.
Other sports leagues have been hurt the past two years. But Nascar - with its heavier reliance on working-class fans, low fuel prices and the beleaguered auto industry - has suffered disproportionately, racing industry executives say. Ratings on television, sales of licensed goods, and sponsorships, the lifeblood of the sport, are also suffering.
Nascar compounded the problem, the executives say, by changing its rules in ways that made the racing safer but stripped the sport of some of its spontaneity . Under pressure, Nascar has reversed some of those moves . The larger question, though, is whether in the coming years, the sport will return to its glory of the early 2000s as a money-printing juggernaut, a barometer of Middle American tastes and a political bellwether.
“ A lot of sports lose momentum, and they can get it back, but it takes a lot of work,” said H. A. Wheeler, the former president of Lowe’s Motor Speedway in North Carolina .
To lure fans back, track owners have cut ticket prices, worked with hotels to waive minimum-stay requirements and added dining options. Nascar created a 12,000-member fan council that is regularly consulted.
Races on Sundays now begin at 1 p.m. so fans can attend church without missing any of the action. There is discussion about ways to shorten races.
On the track, Nascar required drivers to put spoilers back on their cars to improve the racing and make them look more like older stock cars; passed rules to encourage more bumper-tobumper driving; and urged drivers to voice their opinions to spice up the rivalries .
“We made it clear that we want drivers to express their personalities,” said Andrew Giangola, Nascar’s director of business communications. “We’re competing against Disney and the local amusement parks.”
Many involved in Nascar say these changes have helped revitalize the races. The renewed excitement on the track, however, has not fully translated into bigger audiences. Through the first 22 races this season, attendance declined at 16 races compared with a year ago. About 140,000 fans attended the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis, Indiana, this year, half as many as in 2007.
Atlanta Motor Speedway, in Georgia, said it would lose one of its two Sprint Cup races next year, in the first realignment of Nascar’s crowded schedule, in an effort to boost attendance. Nascar is also considering changes to add drama to the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the 10 races at the end of the season that determine the series winner.
Television ratings have faltered as well. In February, 13.3 million viewers watched the iconic Daytona 500, compared with 15.9 million last year; viewership for the Brickyard 400 fell 12 percent.
“The racing so far has been terrific this year, as competitive as it’s been in years,” said John Wildhack, an executive vice president at ESPN . But “it’ll take time for the changes to resonate.”
National television coverage raised billions of dollars and turned the sport into a household name, but it also gave fans another reason to avoid going to the track and spending .
“Why pay for a seat in the stands when you can see everything on TV?” said Tom Hayes of Torrington, Connecticut .
Nascar is still a behemoth. Races still often draw more than 100,000 fans, and TV viewership is second only to that of American professional football.
Yet the days of easy money may have passed. A four-time champion, Jeff Gordon, does not have a full-time sponsor for next year . Kevin Harvick, who is leading in the standings this season, does not have a major sponsor for 2011, either. Fans, too, may be slow to open their wallets.
At the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Susan Behler said: “Three years ago, I used to spend $200 or $300 every time I came here. Now, it’s a question: do I need it?’’
About $1 billion worth of Nascar merchandise was sold last year, 23 percent below the peak set in 2006 , .
“Once you change your habits, it’s going to make it tough for us to get them back in the mode” of spending, said Richard Petty, who was one of Nascar’s most famous drivers . “Nascar, the sponsors we have, the car owners, we’re sitting here scratching our head. But I don’t think we know what the answers are.”
