INDIANAPOLIS – I am certifiably old.
The birth certificate confirms it and my Medicare application is nearly complete. Those are the clear and recognizable indicators that all understand. There is another issue that media pundits point to that makes this a matter of case closed – I love baseball.
Nearly every year I read stories about how baseball is dead, has no currency for those under the age of 50, and additionally does not mesh with the mindset and behavior of the all-important 18 to 34 demographic.
Because of this I am supposedly one of these get-off-my-yard guys who are loudly screaming foul about changes to baseball rules implemented this season. The problem with this narrative, at least for me, is that it is false. The former player and great baseball manager Dorrel “Whitey” Herzog offered an observation decades ago that has always stuck with me. Whitey said in the average Major League Baseball game it took one hour to complete the first three innings. From that point on I have always made note of this, and by and large I discovered that Herzog was right on the money.
Imagine my surprise when during my first professional baseball game this year I looked up after one hour and it was the bottom of the fifth inning. A second game lasted slightly more than two hours, and another would have been complete in even less time if it had ended after nine innings. I loved it. I realized I didn’t need to watch a batter adjust his equipment, and a pitcher fidget on the mound and then throw to first base eight times to be entertained.
If I wanted to get to the park early, which I always do, I could get my hot dog and drink, settle into my seat and watch the teams warm up and soak up the ambience. USAC’s Kirk Spridgeon, a fellow baseball fan, made a cogent observation. He feels the absolute length of time of the game becomes less of an issue if there is ongoing action. I agree.
Where I am going with this should be obvious by now. I have a long attention span. I think reading is fun and do it a lot. However, I can tell you as an educator with 35 years of experience that things have changed with young people. I don’t think we need to always throw up the white flag and give in to all things.
Life is not always about sound bites, and successful people learn to work through frustrations and challenges. Life is not one big video game. Yet, when it comes to racing, if we fail to recognize that audiences have changed (and some have left) we’re going to be (or are) in trouble.
As I have noted before, I would never enter the world of promotion. My skin is not nearly thick enough, and I am too risk aversive. I am fresh off a night of racing that featured a compelling sprint car battle that found three drivers go at it lap after lap. It was a day where rain was always lurking. It left promoter Joe Spiker in a dilemma regarding track preparation.
I checked social media and the complaints rolled in about the condition of the track. Never mind that in the semi, one driver made the show after powering from 11th to fourth in 12 laps by riding the rim. Nonetheless, that fact somehow eluded people. The track was reworked and we then had a memorable feature. Hours later on the same social media site not a word was written about what was just witnessed.
Again, this is a difficult game, which brings me back to my point. Baseball, despite the howls of traditionalists, made changes to increase the pace of games. I read all the verbiage about how wrong this is, and how some are never going back. The larger issue is that if change didn’t happen some might never come at all. The effort to create a tighter entertainment package makes sense in today’s context. However, there are differences at hand. Major League Baseball gets millions of dollars in television and advertising revenue. While attendance is very important, it is not the sole, or even most important source of revenue.
Recently, a post made by a racing promoter in the Midwest went about as viral as such posts can go. In a very patient way, with dollar figures included, this promoter laid everything on the line. One important matter needs to be cleared up immediately.
Two things most race fans overestimate are the size of the crowd and the number of people who are watching a live stream. What the vast majority fail to understand is how expensive it is to just open the door. In this illuminating post, it was made obvious how slim the margin is between success and failure. Thankfully, the presentation of costs versus revenue was made after a night all felt the house was packed. It increased the power of the point the promoter made.
For a short track there are a few basic sources of revenue. The key areas are the front gate, the back gate, sponsors and often the most important of all – the concession stand. Here is the dilemma. Recently, I saw a social-media post where several fans commented on a fast-paced race and added that this should be the model for every promoter. I responded with the key question. Did the race make money?
That is the bottom line. There are clearly items that race tracks can control to run a quick program. The number of classes, delays in the action due to lack of staff, wreckers and push trucks come to mind. If you reduce classes, you reduce your income from the back gate. Will a crisper program induce more fans to attend and thereby increase your front gate? Maybe. If you allow coolers and beer to be brought into your track will that entice more fans? Likely. Does this reduce your take from the concession stand? Absolutely.
If you run a tight program, reduce classes and allow fans to bring in food and drink, will the increase in attendance offset the losses you just incurred from two key sources of income? The only way this seems possible is if you increase the price of admission. Think that is an easy sell? Think again. Just stand by the ticket booth anytime a special event increases admission cost at a weekly track (a dying breed) and see what I mean.
I’m sure there are people a lot smarter than me who can find some way to make all this work. Major League Baseball took some bold and controversial steps to increase the health of the sport. Some may work, some may flop. So be it. In treacherous times the most dangerous thing to do is to do nothing. Short-track racing, particularly on a weekly basis, is at a scary crossroads.
It is no time to stand still.
This story appeared in the May 31, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
