"It's time to accept that the sport is in a much better place than it was 10 years ago, but it's not the next great sport that's going to give the NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball a run for its money in terms of nationwide relevance."

That's Darren Rovell writing for CNBC about...NASCAR and its second straight year with a big ratings decline and the dreadful 10-race chase inspiring no one.

But it's worth reading because you can see so many parallels with professional golf, with a couple of major differences: its demographic isn't as wealthy and its tracks are not golf courses. So we've got that going for us.

They start with the economy, which is a valid excuse for the big attendance drops for NASCAR, which basically seek to host a huge crowd every Sunday in a different venue. But it doesn't hold water with TV. If people stay at home instead of go to the race, why aren't they tuning in?

Other excuses have included uniform starting times and races that are too long. Funny, the reason the organization changed start times is because different start times were hypothesized as one of the reasons for ratings declines. As for the length of races, I haven't seen much data that shows that people tune in for the final 20 laps or so to catch the end like that might late in the fourth quarter of an NBA game.

Then comes the rivalry argument or the lack of wins by important drivers. There just aren't many head to head battles people want to see, the reasoning goes. The truth is, the last great battle was Dale Earnhardt Sr. vs. Jeff Gordon and yet new fans came in droves in the five years after Dale Earnhardt died in 2001.

Comments

[Hod]

Interesting idea to compare the two sports. You could reach further and ask where all professional sports go wrong. NASCAR made the mistake of letting its "product" go all generic. The cars were turned into uniform looking machines that looked like slot cars. In its early days, NASCAR was built on having recognizable Fords, Chevys and Pontiacs out there. No more. There are many other ways that the character of sport was taken away.
(We won't go into the ways that NASCAR fiddled with its events to guarantee a bunched-up finish.)

The PGA Tour has been running a similar risk of taking away the fun character and turning it into a generic product. I'm sure it's something they talk about over shrimp cocktails.

[Walter]

The PGA Tour's Bubba brand isn't as strong.

[Tommy Naccarato]

Geoff has been comparing parallels of these sports for years. For some, your just finally getting around to realizing it! ;)

A lot of this is much like Off Track Betting (OTB) with the thoroughbreds. In California, horse racing as going guns afire. On the weekends the tracks would be packed. Suddenly, when the common thinking was to reach vaster audiences (and wallets) could be achieved by opening up more betting outlets, thus taking away the factor of a bookie being involved, Suddenly the CHRB shot themselves in the foot. NO ONE CAME TO THE TRACK ANYMORE! And that is why horse racing, despite one of the most dramatic and exciting ladies to ever grace our presence more or less was a whimper then the Big Bang.

Golf isn't much different. Once you try to alter it by completely changing the format, its more akin to throwing your popularity, as well as your pocketbook away. (to some degree)

Just my opinion.

[digsouth]

Nascar is oversold. Many races, many seats, all too high.

Nosebleeds at Daytona are $55.

Bristol was not sold out for the first time last year....tix start at a franklin and it seats 160,000.

there are great rivalries, as to racing, but the off track inteviews ae as generic a TW talking about process. So the drivers are generic, boring, and interchangable.

Answers? Familiarity, availablity, supply/ demand. This is not rocket science.

10 good bands come to play on a weekend. You gonna see them all? How? Market saturation is everywhere. There are a billion COOKING SHOWS.

Welcome to 500000 channels and limited time and money.

Golf is in good shape, if they just respect the local event portion of the program. TV is really secondary, because only so many are interested in watching the shitty putting, lining up the putts, the walking off the green throwing the putter on the bag lousy state of poor TV golf direction, producing.

How many white foreheads does it take for the casual viewer to start making jokes about the dumbass millionaire's inability to not look like a day laborer?

[Zenyatta]

Thanks Tommy.....There's one more chance to see me before they "retire" me to the breeding farm...Yikes! December 5 at Hollywood Park--just an appearance, not a race.
What a shame...I was just getting started!

[digsouth]

Introduce betting at Nascar. I've been saying that for years.

BTW, the thrill of standing by the rail as 8-16 horsepower thunders by is one of my favorites.

Retama is right down the road.

[Tommy Naccarato]

Sending Zenyatta to retire in Kentucky is just not right. Its a horrible thing to do.

Dig, I agree. When those horses go by and you see just how majestic they really are, it goes beyond just betting and winning; yet, there is a certain fun to all of it! (The Sport of Kings!)

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

I lived in the Bluegrass for a while. It's not California, but there are worse places. And while Del Mar has its allure, Keeneland is magical. Of course, the way I parse the Daily Racing Form is by picking horses by the color of the jockey's silks, so what I get out of the spectacle is just watching these creatures thunder down the stretch. But still, a magnificent horse like our friend Zenyatta should continue running for as long as she wants. I just hope the Farish's continue to provide her with a robust internet connection at Lane's End Farm.

"How many white foreheads does it take for the casual viewer to start making jokes about the dumbass millionaire's inability to not look like a day laborer?" Dig, that is funny right there, I don't care who you are.

[Zenyatta]

Thank you Ky for your kind thoughts. Even with Wii Fi, I'm not convinced...no more Guinness...what does broodmare mean?? At the Breeder's Cup, a man held a sign that said, "Zenyatta--2012". This sounds better to me!!