While I admire the good folks behind the "Take Back Saturday" campaign, an effort to make every Saturday a destination for weekly racing broadcasts on National Television, I think the angle should be "Take Back a Share of Saturday".
Lets look at The Florida Derby on ESPN which ran on Saturday. The ESPN televised event had lesser ratings than ALL of these other weekend televised sporting events (listed by Sport, Game/Event, Date aired and the TV Rating household share):
College basketball Oklahoma/North Carolina Sun., 3/29/09 7.7 SHARE
College basketball Villanova/Pittsburgh Sat., 3/28/09 7.5 SHARE
College basketball Connecticut/Missouri Sat., 3/28/09 6.2 SHARE
College basketball Michigan St./Louisville Sun., 3/29/09 5.9 SHARE
NBA Mavericks/Cavaliers Sun., 3/29/09 2.2 SHARE
PGA Arnold Palmer Invitational, Final Round Sun., 3/29/09 4.9 SHARE
NASCAR Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 Sun., 3/29/09 4.1SHARE
Figure skating World Figure Skating Championships,Sat., 3/28/09 2.6 SHARE
Racing is too late to the Television party and the other Sports listed above-even Figure Skating- all know how to market it better.
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5 comments:
Racing is not a TV sport. Watching one of these games is a one way street, the info flows fron the TV and the presenters to the viewer and you sit there and absorb it.
Racing is much different. There are PP's, handicapping, deep introspection and the expression of wagering. There are no better informed fans than racing fans, they are truly a rare breed.
What channels were those events on?
College B'Ball-CBS
NBA-ABC
NASCAR-FOX
PGA-NBC
Figure Skating-NBC
Power Cap-Valid points and that's why I think just getting a share of ratings is enough. It not merely a sport but a gambling event. The gambling aspect also keeps many players watching on the simulcast channel or OTB where they would rather watch and bet on multiple tracks at once.
As far as informed fans, I would agree but baseball with all its statistics and daily flow also requires great dedication and loads of information, albeit not in a pure gambling form.
I love watching racing on TV - especially in HD. My living room is a lot nicer than most tracks, alas.
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