Can we change the way Nascar does commercials?

Question

Minutes of race broadcast: 130
Minutes of commercials: 62
That is 47.6 percent of the race we are watching something else... All the while some important is happening on the track like cautions and pit stops...

This week its going to be something different... Do you think there is a way we can get together like the "Free the 8" campaign and do something about this! I mean 50% of the race! They are taking advantage of us! They need to go side by side like Indy, or cut out some of them... 50% is unacceptable... I know its all about money, but you have sell outs every weekend, how greedy are they going to get!

What do you think we should do about this, or is there anything we can do?

Ok bowler if you dont like nascar then stay out of here!

I did the same David G... without race view the race would have been a waste!

So whats the best way to get Nascar's attention?

That is all I am asking for... some split screen, is that too much to ask?!?

I understand the sponsors keep the sport going, but there is no way that you need to advertise 47 percent of the race unless your having some serious money problems... I think we can all agree thats not the case.

Take some money from the teams and cut out some advertising... Lets remember all of those cars are advertising for them!

Answer 1

I wish we could but I think they care more about the almighty dollar than us. Sunday I think I watched more of the race on my laptop with track pass.

Answer 2

NASCAR doesnt control how many commercials are shown during the race. That is a decision made by the network broadcasting the event. NASCAR sells the broadcast rights to the networks who in turn must recoup that money from advertisers.

NASCAR is currently only second to the NFL in the amount of money its receives for right to broadcast its races. This requires the networks to charge a considerably higher amount per 30-sec ad then they would for any other sport. A 30 second ad during the early stages of the Daytona 500 was not much less then if that same ad ran in the first quarter of the Super Bowl. With that much money being shelled out, advertisers want the full screen and the viewers full attention, hence no side-by-side like in the IRL. IRL events do not cost networks even remotely as much as NASCAR races do. Therefore networks charge advertisers considerably less and can do the side-by-side. Unfortunately for us, a smaller Network like TNT has to sell a lot of air time to advertisers to come out ahead after buying the broadcast rights from NASCAR.

About the only way to change the number of commercials is to somehow get NASCAR to include provisions in the contract that a maximum number of commercials can be shown per hour. Unfortunately I dont see that happening anytime soon, but one can dream. But the way TNT is presenting the race at Daytona on Sat night could be a forerunner of how commericials could be done in the future.

Answer 3

I don't mind if they go to Commercial while they are doing pits stops, thats fine. I want to see the leaders come down and then they can go, but this crap of going under green and then something happening while away at commercial which always seems to happen has just got to stop. It's really getting old. I mean they can cut Commercials short if something happens, they used to. I wonder what ever happened to that? And no I'm not just talking about wrecks but also passes for the lead, because when they go to break and one guy is leading and come back and they are following another car and your thinking what the hell happened? then you realized that hes back to second or worse... Or they could do how the Indy 500 was a couple years ago and have the race still on the TV when the went to commercial. got to love that picture in picture.

Answer 4

i agree indy does the split screen for all their races and it is TOO cool! you don't miss a minute of the race. or maybe nascar would consider commercials at the beginning and the end of the race making the race commercial-free like the networks do for movies sometime. don.t know what we can do as fans other than to send our complaints/suggestions to nascar or to the individual networks. i get that they have to get paid for the broadcast but we are seeing less racing and more commercials than ever! could start your own webpage invite everyone from here to vote on your suggestions and forward the results to nascar. may not change much, but nothing will if we don't get involved somehow

Answer 5

There is too much money a stake for the TV coverage to change. I think the only way for us to get what we want, is to pay for it. If we could get a pay per view like direct TVs hot-pass where there is a general race broadcast rather than just focusing on a few cars. I know I would pay for a commercial free race. 5 bucks a race for 180 dollars for the season would be well worth it.

Answer 6

I wish the split sceen would be used.If the commercials are eliminated the events would become pay-for-view which could cause a whole other group of people problems.
But I go back to the days that the only race that was telivised was when "ABC Wide World of Sports" would put on a 15 or 20 minute segment.

Answer 7

Inasmuch as I understand that sponsors are paying the bills, I agree they're taking up too much time on race broadcasts, especially on TNT. The split-screen idea that ABC came up with on the Indy 500 broadcasts is awesome, and I wish they'd use it on other networks.

Best thing to so is what has been suggested by others.

Answer 8

i understand how you feel and agree to a certain extent. However, we have to remember that the sponsorship is what keeps the sport alive and the teams competitive. So if they do not have all of the commercials there is a possibility that some sponsors may not want in on it. This could really hurt some of the drivers.

Answer 9

It isn't NASCAR's doings. It's all the broadcast company's time. I don't think they are contracted to show a certain percent of the race...they just show as least as they could possibly get away with to get their sponsors and promotions out.

Send multiple emails, snailmail letters or postcards to TNT voiciing your displeasure. If they get enough and think their market is being threatened then they'll listen.

Answer 10

Yes, the split screen format would be nice. I think Indy does it because of poor ratings and smaller fan base. Unfortunately for us NASCAR does not have that problem and they aren't too worried about if people will watch it or not.

Answer 11

I have two options
1 Do what the IRl Does start useing the split screen
2 Limit the amount of commercials