I think this is a fair comparison

[OldSchool+]

"Any moron could kick a ball around a field. what amazes me is that 62 thousand people want to go and sit and watch [that stuff]"--ST1

Perhaps they empathize with the game?

Apparantly soccer has more interested morons that racing has highly sophisticated fans.

[JC26]

This isn't even and apple an oranges comparison, it is apples and garlic! The Orlando soccer team is a MAJOR LEAGUE club, with the backing of an internationally recognized organization. As mentioned already, there is a huge farm system of 10's of thousands of kids with passionate parents putting them into soccer programs. They attracted over 62,500 fans to their opening night!! No major sponsor is going to be interested in spending big money for an event featuring us good old boys even if there were 2500 fans in the stands.

Ding, ding, ding.

I don't even know why people entertain Matt by replying to him anymore. The fact that he compared an MLS teams sponsorship, to what kind of sponsorship a race track should have is hilarious.

[Matt Albee]

Ding, ding, ding.

I don't even know why people entertain Matt by replying to him anymore. The fact that he compared an MLS teams sponsorship, to what kind of sponsorship a race track should have is hilarious.

Apparently that's not all you don't know. What's even more hilarious is the state of short track racing in Florida. All brought on by track owners that were too incompetent or too lazy to bring in sponsors that were there all the time.
Let's just hope track owners wake up before all short track racing in Florida dies. And i include Desoto in this too. Denny seems to have put the brakes on spending. And this place was run into the ground so badly by the former owner that there is still a huge amount of work to be done. We have T-Mobile here, we have an airport authority, we have major companies who spend ad dollars on minor league teams, 5 k runs, fishing tournaments, off shore boat races........ just not at the speedway.

[luke81]

Ding, ding, ding.

I don't even know why people entertain Matt by replying to him anymore. The fact that he compared an MLS teams sponsorship, to what kind of sponsorship a race track should have is hilarious.

No doubt. The comparison is totally idiotic. This soccer team sold 13,000 season tickets before they ever played a match, and they sold out the 60,000 seat Citrus Bowl for their opening game this year. Their games are broadcast on Foxsports Florida and some are on ESPN. Apples to hammers comparison.

[OldSchool+]

Hey, Matt is trying to come up with something...I say make a call to your local politician and see how receptive they are.

Heck, Daytona Beach even tried to jack NASCAR's taxes up and they threatened to shut down the Speedway and leave. They backed off in a hurry but the point is, Dick Q. Politician has no love in his heart for racing (the tax income, but not the sport).

I blame it all on Phil Jacques, er, "the guy on the phone".

[Matt Albee]

No doubt. The comparison is totally idiotic. This soccer team sold 13,000 season tickets before they ever played a match, and they sold out the 60,000 seat Citrus Bowl for their opening game this year. Their games are broadcast on Foxsports Florida and some are on ESPN. Apples to hammers comparison.

Okay guys, i'm going to slow this way down for you, just like your teachers always had to.
We're not comparing ticket sales.
We're not comparing popularity.
We're not really comparing stadiums.
We're not comparing tv audience or the lack of.
Okay, you guys following this so far?
What this entire thread is about........ is track owners letting their facilities crumble, payouts that haven't increased in 15 years, racers finally getting frustrated enough to leave racing completely, fans no longer having a show to watch and leaving completely, and tracks closing up.
Now stop and count to 10. Remember to breath.
Still with me? Good!
All that was needed over the years was for track owners to stop putting on their races almost exclusively on the backs of the racers. Stopping making fans and racers pay the bills when it was obvious from NASCAR that sponsors could be the secret to growing short track racing. Track owners have done little to nothing over the years to bring in sponsors. They just dream up new classes to increase the back gate money. They run 10 classes of cars per night, 5 cars per class because they don't have anything else to work with. They always have the same excuse," it takes money to run a race track " And the only place they ever seem to think of for more money is gouging the racers.
We're almost finished.
The excuse has always been that the sponsors just aren't out there, so they have to settle for a local car dealer and a race tire company and a race gas company....and that's about it.
And now a brand new soccer team has proven that there are many untapped potential sponsors out there for a game that's brand new to Orlando, and one that's not even as popular as auto racing in America. Tracks can't ask for the same sponsor money as a pro soccer team, but those very same companies sponsor many other smaller events for less than a pro soccer team get. So why haven't the tracks singed them up?
Okay, nap time.

[OldSchool+]

Matt,

Very respectfully...we have beat this horse, ground him, barbequed the burger, and consumed it throughout the winter...

The Promoters are gonna do what they are gonna do, man.

But ya know, soccer does only have one class...

[Matt Albee]

Matt,

Very respectfully...we have beat this horse, ground him, barbequed the burger, and consumed it throughout the winter...

The Promoters are gonna do what they are gonna do, man.

But ya know, soccer does only have one class...

You are correct, and i'm outa here on this one.
Maybe short tracks should follow soccer and also only have one class, roll em all into one class and call em stock cars.

[kendo]

Apparently that's not all you don't know. What's even more hilarious is the state of short track racing in Florida. All brought on by track owners that were too incompetent or too lazy to bring .

I think it is fair to assume that the majority of track owners/race promoters in Florida run race tracks because of their love for short track racing along with good intentions,,,,not because they are brilliant business people.

[OldSchool+]

Kendo--agreed, with a little entreprenurial desire to make money for themselves as well.

"Maybe short tracks should follow soccer and also only have one class, roll em all into one class and call em stock cars."--MA

I shared a "no rules" class idea for late models recently. It would work for any cars that look and run close in speed.

And don't let them touch the ball, er, wheel, with their hands!

[kendo]

As far as OSW,it is obvious that the owner is putting all his efforts towards his passion for drag racing,at the same time having found a scape goat to maintain and upkeep the oval track with minimal effort on his part,,,actually a brilliant plan on his part

[OldSchool+]

They get plenty of free ink here.

But, by and large, there is no $$ here either.

[jbonez21]

A big reason for soccer having more fans than NASCAR/short-track racing, other than being the most popular sport in the world, is that just about every kid at one point or another has played soccer. All it took was access to a soccer ball, playing with friends at home/school/gym/park. Unfortunately most of our youth do not get the same opportunity to discover racing the same way. It takes parents with a lot of money and know-how to get their kids successfully started in racing.

Ultimately, these are the fans. All of the people who at some point played the game and respect it. That's why the majority of people consider NASCAR/short-track racing "driving around in circles", because they have never experienced it so they don't understand it/respect it.

[OldSchool+]

Generalities...

Up to the 1940's or so we were a largly agrarian society and things were largely mechanical. Working on things like tractors and pumps and whatnot was a necessity.

But those days are gone, and largely left with the advent of the baby boom generation--ie...US.

Meanwhile, mechanical things (including cars) became electronic and by and large cannot be tinkered with by an interested 13 year old.

Meanwhile, Mom trundled them off to the soccer games to bounce balls off their haids. Dad? Well, we are not sure where he is, Mom got rid of him (another almost unheard of deal through most of the 60s).

And here we are.

[JC26]

Okay guys, i'm going to slow this way down for you, just like your teachers always had to.
We're not comparing ticket sales.
We're not comparing popularity.
We're not really comparing stadiums.
We're not comparing tv audience or the lack of.
Okay, you guys following this so far?
What this entire thread is about........ is track owners letting their facilities crumble, payouts that haven't increased in 15 years, racers finally getting frustrated enough to leave racing completely, fans no longer having a show to watch and leaving completely, and tracks closing up.
Now stop and count to 10. Remember to breath.
Still with me? Good!
All that was needed over the years was for track owners to stop putting on their races almost exclusively on the backs of the racers. Stopping making fans and racers pay the bills when it was obvious from NASCAR that sponsors could be the secret to growing short track racing. Track owners have done little to nothing over the years to bring in sponsors. They just dream up new classes to increase the back gate money. They run 10 classes of cars per night, 5 cars per class because they don't have anything else to work with. They always have the same excuse," it takes money to run a race track " And the only place they ever seem to think of for more money is gouging the racers.
We're almost finished.
The excuse has always been that the sponsors just aren't out there, so they have to settle for a local car dealer and a race tire company and a race gas company....and that's about it.
And now a brand new soccer team has proven that there are many untapped potential sponsors out there for a game that's brand new to Orlando, and one that's not even as popular as auto racing in America. Tracks can't ask for the same sponsor money as a pro soccer team, but those very same companies sponsor many other smaller events for less than a pro soccer team get. So why haven't the tracks singed them up?
Okay, nap time.

What is it like living in your own little world? I mean do you honestly proof read the shit you type before you post it?

Just like with the tire and fuel thread, you just don't get it. Let me ask you this; Why would T-Mobile (A billion dollar corporation, and the 3rd or 4th largest cellular company) want to waste their sponsorship dollars to advertise to 500 people a night, with no TV exposure when they can do it on a professional scale? If you've ever wondered why sponsorships come from Tire, fuel or automotive shops, it's because generally they're the only ones who get in to racing.

You really do peg me as the type who doesn't seem to understand the concept of economics, and exactly how times have changed with the cost of everything going up, and people still making the same. Racing will never get back to where it used to for that reason right there. It has nothing to do with track promoters, sponsors, mandatory fuel and tires or any of the other bullshit you want to pull out of your ass to try and blame it on.

You come on here and bitch about everything under the sun, but yet you've not made one progressive step forward. The only thing productive you've done for the racing community is to make all of us feel better about ourselves that we aren't as blatantly retarded as you are.