I hope the rumor is true!

[Lew Silverman]

Drag Racing Online reported today that there are rumors that Tom Compton, and the NHRA leadership, are looking for a way to get out of the contract with ESPN to broadcast the Mello Yello and Lucas Oil Series. I for one think that is a great idea! Now I just hope the network that picks up the programming is available on my cable system!

[Jeff Teuton]

Maybe MAVTV. That is a Lucas deal.

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Jeff Teuton

Maybe MAVTV. That is a Lucas deal.

I can't find MAVTV on Cox cable.

[Jim Wahl]

Try the internet. I have watched on my computer but can't remember how I got there! The Golden Years my *****! Jim


.

[BLIND MULE]

They need Mark Walter at Motormania tv he does great but he may not be big enough for NHRA but he is better than the Pi??Poor coverage that ESPN does. Still may not help the sportsman though?

[Geerhead55]

With the demise of the Speed Channel,, about all we have up here in the NW, that I know of, is the Velocity channel,, although the Discovery channel will run some automotive type shows from time to time,, Gas Monkey,, Street Outlaws,, so perhaps they would be able to pickup a NHRA contract. No matter what,, somebody please tell them theres more to sportsman coverage than those blasted alcohol cars! My 2 cents.
Danny Durham

[340Cuda]

Originally Posted by Lew Silverman

Drag Racing Online reported today that there are rumors that Tom Compton, and the NHRA leadership, are looking for a way to get out of the contract with ESPN to broadcast the Mello Yello and Lucas Oil Series. I for one think that is a great idea! Now I just hope the network that picks up the programming is available on my cable system!

Be careful what you wish for, even with the poor scheduling for qualifying I don't see how NHRA could possibly get more exposure than on ESPN2.

Bill

[Lew Silverman]

Originally Posted by 340Cuda

Be careful what you wish for, even with the poor scheduling for qualifying I don't see how NHRA could possibly get more exposure than on ESPN2.

Bill

That may be true. But for the casual fan, the consumer's that the big-money sponsors of NHRA are trying to reach-out to, I wonder how many times they will come back after the second- or third-time they find the program has been preempted, or rescheduled or moved to another channel they don't receive? Exposure is fine, but when the program I'm watching is cutoff to allow a rain-delayed restart of another race series, I have to wonder how many folks will just turn away.

[bigshow2966]

Crap. I was hoping they cancelled Tom Compton.

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by 340Cuda

Be careful what you wish for, even with the poor scheduling for qualifying I don't see how NHRA could possibly get more exposure than on ESPN2.

Bill

I don't see how they could get much less exposure, or the quality of the coverage could get much lower.

ESPN is exactly why so many teams cannot get sponsors.

If you had $6M to spend on motorsports sponsorship for advertisement purposes, would you put your money on a car that might get 2 minutes of "prime time" exposure on the second string network for ESPN? Especially given that the "prime time" might not even happen if it rains at some stick and ball sports stadium.

Honestly, if you look at it, the winning Pro Stock car might be on TV for a total of maybe two minutes. That is one car out of a minimum of sixteen that you need to find $5M a year sponsorship for.

If you've ever wondered why great guys like Davey Connolly can't get a sponsor to make a Pro Stock ride happen, there it is. Hell, Erica Enders can't get a sponsor, and she's a pretty successful female driver, which is a rare commodity right now. Like him or not, John Force is a wildly popular and successful drag racer, and he's out hustling sponsorship money.

The fact is, NHRA professional drag racing simply does not offer a good return on sponsorship dollars, even for corporations that produce automotive products.

The ratings for NHRA on TV just plain suck. NHRA loves to blame it on racers and down time, and they love to complain that sportsman racers are in the way. But the truth is that their programming stinks, it's poorly done, and the air time is crap. They need a real professional production group, better on air personalities, and a contract for real air time.