Comments on: Is There Too Much Hype For This Weekend? http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/ Speed is Life Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:37:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: NaBUru38 http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8882 Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:33:00 +0000 https://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8882 Why do you care so much about watching full stands? Many track have ridiculously huge stands, some lack them at all. Why does that matter to judge if a race was cool to watch? Of course Indycar needs full stands to keep running, but to enjoy races I only care about what happens on track.

]]> By: redcar http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8868 Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:03:05 +0000 https://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8868 Hate to agree, but Root is right. What real advertising or commercials have we seen about this race? I mean in the real world–not the Indycar Fan world. I’m concerned about ratings and attendance, but I’m hoping I’m wrong. So much is on the line in regard to future oval venues.

But I do like what they’ve done with the new trophy. Very appropriate, historical and non-embarrassing.

]]> By: Jack The Root http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8867 Thu, 13 Oct 2011 05:29:25 +0000 https://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8867 What hype?

I’ve heard a few radio spots, with some dorky announcer talking about Dario Fran-kee-tee and Will Power and it being Indy Car “Superstar” (really?) Danica Patrick’s last race. But none more then I heard for other races this year on the Disney Networks.

This thing has ZERO chance at getting a .8 rating. ZERO. Not on a NFL Sunday.

Hopefully a bunch of people show up with free tickets to make it look decent on TV. But what good does that really do? How many would actually show up, if they had to pay $60 bucks to watch? How much money will the ICS lose on this deal in the long run? How many other promoters are already pissed about this deal? How many teams are pissed that SSM and Wheldon are running for 5 million dollars this weekend (when this challenge was never intended for a Indy Car veteran) and they don’t get jack shit for prize money all year?

It will be a great race because of how many entries there are. Hopefully nobody gets hurt, because drivers will be throwing caution to the wind with this being the last race of the year and the last time with these cars. Could see some helacious accidents, if not careful. But I’d expect an exciting, if not dangerous race.

]]> By: Tsong http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8866 Thu, 13 Oct 2011 02:03:34 +0000 https://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8866 Viva Las Vegas!

]]> By: The Speedgeek http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8865 Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:48:23 +0000 https://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8865 I’m not so sure I buy that argument. Isn’t the last game/event/happening of every season, in every form of entertainment (sporting event, concert, TV episode, whatever) usually one of the most hyped, if not the most hyped of the entire season? Why should this be any different? Aren’t we crowning a champion here? You and I both love Iowa, but we’re not crowning squat there, outside of that day’s (or night’s) winner. Isn’t the idea to pick a couple of big events and make a big splash, instead of risking fatigue in the eyes of the public by attempting to hype every single race?

To George’s original topic: as to the argument that I’ve heard about five dozen times by now, that “we’re relying on gimmicks now! What a cheap show! Let the racing speak for itself!” Well, what do you complainers want? You wanna just repeat what the Series did the last 3-4 years at Homestead (i.e. not much of anything), and then we wind up with 15 people in the stands and about 1,500 watching on TV? What’s that hoary definition of “insanity” again?

]]> By: pressdog http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8864 Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:24:40 +0000 https://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8864 It’s just unfortunate that IndyCar only brings this level of attention and hype two of the 16 races per year. IMS and Las Vegas. Las Vegas seems to be more hyped than even Indy this year when you figure in the festival of ticket giveaways. Fans who go to other races get nada as far as extra bonus hype events. The risk is that that situation will create resentment among paying customers at other venues.

]]> By: DZ http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8863 Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:13:56 +0000 https://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8863 I’m with you George (I too share the disdain for over-hype) and in contrast to many other less-hyped events, yes, I think it will be effective… this time.

If the uber-hype is used to promote each event, I feel it loses marginal effectiveness each time. This is the right time and right place for this. Sadly, I believe the momentum (drink Ye bastards), will be lost in a long winter.

We needed an ace in the hole for next spring but I still seriously doubt the two or three engines in a single (and vaguely fugly) chassis next season will generate any considerable interest (read: drama) outside the current 180k hardcores.

Cars can be stars to promote too, and Indycar missed the boat by not allowing mulitple chassis (with ICONIC’s decision) and then further strangling the interest by having mulitple aero kits delayed until 2013. So close we were.

]]> By: Rick http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8862 Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:47:57 +0000 https://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8862 Bring on the hype. Something has to be done. This isn’t an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, regular season race. This is for the championship! One driver is racing for a huge bonus, it’s Danica’s last race, and every car in the field is relegated to museums and vintage racing series as of about 5:30 Sunday night. It deserves to be hyped up, and that seems exactly what Bernard is doing.

]]> By: The Lapper http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8861 Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:46:22 +0000 https://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8861 The hype for a major event always gets my juices flowing. I will listen to pre-game and pre-race shows, internet news and other bits of information that enter my radar. I love the complete spectical. On race weekend at Indianapolis as well as the month of May, nobody does it better than WFNI (formerly WIBC). Hype adds to the party.

There will be a show tonight on trampoline

]]> By: carburetor http://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8860 Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:58:23 +0000 https://oilpressure.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/is-there-too-much-hype-for-this-weekend/#comment-8860 I disdain hype and over-drama and like you, George, now tend to avoid all the talking heads that drone on and on leading up to the week’s football, baseball, or basketball game. But let’s face it, the only way to get noticed in the sea of competition for a person’s (or audience’s) attention is to create buzz–no matter how artificial it is. It is as if the spectating public has an attention span of but a few seconds. You cannot even watch a football or baseball game on tv anymore without getting bombarded by some animated robot doing a dance in the corner of the screen, while some crawl is scrolling across the bottom of the picture with repetitive trivia, while some corporate logo/advertisement is graphically superimposed on top of the playing field. It makes watching games on ESPN classic a joy in its simplicity.

It is never a good thing when your CEO makes an ultimatum. I fear he may be thinking that this challenge is simply too great. The old saying “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink” may be relevant when it comes to trying to create a fan base for IndyCar in these challenging times. I’ve had great passion for this series my entire life, but I can unfortunately see the day when it is merely relegated to “enthusiast” interest only, punctuated by the annual super event, the Indy 500–much in the way I view endurance racing and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I hope I am wrong and Bernard can keep working to pull this series back into more of the mainstream spectating interest.

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