Attendance and TV Ratings so Far

[Liz]

Maybe they are waiting to hear what all the "they're lying" people will estimate before they come out with a number?

Interesting to see how long it has taken to get an estimate of attendance from people who were always so positive they knew, without being there, how many attended. Where are you guys?

[Tim Northcutt]

I couldn't tell you, Liz....I assume I'm one of the people you're referring to....

I went to watch the "Other Series" at Kentucky Speedway...did'nt see a single lap at Denver....

Thus, I don't comment on things I didn't watch....

I'm sure that half of the Mountain Time Zone showed up for it....

Give me shades, because the future looks so bright....

[Liz]

Fair enough; how many people were at Another Series in Kentucky?and

[Tim Northcutt]

The track announced 62,000 or so in a place that holds 66,000....but it wasn't that high

But I would say it was somewhere closer to about 50,000-55,000....the place was not as full this year as it was last year...

[indycool]

Officially, the Denver number is 148,511.

http://www.gpdenver.com/resources/press/2006.pdf

Unofficially, a friend in the TV business called and said the TV number, which will be officially announced Thursday, is .1, 0 share.

[Snrub]

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/N...le.asp?ID=9557
...sold out 49 hospitality suites, sold out ten of eleven grandstands...

I think the earlier calculations need some reworking. No offense guys, but this is the kind of stuff that makes people sceptical of claims of overestimates. I'll be honest, I tend to believe that there is some overestimating going on, but I don't think it's in the 50-200% off range that has been claimed.

[Tim Northcutt]

Liz had asked what the attendance was at the IRL race at Kentucky Speedway on Sunday....

The place holds 66,000

The track announced the attendance at 62,000 plus....

My eyes told me that Kentucky Speedway was about 80-85% full

Thus my estimate of an actual attendance of 50,000-55,000 for the IRL event...

Last year, the place was VERY full, with only a few open seats over in Turn 4....

Hope that clarifies it....

[Tim Northcutt]

Question for Indycool:

Did your friend have any rating & share numbers for the IRL race at Kentucky???

I believe they were on ABC this weekend, and Danica was on the Pole....

Just wondering if you knew....

[Snrub]

Sorry Tim, my bad!

[indycool]

Tim, the overnights for Kentucky were 1.1/2 share.That could change when the finals are announced tomorrow, up or down.

Question: How can you sell out 10 of 11 grandstands when you only have seven grandstands to sell?

http://www.gpdenver.com/resources/im...itMapLarge.gif

[Flatspot]

Thank you Speed Channel. I don't know if he messed up or what but my freind told me that the blacked it out in Salt Lake on Speed due to its proximity to Devnver and showed the San Jose Atlantic round in Champ Cars slot. If that is true I don't understand how they expect to get ratings.

Indycool, you brought up a very good point about the TV package in the Champ Car 2006 thread. This is going to be crucial. I beleive that Kalkoven has recognized the need for network coverage and am hopeful they will make a network deal happen. I am hearing that a great package is in the works. I really hope so.

[indycool]

Flatspot, understand and I just hope they're careful with it. I remember Pook moving Laguna from its longtime October date to June for national TV, which eventually killed the event. Another element is what they're up against. Will Long Beach move off the Masters date?

[Amar7605]

I hope that with respect to network coverage, that CC is able to be on one network. It was confusing for some people I know in the beginning of the season because they thought that all of the races were going to be on NBC, but obvioulsy it was only Long Beach.

Consistent scheduling is the key. And have some commercials during prime time so that the audience knows that a race is on Sunday.

[Liz]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

The track announced 62,000 or so in a place that holds 66,000....but it wasn't that high

But I would say it was somewhere closer to about 50,000-55,000....the place was not as full this year as it was last year...

Thanks Tim, I know they don't announce numbers and I don't know anybody else that attends those races.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by indycool

Question: How can you sell out 10 of 11 grandstands when you only have seven grandstands to sell?

http://www.gpdenver.com/resources/im...itMapLarge.gif

Look again, all the stands are not numbered 1-7.

[cameraman]

Originally Posted by Flatspot

Thank you Speed Channel. I don't know if he messed up or what but my freind told me that the blacked it out in Salt Lake on Speed due to its proximity to Devnver and showed the San Jose Atlantic round in Champ Cars slot. If that is true I don't understand how they expect to get ratings.

It is not true. At least it was not blacked out on DishNetwork for people in SLC.
I know, I watched it.

[paul-collins]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

Look again, all the stands are not numbered 1-7.

So which ones is he missing? The only blocks I see that hint at being grandstands are labelled Coors Light and Bridgestone - are those VIP grandstands? And that still only gets you to 9 - where are the other two?

[Mosport67]

Sounds like they are expecting a smaller crowd in Montreal. "The race attendance has steadily declined since the inaugural race in 2002, which attracted 172,000 over the three days, and 64,000 on race day. It fell to 148,000 and 58,000 in 2003 and 133,726 and 54,320 last year."

They have eliminated a number of grandstands apparently to allow more GA areas.

The article is here: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...=1044529387291

[macdaddy]

This SpeedTV article makes it sound as if the Montreal race may be in jeopardy, to NASCAR.

The Champ Car community arrived in Montreal to find a virtual ghost town of a race track, with roughly half of the 40,000 semi-permanent seats normally in place, including one lonely set of bleachers (accommodating perhaps 600 souls) across from the pits instead of the usual three or four stands. As well, the VIP suites atop the pit lane were largely vacant.

Ticket prices have been dropped 30%...

...by driving down revenues via lack of seats, Legault could justify dropping the Champ Car race in favor of a NASCAR event as early as 2007.

Official figures for the 2005 Molson Indy Montreal have some 93,755 spectators in attendance over the weekend, with 36,204 on hand for today's race. Last year more than 133,000 people were said to have filed through the gates on the weekend.

[Flatspot]

In simple terms. THAT SUCKS! Looks like the road courses are a dying breed.

[Amar7605]

In North America, it looks like road courses are a dying breed - except for those that NASCAR drives on.

[paul-collins]

Dying breed for Champcar maybe.

Not that it's Champcar's fault.

Mosport and Sebring seem to be doing okay, as are Road America, Laguna Seca, Mid Ohio...

Still, that is ominous, and consistent with what Legault was quoted as saying around the Indy 500, when he was lobbying in the press for a Busch+ race.

[Tim Northcutt]

The IRL crowd at Infineon looked pretty good yesterday on TV...

The main grandstand on the pits looked full, and there were many people in the Hillside terraced beacher areas around the track....

The Indy star questimated 40,000, but that crowd looked to be at least 2 and 1/2 times the size of the ALMS crowd back in July, if not more....

It is a shame about Montreal...what a great race track....I have to wonder why attendance is declining there, since Champ Car is popular in Canada, as evidenced by great attendance numbers in Toronto and Edmonton....

[Flatspot]

My bad on not explaining that I meant road courses for Champ Car and yes, it is Champ Cars's fault (preferrence). It is still a bummer for me as I love the permanent courses the most. That said, it looks as though the traveling circus marketing concept is working for Champ Car based on the balance of the season and I suppose I would rather see the series survive as I really enjoy the formula.

[Amar7605]

Well if Montreal folds, then perhaps Champ Car will find another Canadian city to take its place? Calgary? Maybe Vancouver again?