I sort of agree with you. From a corporate standpoint the sponsors will not let it die without a fight. Terrific Point is Smithfield with the Petty's. Extended their sponsorship by 5-10 races I think because they saw a major market share increase from the PR work provided through NASCAR on the 43.
However, if you lose fan base, if you lose the nucleus of your means of survival... eventually you have no revenue support...therefore you have no equitable business and based on basic 'supply and demand' models... things must retract. The whole thing is a scary circumstance IMO for ISCA and NASCAR...both as individual entities and ... for all intensive purposes... subsidiaries.
I am 40 this year and been attending MIS races for 37 years this year... seen a lot of things, good, bad, ugly...for the best...and things that have failed. That is just the cycle of business...however, when the fans I sit next to comment that 'this simply looks like slot car racing with real cars' the brand awareness that brought NASCAR to the most watched and fastest growing sport...over football in late 90s and most of the 2000s is then disappearing. I watched that place go from 48000 people as a full house to 118000 and now back to 75000 if they're lucky. Just about every track is like that...they keep blaming the economy and been doing it since 2008.
All I am saying is its time they stop blaming everything else and look in the mirror. They have started, but still have not gone far enough to fix issues. As for 40$ p/share... I don't see it... to much revenue loss due to lack of attendance at facilities... sponsors or not... sooner or later the sponsors are going to be annoyed that their capital investment isn't netting the backend revenues at the tracks from the fans...because they aren't going. I just have a feeling there could be some negative influence in the coming years if the brand awareness isn't somewhat restored to the fans. After all...NASCAR and ISCA wouldn't exist w/o the fan base. Occasionally I get the feeling they have forgotten that fact...simply based on what I see going on at the track.
GLTY
