Mark Martin Urges NASCAR to “Stop Chasing TV Rating” and Start Chasing Core Fans

Hall of Famer Mark Martin has explained how NASCAR needs to rethink their priorities for a better future of the sport.

Mark Martin (Via IMAGO)

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In terms of viewership and TV ratings NASCAR at the moment is its worst phase. In the early 2000s, the peak years of stock car racing the broadcast was averaging more than 11 million views now the number has dropped down to 2.5 million. According to Hall of Famer Mark Martin, it’s high time for the sport to learn from the massive drop.

On his appearance on the YouTube channel of ex-racer Kenny Wallace, the veteran racer pointed out that it is high time for the sport to reset its priorities. Mark Martin veteran pointed out that the sport leadership has been giving too much emphasis to TV ratings for many years, two decades to be exact and the result, a consistent drop.

I think we should put more emphasis on what our fans, our core fans, want and less emphasis in chasing TV ratings. TV ratings are important, but we’ve chased them for 20 years now, and they’ve gone down consistently for 20 years.
Mark Martin said via Kenny Wallace YouTube channel.

The veteran pointed out that the massive drop in numbers in proof enough that NASCAR has stop chasing numbers and start chasing race fans. They have to find ways to sell more tickets, buy attracting new fans. The Daytona 500 shouldn’t be the only houseful race of the NASCAR seasons every year. For that the leadership needs an action plan that choose and chase fans.

It’s time to quit chasing them and just go back to chasing the race fan. And I believe it’s time to start selling tickets to these races, putting people back in the stands.
Mark Martin added.

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Mark Martin explains what fans should do to win the fans back

In the same conversation, the veteran also explained the ideas he has to achieve this goal. The veteran pointed out that the tracks should cut ticket prices, offers more refreshing options in food and beverages. Make the sport more family friendly, like it used to be in the past.

And for me, if that means cutting the ticket prices, good. Just sell some more hot dogs, and beers, and drinks. Fill these places back up and get this thing back to a family shared sport where the kids watch the races with their dads as a family.
Mark Martin said.

The ticket pricing is a major issue that was previously highlighted by Kenny Wallace in the past. On a YouTube channel, the veteran racer pointed out that NASCAR made a mistake by separating tickets for each race day as it priced out a lot of fans and the sport needs to stop being greedy in order to get the fans.

The thing they did wrong was they got greedy. They were so big that they would say, ‘Okay, you’ve got to buy one ticket for everything—you’ve got to show up Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.’ And the dirt racing fans are like, ‘Man, we just want to show up on Sunday.’ Some of the tracks were guilty of saying, ‘No, you’ve got to buy the Truck ticket on Friday, you’ve got to buy the Xfinity ticket on Saturday, and you’ve got to buy the Cup ticket on Sunday,’ and they just priced everybody out.
Kenny Wallace said

The comments from two of the biggest and most vocal names of the sport is valid, the community needs to take notes. NASCAR as a whole need to change and it should come by the fans demanding the change.

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#About the Author

Justin P Joy

(5873 Articles Published)

Justin P Joy is a Motorsports writer and editor at FirstSportz. He has been a motorsport journalist since 2020 and has published over 5000+ articles. Justin has extensively covered two NASCAR, Formula One, and Moto GP seasons for FirstSportz. He has invested more than a decade of his life on Motorsports, first as a fan and later as a dedicated writer. Justin’s in-depth knowledge of Motorsports and his experience as a fan make his writing resonate with most racing fans worldwide. Justin's love for racing started when he discovered Moto GP at the age of 8. That love later guided him into the world of Formula 1. He fell in love with NASCAR after watching Tom Cruise’s “Days of Thunder” and has been an avid follower of the premier stock car racing series since. He has also been investing his time to exploring WEC, WRC, Formula E, Extreme E, and IndyCar in a bid to deeply understand the culture and history of Motorsports to present a unique perspective to the fans.

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