Why Don't Americans Like F1?

The question should be; 'why don't American TV broadcasters like F1 ?' Very simple....it doesn't sell here.

Patriotism is a big factor as well....domestic entertainment will always be #1.




Why don't Italians like NASCAR? I don't know, probably the same reasons why Americans don't like F1.

 

+100000

 

Why don't Italians like NASCAR? I don't know, probably the same reasons why Americans don't like F1.[/QUOTE]

Interesting point. I wonder if NASCAR would get the same reception in Italy as it got in England and Japan .

 

It's the show. NASCAR has adopted the WWF smackdown - all about action - in your face - business model. The racing in NASCAR is just like the wrestling on US television. F1 is like watching fencing or judo at the olympics - boring unless you are willing to invest some time learning about it.

 

I'd like to point out to the Europeans who ask "why don't Americans like F1" that it's not just us! From what I understand Spain was more interested in motorcycle racing until Alonso showed up.

Lack of marketing, lack of true competition (i.e. passing and lead changes), car consumer disconnect, low level of American participation (VERY different situation from the '50s, '60s and '70s), more venues competing for market share, etc. F1 has A LOT of things working against it in this country these days, as opposed to previous decades. And his royal highness, the Duke of Ecclestone has done very little at all to try to change the sports reputation, or lack thereof, in this country. His focus is Europe, period, with the exception of any oil rich country willing to dump untold wealth at his feet.

I agree with an earlier posting that these days sportscar racing is where its at. And although I don't care for NASCAR, I have to admit they have done a brilliant marketing job and have reaped enormous rewards for their efforts, showing imagination far beyond that displayed (or not) by Bernie and his cronies.

Gary

 

Probably because it is boring as hell!

 

I think THIS post hits it on the head the best! Just my opinion, though (especially the fact that "real" hard-core PASSING is fairly rare in F1.)

 

Also, Americans OWN Fords, Buicks, Chevy's, etc., and don't (usually, to any large degree at all) own Ferraris or McLarens.

 

The propaganda machine at work. Their actions show they are both in it for the same reason. One has been able to keep in the back while the other has pi$$ed off his teams (so he gets major media attention/ scrutiny).

 

Agreed and to add to this point & all of the other great points raised thus far: look at the cars themselves. The NASCAR paint schemes are big, bold, and bright with a HUGE (i.e. very visible & easily recognizable) number on the side of it. It's easy to see what effect this has when looking at other cars on the road with their big fan # stickers on the windows. It's nearly impossible to go anywhere without seeing at least one car with a big 8, 24, 3, et cetera NASCAR sticker on it somewhere. Comparatively F1 cars just don't have the real estate available to pull off the same tricks. Sure they're bright and colorful, but not in the bold, in your face way NASCAR cars are. Those bold colors and big numbers make it much easier to relate to a specific driver & car and easy to pick out on track. Just my $.02 to add...

 

The level of sophistication of the typical American is pretty low. Attention span is even lower. Interest in the high technology is absent.

CART racing used to be quite interesting before Penske & Tony George screwed it all up.

TRASHcar, err, NASCAR, sucks - who cares about turning left, carbs, hick accents('Gosh darn, gee whiz'), and mgmt who just doesn't want anyone to get an edge.

Watching F1, listening to a symphony concert, catching fine art at a museum, fine cuisine/wine, etc., all require a basic knowledge of the topic, along with patience to appreciate all of the various nuances in the subject.

In the U.S., most TV events are so dumbed down as to require constant 'action' so as to keep the audience 'enthralled'.

Only thing saving F1 at all in the U.S. is the niche markets that cable TV provides. One doesn't need a large percentage of viewers as long as one can get enough raw/absolute viewers(helps if they're $$$ viewers, too )

Btw, none of this is at all likely to change anytime soon...

 

I think the problem is that the TV coverage is done by people who don't understand it, either.

How many people on this thread have said "there's no passing"? There actually is passing in F1 ... but rarely up front. Two points isn't worth risking eight for. There's no incentive to try to get from second to first, but there is incentive to go from ninth to eighth.

But the coverage of passes in F1 is all in replay -- and those replays are forgettable .... because they're wrong.

Pass replays on F1 show the cars side by side. Anyone who has raced will tell you that the pass has already happened by that point. If you've set it up right, it'll work. If not, it won't.

You'd think some of the announcers would know better.

But how many of the viewers have raced? How many times do you see people on the streets --- both here and in europe --- who practically come to a complete halt in order to go around a curve?

To make racing "relate" to commuters, you'd have to have the drivers holding a cell phone up to their ears while driving.

Performance driving is something the average "consumer" doesn't understand.

Nor does the technology resonate when production cars have sealed off engine compartments with a big "no user servicable parts within" label -- and computers demanding specialty equipment to service, and state laws prohibiting the owner from "meddling" with anything "emissions related" (e.g., the engine).

But commuters can understand banging fenders --- they do that all the time, themselves.

In many places, F1 is still a chauvinistic thing -- spaniards cheer for Alonso, poles tune in to see Kubica, the brits have Hamilton to resolve the "DC or Button" as lead british driver debate. Which nation bought one of their drivers a ride, a while back?

In CART and Indy racing, there are a large number of "foreign" drivers. That's not as significant in the melting pot. (NASCAR did pick up JPM, remember.) There aren't any national anthems played at the end of US races. Americans aren't going to tune in to F1 just because there's a surfer dude in one of the cars.

Yanks would support F1 without american teams or drivers, if they could understand it. But technology plus driving on the edge just don't light up people who sit in gridlock, and had "12:00" blinking on their VCRs, until they replaced them with DVRs that set their own clocks.

Seen the ad about "the fuel economy of a sedan and the excitement of a SUV"? Excitement? In a cardboard box on wheels? The average commuter doesn't understand what exciting driving is.

The coverage has to do a better job of showing things the audience doesn't grok -- energy, momentum, the friction circle, etc. The "red light grand prix" doesn't give people an appreciation of road course driving. Nor does snoozing along on the superslab, or queuing up in city traffic.

F1 has gotten by on nationalism for a long time, and is becoming even more dependent on it as european commuters also become less sophisticated drivers. Maybe that's why F1 is moving away from european tracks.

 

Elitist drivel.

Dave

 

+1 I believe it is "snob"

 

question: Why Don't Americans Like F1?

answer: it's boring as hell


it has nothing to do with americans not liking "high technology" or that they lack sophistication; that is horse-****. america is often at the forefront of technology. F1 is plainly a boring as hell event without much to involve the spectator. if F1 mandates some level of elitist sophistication to enjoy, then i will gladly remain unsophisticated and watch something more exciting like D1GP or CanAm series races. or LeMans/ALMs.

F1 is more akin to watching a massive sterile time attack R&D session of manufacturers on the same day.

 

Then what level of unsophistication is necesary to enjoy watching nascar? After all this is "america" number one car racing series.

 

"Go Fernando, you son of a gun!" "Darnit, I just got rib sauce on my new wife beater." "Billy, quit lightin' yer sisters hair on fire and come over here and tell me what you think about these new sidepod winglet slits on that Mclaren."

It just doesn't work does it. I think you have to like NASCAR and publicly denounce all other motor sports, unless they run on dirt of course, or forever be starred at and listen to wispered comments "There's somethin' wrong with that fella." Warning, this will also happen to fully attired Geoff Gordon fans.

 

the notion that NASCAR is outside of technology, and the people enjoying it following suit are stupid, is not only false but is just absolute nonsense. modern NASCAR technology is far above and beyond the days of the modified street sedan of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. and the latest technological advances in NASCAR have been so great that it now threatens to place NASCAR in a similar spot as F1: boredom.

but first:

the reason NASCAR is a mainstay of American auto racing is because it is an American social institution, as is baseball and hot dogs, founded years ago as result of the moonshine bootlegging era:

in the southern United States, back in the 1930s and 40s, ordinary sedans were hot-rodded and modified to outrun the cops. and this simply grew larger and larger as an entertainment spectacle. it went from rural America to national corporate involvement.

and today American fans can cheer their favorite American manufacturers, namely GM, Ford, and Chrysler. i don't see how that is any less sophisticated than an Italian citizen wanting the Ferrari to win. it's grounded in Nationalism and Regionalism just as F1 is but offers much more excitement.

as of very recent news, NASCAR audience attendance has been slowing down because of complaints outlining of the very same reasons as is facing F1: less passing events, stale or sterile race progressions, too predictable of an outcome; same teams keep winning year after year with same drivers.

so again --let's say it all together now: F1 is BORING. and NASCAR is unfortunately following this pattern.

 

In my opinion it has a lot to do with the way F1 has become and with the personality of its owner.
Let's not forget also that NASCAR and the Indy series do not really want to share "territory" with others (i.e. F1) as that would translate into loss of revenue for them and there you have the complete scenario.

 

Hi

#2 is a non sense sorry, "the cars looks all the same" ? ermm ..., what about Indycar (IRL) and Champcar ? The cars in those champs ARE exactly the same, same in Nascar, the shape of the cars differs sooo little one from the other
And in Nascar there's a LOT of money involved, and zero technology


Nicola

 

Innovation and diversity of technology combined with driver skill is where it's at for all types of racing. Take that away and you just killed your series.

 

you don't like to read apparently.

i just mentioned the higher and higher levels of technology in NASCAR are beginning to make it just as boring and dull to watch as F1. attendance is down, and audiences are complaining about NASCAR for the very consequences of higher technology.

technological innovation is exactly what any racing series is about. the more money you have to back a team, and research and develop that team, the greater your chances of winning. if the same winning teams with the biggest budgets return year after year, with the same drivers, it makes for a more boring race because there is little to change. the race series becomes a victim of it's own success after a point. and F1 has long been at that point.

 

F1 is boring because there is no passing near the front, and few teams can challenge for the lead. I followed it for 10 years but got tired of the same old routine. However the international flavor is great.

NASCAR and Indy are also boring because they mostly run in circles. They are also too homogenious -- all American -- compared to F1.

A1 Grand Prix is mostly about driving skill since they all use identical cars, but nobody here seem to know about it.

I prefer to watch a more flamboyant driving style with sliding and drifting than the precision slot car type driving in professional racing.

 

+1

 

You sound like a complete tool when you talk like that.

There are many F1 fans here in the US, and me being one of them. Rude comments like that just make you sound foolish...

I know many people who love F1. The biggest problem is that its hard for most people to stay up late at night to watch a race.
In fact I know more people who would rather watch F1 then nascrap any day.