US - does your local media ignore F1?

The Washington Post devoted 6.75 cm to coverage of the USGP and this weekend's IRL race - and that at the bottom of page 2, second item in the "Sports in Brief" section, under the subheading "Motor Sports," suggesting that a particularly interesting lawn mower race might have dominated the topic. The first item in Sports in Brief reported on the new coach of college basketball powerhouse, the "College of Charleston."

Other stories given more space than the USGP/IRL:

- Tour de France
- 16 year old Taekwando champ
- WNBA "Mystics" away game
- McEnroe's role as elder statesman of tennis
- S. Africa's hopes for the 2010 World Cup
- Beckham's resignation as Captain of England
- US Women's Open and a PGA match

At the end of the Sports section, the Post prints a summary of everything sports called "Scoreboard." The USGP/IRL stats are at the bottom right - last - after stats for pro baseball, minor league baseball, local golf, cycling, trades in various US sports, major league soccer and high school summer basketball.

Curious whether other US media ignore the sport.

 

Down here in NASCAR country, F1 is percieved as a bunch of Euro-snobs.

It's a good thing they don't ask my opinion of oval track Chevy's... they'd get an earful.


-Daniel


p.s. Hey boys, git me uh Mello Yello and sum biskits. Ima hungrin.

 

I dont think the media ignores it, there just isn't much interest in it. I'm sure there were other big events this past weekend - maybe the ping-pong championship or the fooseball world series, but nobody really cares so they don't report on it. They give their audience what they want, relative to the size of that audience.

What F1 in the USA needs is frickin advertising. Bernie seems to think the sport is so great that anyone who is interested should get on their knees and beg him to be allowed to watch or to host a race. The promoters are giving such a large % of their collected funds to Bernie that they can't afford to advertise their race, and why should they. I see tiny sound bytes on Speed about the upcoming race, but nothing to let the average Joe know what it is and when it is. F1 has a pretty storied past and if the average guy knew that F1 is the place where Ferrari, McLaren/Mercedes, BMW, Honda and Toyota build the very best pure racecars they can and compete with one another, then they'd be interested in watching. The petty bickering really harms the sport and someone else said it right on - in the USA we're not much for high and mighty sports figures. Our culture does not have a big social/class gap like they do in Europe, so seeing a bunch of pompous arrogant guys roll into town and "allow" the US to behold them in their glory doesn't fly too well.

They REALLY should change up how the USGP is done. The US is used to being bigger than any single other thing - like F1. F1 is used to being bigger than any singular country. Ultimately, I think F1 needs the USA a lot more than the USA needs F1. Most real F1 fans have no problem traveling to a race - its a welcome trip. So if there is no USA race, we could still watch the races on TV and travel to a race or two. No big deal to go from Boston->Montreal instead of Boston->Indy, or Houston->Montreal isntead of Houston->Indy. So the major impact of losing the US race is the sponsors, as well as that BMW, Mercedes and Ferrari sell more here than any other country - by FAR. So they don't want to lose the USA either. Bernie is playing hardball because he wants more money (as always), but if he really pushes the issue, then it will not turn out well for him IMO. Without a televised USA race, how are US sponsors going to justify the cost they dump on their sponsorship? Are BMW and Ferrari going to want to orphan their largest (by far) market? Would they want to then participate more strongly in other racing series' where they reach their target market better? I'd think so.

 

My spanish TV channels carry F1. Its amazing that the major networks like abc,nbc,cbs don't even mention F1 even in passing. Even the world cup is largely ignored. I don't understand how "sportscasters" can not even mention someone like Schumacher rewriting history?

 

An interssting read mate Thought i would say that the US does not need F1, and F1 does not need the US. I did notice that there was alot of empty seats in the grand stands on sunday. Does any one know the oficial seat numbers from the race and how many seats were not taken?
I somtimes watch the Indy cars racing on Sat and prefer the scrapping in that to the F1 racing. But F1 is very big in the UK and Europe and thats what we were brought up on, though i do miss the overtaking.

 

Similarly scanty coverage just up the road here in Baltimore- a brief article on page 6 of the Sun's sports section. Frankly, I'm surprised that F1 even gets that level of press here in the US- it is, and has always been, a cult sort of thing . . .

 

You are half-right.

The USA does not need F1.

However, the major sponsors of F1 do aim at the USA, and as long as an F1 race from yurrup is carried on TV in the USA - be it cable or network - that may be good enough for them. They also are aiming at Asia/China, so as long as the govt's there back a race, that may be good enough, too.

Bernie owns, controls and dictates everything in F1, he is no different than the France family down in Daytona Beach.

 

paper in indy said 100,000 attending, not too shabby.

 

100,000+ estimated...making it one of the largest F1 races on the calendar. It was a good turn out and the fans where pumped all weekend.

And another point...attendance is not all F1 looks at...they look at global exposure. It’s estimated that 300 to 400 million viewers watch F1 each race.

The teams and drivers like the USGP as well.

My guess the USGP will be around for a long time.

It just needs more US coverage.

 

Agreed about Asia/China, i think that Asia wants to be part of the F1 circus. But IMO F1 will always be strong with out the US. Of course if whats been wrote is to be beleved, Bernie also thinks he does not need the US. Of course 4 in 10 ferraris are sold in the US but i think the F1 race has very little to do with car sales.
It would be a dam shame if the US was droped from the F1 circus

 

I just read that article from the Indy paper on the plane ride home... it went on to say more than 50% attending were from foreign countries.

 

Here in Birmingham, we have a nice article about Schumacher in today's paper. Not bad considering where I live.

 

The Indy F1 race made page 4 of the LA Times Sports section. The sport appears to be growing and could be much larger if they really promoted it.

 

'BERNIE' doesn't need the USA - the major team sponsors do.
If Mercedes, BMW, Toyota et all told Bernie 'have a race in the USA or we are pulling out of F1 sponsorship, THEN Bernie 'needs' the USA.

You can sell only so many cars in Malysia, Bahrain, Brazil, etc.

 

I think that's a real possibility, Chaa...given the egos involved.

The Speedway routinely hosts (or did before the CART/IRL split) about 500,000 for the Indy 500. It is a private enterprise however and has NEVER published actual attendence sales figures....handy at Tax Time, I'd imagine.......

So that's the deal with all the empty seats. 100,000 of possible 500,000.

Bernie would probably take back what he said about Danika Patrick to sell the remainder.....ROTFLMAO!
He is a sad little man........

 

That's the huge monetary windfall, the foreigners tend to spend more on housing, etc.

I camp out in a tent and grill yardbird.........on 26th Street.

 

Hard to describe Chaa, but where the infield track starts, F1 turns #1 and #2, it is actually very far to the stands of what would be Indy500 Turns #3 and 4 (running opposite direction)....so that's a pretty bleak zone for the F1...

If it runs there next year, come over. I'll go again with someone fun!

Indy is a great place/town/locals if you appreciate it for what it is...the Heartland of America....some however, would call it "flyover country" so you see the two viewpoints......

 

Timing is important as well, they need not do the USGP a week after Canada. They need to do it 2 or 3 weeks afterwards. Giving the drivers and teams an oppurtunity to travel around the states some and promote F1 in the US.

 

I dunno...Schumi comes to Texas all the time to get horses for the wife........nobody in the Sonic even recognizes him! LOL!

Did you see his pic in Monaco??? He was full cowboy!!!

 

If F1 returns to Indy, Tony George should have the track re-configured. And he should consult with drivers when doing it rather than having that one guy who designs all the tracks decide the layout.

I think Big Tex made the point about all the empty seats, and he's right in that most of them are for the Indy oval and aren't within viewing range. Most of the empty seats you see on TV aren't even offered for sale. There are always a lot of empty seats on the main straight as well. I remember the first year a friend of mine had seats down low just past the starting line and all you could see were the tops of the helmets zipping by. Not good.

 

Well, thanks, my family was on the front row of Turn 4 for many years, the NASCAR fence mods ruined those seats, and the flying debris into the stands from car impact was a little dicey as well!

It looked to me they had intentionally cleared the area now known as Ralph's Impact Zone in similar manner, although maybe just the 'word' was out?????

From a driver's in car view, imagine sweeping around the (Turn #1 backward) to the front straight, F1 Turn One is like "Slam on the brakes and duck around a blind corner at the end of the wall..."

It also created a 'hold your breath' situation on the Pit Out....not a good thing as hot cars meet ones on colder tires........

Tony don't care, man, count the money.........I'll have AJ talk to him when his new knee gets better.....

 

amazingly the pamana city news herald does a great job covering every race. it gives track info and the stats. something the baltimore sun never did.

 

Hey - don't knock the Tour de France. It is a MUCH more competitve racing event than F1, with more behind-the-scenes intrigue, the potential for direct fan involvement, is much more grueling than anything Bernie could imagine, and appears to be more dangerous now (for the participants) than F1. By the end of this year's T'dF alone, I will have watched more bike racing than I have watched F1 over the last three years (and I haven't missed an F1 race).

Mark

 

Race results landed above the fold on page 2 of the sports section in Philly. Not great, but when it's held anywhere but Indy, it's usually about 1 or 2 column inches (max) on page 6 or later.

What I don't understand is that we get coverage of Monaco on national TV (delayed of course) in the US, but the USGP is on Speed. What race should be covered life on a national network in the US if not our OWN FREAKIN' Grand Prix?

Again, the logic leaves me baffled. I guess the truth is, among non-Formula One fanatics, Monaco holds more interest than Indy in the US. Go figure.

DM

 

True, but it's also 3 weeks long. If there's 1 day when the sports sections can minimize their Tour coverage, perhaps it could be to cover the USGP.

By and large I get the sense that the American sports outlets enjoy ignoring F1. So many sports reporters have tremendous egos. Deep down they know Formula 1 is so much larger than their day to day beats, but because F1 is so exclusionary they relish the opportunity to collectively ignore it. So much depends on perceptions these days, and I've always said that if BernieCo could get over himself and court the American press corps a bit, he could generate a greater news presence which, in turn, could create more interest.