New TV coverage for NHRA drag racing

http://dragracingconnection.com/the-strip/sources-nhra-races-air-fs1-ending-14-year-espn-tie/

Sources: NHRA Races To Air On FS1, Ending 14-Year ESPN Tie-In

By John Ourand & Adam Stern

Published July 13, 2015 Font Size Resize Small Resize Normal Resize Large | Print | Share |
FS1 will carry NHRA races next season, ending a 14-year relationship between the drag racing circuit and ESPN, according to several sources. Fox Sports and the NHRA have agreed on deal terms, but a formal contract still has not been signed, sources said. An official announcement is expected later this week. Financial details of the new deal cannot be confirmed.

As recently as last week, NHRA officials had been negotiating to leave the current five-year ESPN deal a year early, as the drag racing series was upset with ESPN’s decision to carry most races on tape delay and in unattractive timeslots. Its ESPN deal originally was scheduled to end in '16, and ESPN was charging the NHRA an undisclosed break-up fee to get out of the deal early.

Uh oh...

because ESPN2 sucks so bad, I don't watch anymore...

I watch every race but you have to remember I grew up watching one or two races a year 4 weeks after the race was over on Wide World Of Sports.

I am glad they are getting a better deal, but I haven't watched an NHRA race in years on the TV. It's just a major snooze fest to me. They add Pro-Mod.....I MIGHT watch it

Same here, I DVR them, fast forward through the force circus and watch the Pro Stockers.

I used to to the same thing with Kenny Bernstein. My time is too valuable to watch either of those pitchmen. May as well watch an Oxyclean infomercial.

It does help with my sleep apnea.

NHRA on ESPN is more effective than sleeping pills.

That's what NASCAR does to me. I actually like watching the NHRA.

I can't watch either NASCAR or NHRA on TV - too much yakking about stuff that has nothing to do with the racing.

NASCAR works even faster when I really need to get to sleep.

If the NHRA telecast filled more of it's 3 hours with tech stuff as opposed to fluff, it would be far more watchable. After all.....the vast majority of viewers are "car" people.

And therein lies the problem, there are not enough "car people" to make the show worth airing. It HAS to appeal to an average guy who might be flipping channels. You want to rely strictly on "car guys" to get you ratings.....don't bother. You think the millions who watch NASCAR are "car guys"........hell no. It has to be entertaining to get casual viewers. You think the "fluff is a waste of time, but if it was nothing but cars going down the track, nobody will watch it.

Street Outlaws is a prime example. Like it or hate it, doesn't matter, the FACT is that it was the number one rated show on cable TV on Monday night a couple weeks ago. The show is watchable even for the average person, because of some of the "fluff" and has enough racing to keep "car guys" watching. Expect Fox to do something similar. If you think the show should just be pair after pair lining up and going down the track, you are going to be sorely disappointed

Monte

I agree on the point that ESPN has a real tendency to screw NHRA races over, for college softball, or something else we may not care about, so hopefully Fox Sports will be a better deal, but like I said, when all of the Street Outlaws shows were getting bashed, don't watch it, if you don't want to. I may lead a boring life, but heck I even watch Indy Car racing, just because racing of some sort, is better than no racing, or no car shows.
I agree some of the shows could be done better than they are, but I still think they're better than nothing. As Jack said, I remember when you used to have to wait weeks to see any kind of racing on TV, at least now we have choices sometimes.
Just my opinion, and not a bash to anybody else.
Dan

Exactly, Monte.

To get viewers, it needs to be a "show". Look at the stands any more at national events( Joliet a great example) nobody there.
You have to sell the sizzle.

http://www.nhra.com/story/2015/7/14/nhra-fox-sports/

I wish they would show Pro Mod. Maybe dump the bikes to make room.
What would be really cool is if NHRA dumped some of the Sportsman classes and added in Outlaw 10.5 and D/R or x275.

I myself like ALL kinds of racing... from drag racing
to snow mobiles and everything in between.. I just like
competition... but I like things to be on a equal basis
unlike some of the drag racing where 1 lane works and the
other is the looser.. I sure hope that Fox doesnt put some
stupid ass ping pong ahead of racing...
EDIT
Some good pro mod racing would be FAR better than the John Force
and his circus show... that gets so old even if they loose and
instead of interviewing the winner they would rather go with John
or Courtney

Complaint:

1) ESPN shows not live. Nothing like sittin' around watching a show filler while they cleanup an oil down.

2) ESPN shows air at inconvenient times. Ever hear of a DVR? This is the 21st century.

3) Earlier shows run over and cut into the drags. Again, a DVR and you can zap the mind-numbing commercials.

I really doubt if any other network will expend the resources to provide the coverage that ESPN does.

maybe someone did...

http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/nhra-nails-impressive-television-package-for-2016

As I remember it, it was ONE race a year and more like 4 MONTHs after it actually took place.

They'd do the same thing with the USA round of the 500 MX GPs when it used to run annually at Carlsbad, CA. The race would be in June, and they'd finally get around to showing it when the leaves were falling or the snow was already on the ground.

I didn't want to exaggerate. You know how us oldtimers are.

I was out there and the stands were pretty full, when nitro cars were running. As soon as the last pair of the round ran the stands emptied like you had flushed a toilet, and didn't fill back up until they fired the first pair of the next round.

LIVE is a mistake. Even if not an oildown, they generally run the tractors down the track between every pair of fuel cars. I don't particularly care to see that when at the track, much less while sitting on my couch. At the track, you don't have many choices other than to sit there and wait. At home I have PLENTY of better things to do.

As far as the racing being pre-empted by whatever......it is all about ratings. Baseball, womens field hockey, whatever, ALL draws better ratings than the NHRA telecast............so guess what, it gets pushed back. THAT fact will NEVER change on ESPN. Remains to be seen what FOX will do

"Impressive" is in the eye of the beholder. Ever see the amount of equipment ESPN brings to every event?

At the track I have to pay 3-5 dollars for a cold bottle of water and suffer thru the track dragging. At home I sit with the air conditioning on, FREE well water, and a dozen chicken wings. Don't get me wrong I love being there but paying high food and water prices take the joy out of it.

Wish them the best. Anyone remember the live, complete weekend feed on DirecTV, a couple of decades back? lol

Well since espn just announced Catlyn Jenner for the Arthur Ash courage award,Perhaps it can be an announcer for the drag race .
I don't watch espn anymore.

Bottom line is it's boring to watch. ESPN was going to give NHRA an even worse deal come renew time so they don't care about them going to FS channel. Don't know when it will air at but I guarantee if girls H.S. Softball gets better ratings, which I believe it does. NHRA will get bumped just like at ESPN. Did notice the weak attendance at Joliet.

I can't believe guys that hang out on a "racing website" don't enjoy watching good racing action. Last week's race as many others are very exciting. I guess it shouldn't really surprise me as much as it does as many of our members are no longer behind the wheel of a race car anymore. Keyboard want a bees that are no longer really into the sport. 40 plus years for me and can't get enough.

I enjoy the racing and some of the insight on the fuel cars or motorcycles. What I don't enjoy is when the announcer says, "XYZ just set both ends of the record and Courtney Force just farted, we'll interview XYZ later". I know John has done a lot for drag racing, but enough is enough.

That depends on your definition of GOOD racing action. Top Fuel and Funny cars all look alike and is only the Force vs Schumacher show. You seldom get side by side clean passes. In Pro-Stock, much the same. They all look alike and it is all just boring to watch, at least for me. There is no action, no excitement. If close is what you want, the local brackets provide that and I would rather watch paint dry. But because I don't care for the NHRA dog and pony show, does NOT mean I am not INTO racing. Just not into THAT racing. I only go to National Events or divisionals now because I HAVE to and that is to support some of my Top Sportsman customers. I don't watch any of the Pro classes run when there, with the exception of Pro-Mods. I might walk up with Shuler, because he is a friend, but that's it. I don't make an "effort" to see it. I would MUCH rather go to a PDRA race, an Outlaw Radial race, or an Outlaw Pro-Mod race. Show me what I like, I will watch it...........So has NOTHING to do with being INTO the sport, because I am INTO it FAR more than most and the TV show to me is a major snooze.

I think NASCAR, due to it's marketing of drivers and nature of it's racing, is a different entity altogether. I know a number people, including females who follow NASCAR yet they have little knowledge of the actual cars, nor do they care. It's almost as if the cars are just a prop. It's popularity has little to do with performance, as proven by the short tracks, where speeds sometimes are less than what folks do on public highways. These same people have zero interest in watching the NHRA on ESPN. At least this has been my experience.

Drag racings key factors revolve more around performance and technological advancements, resulting in quicker ETs and higher MPHs........along with the occasional driver "personality". The fact that there aren't enough "car people" to knock the ratings up is the issue. If a production company was able to come up with a way to create story lines like Street Outlaws, perhaps viewership from the casual observer would climb. Right now, NHRA has managed to bore too many car people AND the channel flipper.

We have a 3 hour telecast on ESPN. How much of that 3 hours is a pair of cars making a run??? Very little. The rest is filled with fluff. Now, I'm not against fluff in general since I realize you can't simply show 2 cars making runs (not that I want to see that either)......but it's the KIND of fluff. I DVR the telecast and spend much of the time on the FF button. If more time was dedicated to the inner working of the cars, I'd be paying attention.

There is also the fact that TV has a difficult time translating the violence of drag racing.....especially in the loud classes. The casual viewer has NO idea what's really up with these machines as far as the acceleration aspect. On the other hand, while most people have no idea what it's like to travel at 180 for for lenght of time, many do know what it feels like to drive well over 100, so NASCAR on TV seems to translate better to the less than serious car fan.

Like most problems, I think NHRA's issues with TV popularity are multifaceted.

You think people in this thread find the ESPN telecasts of NHRA racing boring because they are "keyboard want a bees"??? You do know what Monte Smith does for a living.....do you not??? I never miss Street Outlaws, except FFing the commercials. So what does that say???

I DVR and watch every race. I also FF through some of it because it's boring......and let's face it, the classes televised are not exactly the most exciting in the sport.

I also get chili dogs with a couple cars that might just remove the doors of a handfull of "real" racecars. So there's that....

NASCAR... a couple hours of seeing cars actually racing...

NHRA... 20 minutes of BS for 3 seconds of action

The last couple of years I've been watching the races live on ESPN3. I sure hope that continues but I kinda doubt it. Got lots of work done in the garage between rounds. Bummer.

That is gone for sure as that was the unedited version which was later on ESPN2