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rodders47

Why F1 Is Not Popular In Usa

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Maybe I have just worked this out?

Having watched Baseball and Grid Iron on TV from the usa is it any wonder why the patrons do not like Formula One?

Reason is that there is more happening in F1 than any of these games, even if passing is somewhat lacking in F1

To me Gridiron is a very stop start game that seems to go now where and Baseball well hell if you keep watching maybe some one will hit a bloody ball

In all very boring time wasting TV, well that'my opinion anyway :-) sort of like watching paint dry on the big screen :-)

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Ok, now tell me why football (soccer) is not popular in USA. eusa_think.gif

Its because they cannot kick the ball like rest of the world does, when football was first introduced there they had a tough time teaching them not to touch the ball with the hands, but It didn't work, so they just let them play their way and they invented their own game and their balls became oval.

Now they have sent Beckam to teach them....I am sure even that wouldn' work.

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I'll have a punt at answering the question you post. It's because most Americans like their racing simple yet pure.

I'm hoping that Peter Windsor can really get America back on the F1 map with his new team, its a country that deserves to be represented with drivers and a race.

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I'll have a punt at answering the question you post. It's because most Americans like their racing simple yet pure.

I'm hoping that Peter Windsor can really get America back on the F1 map with his new team, its a country that deserves to be represented with drivers and a race.

And when America has a driver who makes the cut in F1 (sorry Scott) i'm sure America will fall in love with F1 again.

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Aren't we repeating ourselves a little?

:lol:

Aren't we repeating ourselves a little?

:lol:

Okay i'll stop being silly - No I thought to myself that I best give my opinion as to when F1 will be popular in the States, hence thats why I made the second, the second post!!! I mean all the corporate backing that comes to F1 without a race and drivers is a credit to corporate America, just to name a few we have: Phillip Morris, AT&T, Exxon Mobil, & Dell.

Same but different, you see :D

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Maybe I have just worked this out?

Having watched Baseball and Grid Iron on TV from the usa is it any wonder why the patrons do not like Formula One?

Reason is that there is more happening in F1 than any of these games, even if passing is somewhat lacking in F1

To me Gridiron is a very stop start game that seems to go now where and Baseball well hell if you keep watching maybe some one will hit a bloody ball

In all very boring time wasting TV, well that'my opinion anyway :-) sort of like watching paint dry on the big screen :-)

Hmmmmmm, I'm not sure it works that way in that you wouldn't watch something because too much is happening! :lol:

I know ovals get derided and I know I'm going to be derided for this :blink: but personally I think they have it right with regards to being a spectator sport. You sit at an oval and you are able to see the whole track and there's plenty of passing, etc. Ok, if I was watching a racing series on tv, I would want to see more variety, but I would quite happily watch an F1 race on an oval. And I would love to go and see an Indy 500. Maybe actually being there is not as exciting as I imagine it would be, but I'd still like to try.

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pure, unadulterated derision, fed intraveniously, directly to the retina

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pure, unadulterated derision, fed intraveniously, directly to the retina

Well, I'm glad you said retina, I wondered where you were going with that :lol:

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Ok, now tell me why football (soccer) is not popular in USA. eusa_think.gif

maybe it is because of the same reason, keep watching and MAYBE yu will see a gol, I don't know how a sport that can finish tie 0-0 could be popular, just imagine you pay to go to a game where you spend more than a hour watching and at the end nobody scores a single point/gol, can you tell me what did you paid for? and don't tell me you just paid to see the players chasing the ball, the worse thing is that everybody is leaving with a smile on their face beacause their team didn't loose and some poeple call this the king of sports.

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(Note that these are NOT my views, just a generalization of most US racing and sports fans).

Formula 1 isn't popular in the USA because it's not 'murican 'nuff for most. F1 has a snobby, expensive image here; most people think it is for rich pansies who never "earned" anything. Meanwhile, a sport like NASCAR has a blue collar, grassroots, real down-home US American feel to it, it's doing things their way and each and every driver has a story that's promoted heavily. The US American general public wants something that doesn't take much thought to understand and has a lot of personalities. The "bigger is better" mentality that Yanks have applied to cars and food portions has also been applied to action; they want wrecks, wrecks, wrecks, side-by-side, and more wrecks. Essentially, most US Americans would like to see cars that look the ones they drive, drivers who look and act like them (therefore being able to relate to them), and mindless entertainment instead of a "pure" motor race.

To be quite honest, though, while F1 is by no means anything more than a niche sport in the USA, it's popularity is higher than most give it credit for. The IndyCar Series draws a .2 Nielsen rating or lower most races (the last one apparently got a .08), meaning roughly 200,000 households tuned in (or 80,000, in the case of the .08). Formula 1 usually gets a .5, meaning 500,000 households. Assuming there were 2 people at each TV, F1 has 1,000,000 US viewers, while IndyCar has about 400,000 (excluding the Indy 500, which got a record-low 3.9, so about 7,800,000 people watched). NASCAR Sprint Cup has 10,000,000 viewers (Daytona 500 gets somewhere around 25,000,000), while NASCAR Nationwide gets 3,000,000, and Camping World Truck gets 1,100,000, barely more than Formula 1 (which is on the same network, SPEED, and shown at much less convenient times for the average US American, but not me, I hate afternoon races, 8 AM F1 is the best).

I doubt F1 will ever be popular in the USA, and it's probably for the better. If ideas from US racing ever came to F1, we'd all be screwed. If the racing became about the people doing the racing and the stories, the race outcomes may be manipulated to create better headlines (as I tend to believe they are many times in IRL and NASCAR).

As for drivers, I couldn't name a single US American who belongs in F1 right now, so I certainly hope we don't see one for a few years until we really know how good Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi are.

Quite frankly, as both an American an F1 fan, I really couldn't care less if Formula 1 was popular here or not. Just give me a Canadian GP to go to and I'm happy.

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And when America has a driver who makes the cut in F1 (sorry Scott) i'm sure America will fall in love with F1 again.

This is correct. We Americans aren't any different from any other nation. Spain ignored F1 until a Spaniard started winning and America is no different.

There are two types of race fans in America (and probably other nations as well). Those that watch F1 and those that watch NASCAR (or whatever the national equivalent is). The people watching F1 will do so regardless of an American presence (or lack of) in F1. These are your 'core' F1 fans (I think the number is somewhere around 12-14m*...but those numbers skew lower than reality because of the popularity of torrents).

By contrast, the NASCAR-type fans will only be interested in a series where an American is winning. They won't be interested in Peter Windsor's USF1 team unless it's winning and even if they start winning, we need decent major network coverage of the races with decent commentary to sustain interest.

*Keep in mind that there isn't any reliable tracking method for how many people watch a show at any given time. One sports bar with one SpeedTV feed will only show up as one 'household' even though there may be 12-15 people watching it. Nielsen ratings are only good for the households that participate in their tracking methods. Of course you can derive ballpark statistics from this sampling, but a sampling is never going to be 100% accurate. The 12-14m number is based on a combination of sources, from media surveys to race attendances to viewing figures from Nielsen and the reporting cable companies.

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This is correct. We Americans aren't any different from any other nation. Spain ignored F1 until a Spaniard started winning and America is no different.

There are two types of race fans in America (and probably other nations as well). Those that watch F1 and those that watch NASCAR (or whatever the national equivalent is). The people watching F1 will do so regardless of an American presence (or lack of) in F1. These are your 'core' F1 fans (I think the number is somewhere around 12-14m*...but those numbers skew lower than reality because of the popularity of torrents).

By contrast, the NASCAR-type fans will only be interested in a series where an American is winning. They won't be interested in Peter Windsor's USF1 team unless it's winning and even if they start winning, we need decent major network coverage of the races with decent commentary to sustain interest.

*Keep in mind that there isn't any reliable tracking method for how many people watch a show at any given time. One sports bar with one SpeedTV feed will only show up as one 'household' even though there may be 12-15 people watching it. Nielsen ratings are only good for the households that participate in their tracking methods. Of course you can derive ballpark statistics from this sampling, but a sampling is never going to be 100% accurate. The 12-14m number is based on a combination of sources, from media surveys to race attendances to viewing figures from Nielsen and the reporting cable companies.

I completely agree with you, USA just need an american winning races and everything will change, right now we talk about the reasons why an american driver can't deliver in F1 and that is not a good talking point for most american who are used to win or be in the fisrt places in everything.

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I'd love to know where you got the 12-14 million number from, Mike. I don't doubt it, it just seems interestingly high when NASCAR advertises itself as having 11,000,000 viewers in the US for the Sprint Cup Series.

I don't think an American driver or team winning races will change much. I once asked on a NASCAR forum if people would still watch if the grid was five Americans and thirty-eight foreigners, and the general responses had nothing to do with the Americans winning, but rather what type of Americans they were (most wanted "good ol' boys"). Even if Scott Speed won every race, people wouldn't care, because he wasn't some hard-working kid who built a sprint car and raced on dirt ovals and paid his dues and had a "3" sticker on his pickup truck etc etc etc.

Quite honestly, though, I like F1 as a niche sport in the USA. It makes me hardcore, and it makes the TV coverage a lot better (if it was popular, we'd get yahoos who think they're the show and try to be entertaining when they're not, like in NASCAR, and they'd dumb everything down for "casual fans"). I just want it to maintain enough popularity to be on TV in the US, and that's really all I care about.

I'd hate to see a capable driver be kept off the grid because an American who didn't deserve it got it just based on the team's nationality (same as with Campos and Spaniards or Manor and Brits or anything like that). I know sometimes with sponsors, they demand a driver from their nation, and what can you do? But I have to admire Force India for hiring the two best drivers they could get instead of Karun and Narain just for fun.

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I'd love to know where you got the 12-14 million number from, Mike. I don't doubt it, it just seems interestingly high when NASCAR advertises itself as having 11,000,000 viewers in the US for the Sprint Cup Series.

The numbers are from memory. I read that somewhere in the past few years but I don't have the proof of it at my fingertips...so believe it as you will (I'm sure the proof one way or the other is out there if you care to dig). As an aside, I remember reading that NASCAR gets around 40m. I'm not sure where that discrepancy in our numbers comes from, but there it is. I'm willing to go with your numbers, though...it has no real bearing on the question at hand....which is why F1 is not more popular in the US.

I don't think an American driver or team winning races will change much. I once asked on a NASCAR forum if people would still watch if the grid was five Americans and thirty-eight foreigners, and the general responses had nothing to do with the Americans winning, but rather what type of Americans they were (most wanted "good ol' boys"). Even if Scott Speed won every race, people wouldn't care, because he wasn't some hard-working kid who built a sprint car and raced on dirt ovals and paid his dues and had a "3" sticker on his pickup truck etc etc etc.

I disagree. Look at the times when America has enjoyed decent F1 coverage and you'll see Americans winning in the series. I'm talking the peaks here, not the downslope. Go ask a Joe on the street about F1 and the one name that comes up is Mario Andretti. He's the last American to really win something in F1 and our national coverage, and national interest, has been on a slow decline since then.

Quite honestly, though, I like F1 as a niche sport in the USA. It makes me hardcore, and it makes the TV coverage a lot better (if it was popular, we'd get yahoos who think they're the show and try to be entertaining when they're not, like in NASCAR, and they'd dumb everything down for "casual fans"). I just want it to maintain enough popularity to be on TV in the US, and that's really all I care about.

I'd hate to see a capable driver be kept off the grid because an American who didn't deserve it got it just based on the team's nationality (same as with Campos and Spaniards or Manor and Brits or anything like that). I know sometimes with sponsors, they demand a driver from their nation, and what can you do? But I have to admire Force India for hiring the two best drivers they could get instead of Karun and Narain just for fun.

Someone reading this should consider the source. No offense intended Eric, but you're a self-proclaimed NASCAR fan with marginal interest in F1. I would not consider your views to be typical of F1 fans in America, though they are excellent views of a NASCAR fan on F1.

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I disagree. Look at the times when America has enjoyed decent F1 coverage and you'll see Americans winning in the series. I'm talking the peaks here, not the downslope. Go ask a Joe on the street about F1 and the one name that comes up is Mario Andretti. He's the last American to really win something in F1 and our national coverage, and national interest, has been on a slow decline since then.

Someone reading this should consider the source. No offense intended Eric, but you're a self-proclaimed NASCAR fan with marginal interest in F1. I would not consider your views to be typical of F1 fans in America, though they are excellent views of a NASCAR fan on F1.

I suppose you'd know better, since I wasn't around. Did it really peak back then? I know it was on CBS with Ken Squier, but that's all I really know. I think it's hard for it to regain popularity, though, now that NASCAR has become such a force. Same with American open wheel...people cared, then they found something they cared more about, and never went back, split or no split. I do agree that having competitive Americans in the sport would be the biggest factor in helping the popularity, but I'm just not sure the sport will ever appeal to the masses, just because of its nature and how it's so different from the American "hey, I have 3,000,000 horsepower, who cares if I can't corner?" mentality that just goes oh-so-well with foot-to-the-floor in-your-face (boring) speedway racing and not so much with the thinking man's Formula 1.

Back in 2006, perhaps, but I'm a teenager so I change my mind about everything every couple of weeks. Now I'd consider myself an ex-NASCAR fan who only watches Formula 1, ALMS, BTCC, and MotoGP on a regular basis with my annual Grand-Am, IRL, and NASCAR race thrown in. I'm sure most American F1 fans would disagree with me not caring about US F1 and not wanting to see Summerton or whomever on the grid next year, though. I just don't feel the need for a larger US presence in the sport; the more popular things become, the worse they end up. I think I'd hate it if I went to school and all my friends were talking about the Grand Prix (or the NASCAR race. I like being outside of Boston because no one watches any kind of racing here).

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I agree with Eric, and also Puma. I'd say it's partly due to image and what people want from their sports, and also partly due to the fact no Americans are successful in F1 in recent times. Even if an American started dominating F1, I don't think that would attract many long term American fans, so image or something else (e.g. race coverage, start times, happy enough with NASCAR) must be a factor in why Americans don't watch F1.

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I am amazed that people believe the best drivers are competing in F1. Yes I believe there are great drivers in F1, but to think the whole grid is full of the "best drivers" in the world is stretching ones imagination. This is a sport that had Sato driving in it for years. A fair amount of politics plays into this as well, and that is one thing that the yanks hate most.

I beleive if this was all about the world's best drivers, the Americans might be more interested.

As far as sport goes, nothing beats ice hockey. Skill, speed, and aggression all displayed at a pace other sports can only dream of.

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I am amazed that people believe the best drivers are competing in F1. Yes I believe there are great drivers in F1, but to think the whole grid is full of the "best drivers" in the world is stretching ones imagination. This is a sport that had Sato driving in it for years. A fair amount of politics plays into this as well, and that is one thing that the yanks hate most.

I beleive if this was all about the world's best drivers, the Americans might be more interested.

As far as sport goes, nothing beats ice hockey. Skill, speed, and aggression all displayed at a pace other sports can only dream of.

Well, all sports have a distribution of talent, those at the top, bottom and middle. I'd say that even F1's middle were pretty damn good, and could succeed in most other forms of 4 wheel road based racing (and in single seater racing I think F1 drivers really are the best). At least I don't see how guys from other road racing motorsports would do any better. F1 is considered the pinnacle for drivers for a reason: precision, reactions, technical feedback, stamina, the ability to suffer the politics, etc all are more intense than in any other form of motorsport.

As for other sports, well, matter of opinion. Talent is talent and it shows in many forms. I still think driving through a ball of spray at 180mph means more than being able to clean up on a pool table, or kick a ball around a pitch, or do a perfect drop volley. Other sportsmen have the same levels of talent but in other areas, but racing drivers need something extra than that.

As for pace of a sport, I think professional badminton players have some pretty amazing reaction times.

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I am amazed that people believe the best drivers are competing in F1. Yes I believe there are great drivers in F1, but to think the whole grid is full of the "best drivers" in the world is stretching ones imagination. This is a sport that had Sato driving in it for years. A fair amount of politics plays into this as well, and that is one thing that the yanks hate most.

I beleive if this was all about the world's best drivers, the Americans might be more interested.

As far as sport goes, nothing beats ice hockey. Skill, speed, and aggression all displayed at a pace other sports can only dream of.

Perhaps not all of the world's best drivers are in F1 (Loeb, Rossi, some others), but as a whole, Formula 1 has the strongest grid. Explain how S

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