NASCAR’s popularity is something that can be a touchy conversation depending on who you talk to. Recently though there has been a new poll from the Morning Consult that stated the statistics of NASCAR being a highly ranked sport in terms of popularity with Gen-Z. So today we will look at why this is even though it doesn’t seem as such, we look at why NASCAR is more popular than we realize?!
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48 comments
What are changes NASCAR has made that you like?
The Choose cone
Choose your own lane and shockingly the Chicago Street race. The higher ups just need to listen to the fans more.
I agree. I think only good change they’ve made in the last 5 years is the choose cone. I might be missing a couple tho.
I’m just waiting for the Gen 4 car to come back (not happening)
Choose cone, COTA, gateway, LA clash,
If this survey is true and isn’t skewed, I think this means NASCAR might just need to go in on streaming because Cable ain’t working. (TBH, I wish one streaming service could simulcast the entire season so we don’t have to go from one service to another.)
I completely agree. “Hulu” does stream NASCAR all season, but it’s on FOX and the other cable channels. Would be cool to see a separate option! Maybe floracing???
@@ejw158 Flo would be nice, but they are basically tailor made for smaller stuff, they have a deal with the NHL to stream the ECHL (basically ARCA but Hockey), but that’s as high as they’ll go.
@@ejw158… I heard a strange rumor a few weeks back that YouTubeTV was interested in a livestream deal with NASCAR’s media production.
I’m Brazilian and when streaming started to come in Brazil, Nascar was being simultaneously transmitted on the stream Star+ (Hulu) in here for 2 towards 3 before FOX Sports South America didn’t reach an agreement with Nascar for the season now I can’t watch live anymore because I don’t have the cable channel that it went now.
And I remember that that demo was only U.S based on payed people that are part of that survey service which was around 4k people, I remember reading this somewhere.
@@ejw158 Hulu only has the races because of Hulu Live which is basically cable TV
I told Eric from “Out of the Groove” this. NASCAR isn’t hitting the TV ratings with Gen Z because Gen Z doesnt watch cable TV. Or if they do they are using their parents cable TV. Most of Gen Z is on YouTube, twitch, other streaming sites. Your average Gen Zer has more likely spent more time on their least popular social media than they have watched Cable TV their whole lives
That’s why NASCAR should start streaming in Netflix, YouTube and all of that
I watch every nascar race off streams due to most of the season when fox isn’t running my dad doesn’t have the channel and doesn’t have the spare to pay for it.
I’m 20, born in 2003, so right smack in the middle of this and you are right. I watch the races on Hulu.
Who knows we might see an increase on Prime considering that many of the younger generation uses Amazon prime to buy stuff and watch programs
The way I got into the sport was watching the races with grandparents and my dad some of the best memories I’ve ever had I’m not leaving my sport ever
Possibly. I will say as someone that’s been going to Pocono every year since 2003, that crowd and infield this past year felt like I was transported back to the early 2000’s. I know only having one race there now plays a factor but a full house like that was pretty awesome to experience again.
This comment made me smile. I hope that Bristol can get to that again.
Same. I’ve been going to races at Pocono since 2007 and to see the track i’ve grown up with over the years be as full as it was without a doubt was a truly angelic experience.
At least I was able to see Auto Club like that before its closure (sellout from 1997-2004 and 2022-3)
The brand identity with the drivers to me is the most important thing when it comes to retention of fans long term. Like imagine if your favorite sports team changed its name and uniform as constantly as most teams change sponsors throughout the year. It’d be pretty hard for a new fan to find a team to identify with when they’re constantly unrecognizable from one week to the next. Also I feel the type of sponsor does factor in as well but that’s not gonna change until nascar gives those “fun” sponsors a reason to come back. No matter what, a Pepsi car will always be cooler than a bet MGM car for example
I think in a way YouTube has helped with the confusion like Ellyproductions guide to 2023 video for instance
It’s not early 2000s popular but it’s a step in the right direction. If the popularity continues to rise I’ll like to see the grandstands that’s been torn down over the years to return.
Easier said than done, especially in California, Chicago, Daytona, Darlington, and other places where seating got removed (except TexARSE, cause it still sucks)
@@S.K.R.E.Inc.texas is great go cry it’s almost sold out
Phoenix races are always sold out, and vegas races are starting to fill up with more stands over the years, I’ve been to every vegas race for the last 10 years
The initial success of the Chicago Street Race, Garage 56, Iracing, and the calendar changes have attracted more younger people into the sport than we thought
The poll also noted more of these Gen Zer going to sporting events, which can correlate to the great crowds at many NASCAR tracks we’ve seen over the past few years
Is it also possible that the internet has actually helped put NASCAR in a more positive light?
@@xavierjuno4572yup
iRacing brought me in. I think a successful major NASCAR console release would do numbers, rather than the sad HEAT series we’ve had for the last decade..
These GenZ kids who grew up with social media are likely gonna need some Youtubers to watch, and I’m glad seeing people like you and Eric and Darian succeeding. NASCAR content creators like you are molding the current generation of fans, so keep up the hard work! ❤
I was born at the beginning of the new century, and I started watching in 2006. I stopped watching for a brief period from 2017-2020 because all my favorite drivers like Stewart and Gordon had retired, and I didn’t watch again until the pandemic hit. What brought me back to a sport that I’d lost interest in because all my favorites were gone was largely people like Jaret, Eric Estepp, Darian Gilliam and Michael Mrucz presenting the sport through their eyes to the audience of the internet, and giving us honest takes of the current product presented to us every week. Based on my own experiences, I think that what we see through social media and internet platforms like YouTube are going to be what connects the younger audience to the future of nascar, whether it be through content creators giving their take, or drivers interacting with fans, and that’s largely why the poll we saw there does matter, because it shows that what we’re doing now is a good start to connecting to my generation to keep us going as a sport.
Honestly I think that’s something even NASCAR acknowledges what with the sudden copyright bots and everything
I’m in gen z and I had a stretch of time when I was really young where I loved the idea of NASCAR purely because of the movie cars, but I never really watched any races. Then I went through a long period of time where I essentially forgot NASCAR existed, and any time I did think about the sport, I thought it had to be boring because they just drive in a circle for hours. Then one night I was watching youtube and happened to watch EmpLemon’s Dale Earnhardt video, and I thought it was so interesting that I watched his other NASCAR videos, and I realized just how interesting of a sport NASCAR actually is when you know a little bit about it. It was after that that I tuned into the next live race I could, and it happened to be the Chicago street race. Since then, I’ve only fallen for the sport more and more.
Huh I thought I was the only one
I’ve been a NASCAR fan since 2016 and it’s such a pleasant surprise to that NASCAR seems to be on the up and up. Hopefully they can keep it up.
For me as someone who’s just turned 19, I got into Nascar ironically from TV back in 2013, I was 8 years old at the time and it was early morning for me when the race had happened (I’m from Australia so times are different from America) and I turned the tv on to channel one (who had the broadcast rights in Australia for the time) and saw these loud V8’s screaming across the track, specifically Jeff Gordon’s car on the screen and from that day on I became a fan, it’s been a bit hard to try watch given the time of some of the races but I’ve always kept a eye on it, I hope the series can either go cable once more since Shane Van Gisbergen is in the series (not exactly cup but still) or have a watch of the classic series and have a good time
I’ve been a fan since 2020 and I thought NASCAR was going to become less popular every year to the point where it would not be talked about by anyone under the age of 45. This was a weird, but pleasant surprise and I think that with the new broadcasting contract that NASCAR has inked, the sport’s popularity will continue to grow.
I’ve been a fan since 2019 and I keep reading comments from old people saying NASCARs lost its charm and its dying but I went to the track at Darlington this year and there was barely any empty seats. I think NASCAR is certainly coming back now I’m not sure it’ll reach where it was in the 90s quite yet but I think it is for sure doing better than it was even a few years ago. Once people see F1 for what it really is and give NASCAR a true chance I think that will absolutely help.
@@drewh_simracingI think Nascar’s online support definitely has contributed
I became a NASCAR fan in 2020 after I got depression from my first college semester. I slowly became a fan after following the sport starting from your content AND Kyle Busch’s win at Fall Texas to Larson’s breakout season.
I see NASCAR’s growth almost being similar to some TV shows and movies nowadays. Some kids shows run on toy sales in Japan, and I can see the experimenting and growth payout happen the most in Toei’s Kamen Rider and Super Sentai tokusatsu (live action special effects) TV shows because those series had to drastically change to gain newer fans. That’s similar to what NASCAR is going through at the moment. It has to evolve and grow to meet and reach newer marketplaces.
I’m a Gen Zer (2002) and I started watching NASCAR briefly with my dad and his friend in 2010 and 2011, then eventually became a full-on fan in late 2011. Been a fan since.
As a 23 y/o that’s been interested in NASCAR since 2011, I’ve been to 8 or 9 races and I’ve noticed the crowds have been less and less each time until it was at the lowest in 2019. This year I’m going to my first race in 5 years at Talladega, and I hope I can see a larger crowd for sure.
I’m definitely in the younger register of NASCAR fans. I went to 4 races last year, and before that I only went to Bristol 2021, and Talladega 2022. Nashville was damn near sold out. It was like watching a replay clip from the early 2000’s again and it made me so happy- Aside from Blaney hitting the wall. It was awesome. Bristol Night race had a much better attendance but still not close to being sold out. And Martinsville was also spotty here and there but still thousands of people go just to hear the roar of the engines and hoping Blaney could pull it off.
I’m an older fan from way back. I’ve been hooked since the Cale vs. Donnie & Bobby Allison Fight at Daytona in 1979. I’ve seen so many ebbs and flows in the popularity of this sport, from the bright neon “Days of Thunder” to the recent “Watermelon Mania.” This sport has to be seen LIVE at least once to be believed. If NASCAR would get back to their roots, get folks hooked on seeing at least one race in person in their local area, making tickets affordable again to get the fan hype and fan involvement up again, I’m absolutely sure they’d eventually see another spike in popularity that’d rival MLB’s or College Football…
Word of mouth works wonders. And if you had a GREAT EXPERIENCE at a NASCAR race, you’re going to tell everyone you know…
im an older gen z and I started getting back into Nascar recently mostly because of all the new road courses. Watkins was the 1 race i never missed as a kid. but i think you are spot on with the brand identity it is so much harder to follow than almost any other racing series when it comes to learning drivers and teams. this also feeds into a second problem that keeps me from fully getting into American racing in general and thats how over commercialized and terrible the broadcasts are compared to European series.