LBET wrote:
Still don't know why the US doesn't gravitate more to F1.
Several reasons
Time zones: There are only 4 races in the western hemisphere, anything else is around 2am or 6am to watch
Poor exposure: The sport doesn't merit front page space on websites or newspapers. Also when other racing series were growing (ie NASCAR & Indy) we could get results same day on TV, but for F1 results, we often had to wait until Road & Track came out with the race coverage two months after the race.
Lack of self-Promotion by F1 itself: F1 has done virtually nothing to promote the sport in the US/North America. Instead, they bitch because the race venues don't do it all for them. Even in the rural cities of the farm belt, it is not all that uncommon to see a NASCAR racer on display (they actually used to carry the cars around from town to town to promote the sport, and of course, the sponsor) I know of no F1 car that has ever been shown here in the state of Nebraska for example.
Over protective of their drivers: It has gotten a little bit better, but not much. For the most part the drivers are kept away from the public. making the sport's "snobbish" reputation even more so. That makes it hard for the fans to really relate to them. Most of the drivers are not household names as it is. There is a reason why drivers like to vacation in the USA... Schumi and Hamilton both liked it because of they were virtually anonymous. There was a story that Schumi even stood in line for a chance to get a ride in a NASCAR racer and was never recognized. If F1 wants to grow the sport, they need the exposures of its big starts.
Assh0les like Bernie playing games with venues, over-charging venues and then insulting not only the venues, but the cities and in one case the entire female fan base, both existing and potential.
Multiple choices for the race fans: Fans here have many choices on where to spend their racing entertainment dollars... all of them cheaper than F1. They can watch NASCAR with "stock" cars called Chevy, Ford or Toyota (as opposed to Ferraris, McLarens, Mercedes, Renault, et al). They can do the Indy series where they are powered by Chevys and Hondas. NHRA drag racing on a major scale. On top of they the still share the kinds of racing series so popular in other parts of the world, such as sports cars, dirt tracks, and hill climbs to spend their entertainment money on.
F1 cannot just sit back and wait for the fans to embrace them, they have to court the fans. They have to learn the term "fan friendly" and work for it. Thus far they have not shown much willingness to learn from the others and that is too bad. However, I do see hope with the new owners. Liberty seems to understand the value of the fan quite a bit more than than money grubbing weasel bernie.
There are more reasons, but that is a start.
