Sports Media Watch was on-site for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race last weekend. Here are some thoughts on the race atmosphere and sports novelties generally.
Downtown Chicago is, on paper, a strange place to host a NASCAR race. The sport most associated with rural America on the streets of one of the nation’s biggest cities? NASCAR is a multibillion-dollar major sports league whose events are contested by multimillionaires, so one hesitates to lean heavily on the ‘fish out of water’ theme. Even so, stock car racing is heavily associated with a specific region of the country and its cultural rhythms, none of which fit comfortably with a big-city aesthetic.
Yet NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race did not seem like an awkward fit. To the contrary, it appeared an ideal marriage of partners seeking to overcome preconceived notions; NASCAR as an exemplar of the old South, Chicago as uniquely dangerous. NASCAR took over a major American city, attracted a diverse audience of attendees, and fostered a convivial atmosphere reminiscent of an NBA All-Star Weekend. Chicago was able to show off its hospitality and the attractions that have made it one of America’s iconic cities.
As a showcase for both NASCAR and Chicago, it was a success — marred only by an ill-timed and unexpected torrent of rain. Credit is owed to the organizers who set up a bonafide race course on the streets of a major city without it feeling completely closed off; one could see bicyclists riding in the distance while the race was ongoing.
It was not, as people in the know would attest, the greatest spectacle in racing. Yet it was a spectacle, and one that did not exist even two years ago.
Consider the above an endorsement of the in-person experience. Perhaps a Chicago resident might feel differently about having downtown transformed into a NASCAR convention-slash-festival, but for a visitor, even the rain did not put a significant damper on the proceedings. The atmosphere while sheltering under a tent was sufficiently festive.
Yet the success on-ground is only part of the story. Just as important as the in-person experience is the status of the race as a media property.
In the current state of sports and media, it is impossible to simply stand pat with the same events, the same look, the same locations. Creativity is a requirement. NASCAR on the streets of Chicago is much like NASCAR in the L.A. Coliseum, or the NHL in football and baseball stadiums, Major League Baseball in minor league parks and on movie sets, the NBA in Las Vegas on a Technicolor court. All of these are attempts to stimulate increasingly fragmented audiences out of their prolonged apathy, and they have largely been successful — even if with diminishing returns.
Sunday’s race averaged about a million fewer viewers than last year, no surprise given the rain delay. (Last year’s edition took place on a day that included record rainfall in Chicago, but ran uninterrupted after a relatively short delay.) It still ranks among the most-watched races this season, but this year occupies sixth place after placing second — only to the Daytona 500 — a year ago. Given the length of the rain delay, the numbers are about as good as could have been reasonably hoped.
The question becomes what happens when the well runs dry for novelty. There are only so many places to hold NASCAR races, and given how involved it is to set up a racetrack on the busy streets of a major city, it does not seem particularly likely that Chicago will remain a constant of the NASCAR schedule. Having successfully run races in Chicago and Los Angeles (at the Coliseum), the only bigger fish NASCAR could possibly fry is New York, at least in the United States. It would not be surprising to see NASCAR stage a race outside of the U.S., which the NFL, Major League Baseball and NBA do with some regularity. Mexico City would make the most sense, given the existence of the NASCAR Mexico Series and the prominence of driver Daniel Suarez, a Mexico native.
The NHL ran out of unique locales for its Winter Classic and is now in reruns, returning this year to Wrigley Field for the first time in 15 years. The last truly unique outdoor NHL setting was necessitated by COVID, the beautiful but ultimately unsuitable Lake Tahoe. Absent a unique setting, viewers eventually tire out and stop watching in the same numbers. The most recent Winter Classic, held in Seattle, was the least-watched yet.
Of course, in an era of uncertainty and decline, diminishing returns are better than none at all; last year’s Winter Classic was still the most-watched game of the regular season on the TNT networks.
Ultimately, there is only so much one can do to create lasting inventory of value. If these one-off events constitute swinging for the fences, they are more solo shots than Grand Slams. A home run is a home run, but depending on the time and score, some merely look pretty rather than change the game. To that point, NASCAR in Chicago was a good time, made both NASCAR and Chicago look good, and generated good ratings. That is going to have to be good enough.
