ESPN has become too big and a shell of its’ former self, but it was inevitable…I think the backlash against it will only grow, but i don’t know if any good will come of it. I think the sports channel we all loved growing up will never be the same.

There is ONE major NASCAR race per week. Just one event. It features every major driver. So, everyone’s favorite driver is in that one race. Therefore, every NASCAR fan in America is either attending, or watching that race on TV. Adding to this is the fact that it only happens once per week. Hence, huge ratings.

In other sports, on a given day there can be up to 15 (16 in the NFL) events total. That is fragmenting the live and television audience into 15 or 16 parts at most, especially if you just watch your favorite team and no one else.

Plus, in the case of MLB, NHL, and NBA, teams play several times per week. So if you miss them on Tuesday, no biggie because you can watch them on Friday. That also dilutes individual game ratings.

I’m going to bring the aforementioned NHL into this, because it is the league that ESPN “mysteriously” began bashing constantly the minute it left their network. If all 30 NHL teams played in one day, the combined TV ratings and attendance for all 15 games would beat those of the one weekly NASCAR race. And this is not the NFL or MLB I’m talking about, it’s the redheaded stepchild of the major sports world, the NHL.

Another way to put it is, if NASCAR paired races off into multiple 1-on-1 “match-races” held on random, multiple nights per week, (ie fragmenting the audience instead of having one huge audience once per week) the ratings and attendance would probably be sub-NHL-like. Many people would probably only watch the “match-race” with their favorite driver in it. And even the more diehard fans would find it hard to watch every race. Hence, smaller ratings.

So yes, NASCAR’s ratings, and in turn it’s popularity, are inflated by the fact that there’s only one big Nextel Cup race with all of the major drivers per week.

Also, about hockey, ESPN did a “What’s your favorite sport?” online poll a few months back. Hockey and basketball were tied for third, and NASCAR was a distant last. (The NFL and MLB finished 1st and second respectively). So, just because it’s in ESPN’s best interests to tell you that hockey doesn’t matter anymore and NASCAR does, that doesn’t make it true.

And about the “Is NASCAR a sport?” issue… put it this way, if I’m a better driver than you, but you have a better car, you’re beating me in the race. It’s basically a “fast car building” contest! But then again, this is ESPN, the same network that also tries to make us care about Poker (which, for the record, is a fucking game of chance!!)

If ESPN keeps plugging every race as much as they did Daytona, which they haven’t so far with the Califronia race this weekend, then it wouldn’t be good, but I think you are just seeing the bigness of Daytona coupled with an other wise slow period of the year sports wise.

Because I don’t watch that piece of garbage network.