International Speedway Corporation already has decreased the capacity of its tracks by 17 percent from 2007-2012, cutting capacity from 1.1 million to 909,000.
And it pledges more cuts. Daytona International Speedway, which once had 168,000 grandstand seats and currently seats 147,000, will seat a mere 101,000 (not including suites) by 2016.
ISC, whose stock is primarily controlled by the NASCAR-owning France family, told financial analysts last week that it plans to decrease capacity at several more racetracks.
Other tracks cutting capacity points to at least a 25 percent reduction from 2007. Company officials said seats without views of pit road don’t deliver as good of an experience. Or seats too far from many of the midway areas or the prerace activities don’t allow fans to take advantage of those amenities.
In order to create urgency and worry among ticket buyers, ISC will cut the number of seats available. They don’t want fans to wait on the weather. They want fans nervous that if they don’t buy early, at best they will end up disappointed with their seat, or at worst, out of luck because the race sold out.
ISC’s answer is to decrease purchasing the number of seats. In some ways, that is an acknowledgment that fewer people attend live sporting events overall habits of sports fans have changed and packed grandstands at facilities that can hold 125,000 will never again exist.(Sporting News)
