No, you please stop.
I have no problem with the Derby. All I mentioned were the celebrities that NBC chose to point out. In an earlier post, I clearly supported the notion that the Derby is currently more popular than the 500, even though it pains me to say it.
Cancer sucks.
With all respect to everyone posting in this thread, why do we CARE if another sport is more or less popular than the Indianapolis 500?
Does it take away from what the 500 is if someone enjoys something else more?
Does it take away from your enjoyment of the 500 if someone enjoys something else more?
I have a hard time imagining anyone older than twelve answering "yes" to either one of those.
The Kentucky Derby is a longstanding American tradition, worthy of respect for simply that reason.
The Indianapolis 500 is a longstanding American tradition, worthy of respect for simply that reason.
That's as far as it needs to go.
I think you're reading way too much into this. Its just a poll to generate discussion on two pieces of Americana. I didn't read anything into it other than that. Obviously the person who started the thread loves the Indy 500 and would like to see it take its rightful place of importance in the sports world today. Don't get upset about that. ErnestOriginally Posted by skypigeon
I care because it is an example of where the 500 could be without a detour toward irrelevance that resulted in a decline in interest on the local and national levels. Something as simple as the number of well known pop-culture and sports personalities choosing to attend the events is a barometer that gives an indication on how much the events mean to people in this country.
Neither event are American traditions. They are events in America that have traditions associated with them. If Indy were an American tradition, the country wouldn't have forgotten about it.
Does it take away from my enjoyment of the 500? Yes.
Why? Because the great event I loved as a kid has turned into a joke of a watered down sport. It's watered down because so few people now care about it that there isn't enough money or interest into making it great again. It makes me truly angry that the race is going to have far less meaning for my son when I take him a few years than it did when Dad took me years ago.
It pains me that Florence Henderson is one of the top celebrities and the Kardashians had to be paid to make an appearance (Then left before the race finished because they couldn't get out of town fast enough)... and then people are so content with mediocrity that they can actually say that Indy has better celebs so they can rationalize one way in which the race isn't covered with cobwebs.
How many sponsors did you see on the sides of horses for the Derby? And yet there are people out there that spent more money on 3 year olds that didn't even pan out than it takes to run a car for an entire season in Indycar. Heck, Sheikh Mohammed spends enough just trying to win the Derby that he could fund every car in the 500 for the month of May. I
Instead of defending Indycar just look at the facts. The Derby has never been bigger or in better shape. It is growing. Indycar, on the other hand, is blocking off sections of stands and will soon be either taking them down or replacing with smaller stands. Indianapolis is one of the worst cities in the country when it comes to abandoning interest in a sports franchise when they aren't winning and it isn't popular to be on the bandwagon and being able to tell your friends that you are going to the game next weekend. Do not think for a moment that the 500 has nowhere to go but up.
I was surprised that the Derby had a significantly higher percentage of the vote in Kentucky than the 500 did in Indiana.
"Turn right to go left" Doc Hudson
But both have push2pass:
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What about their message boards?
Excellent race for sure.
And at one lap it was half as long as the Cup race from 'Dega.
The day before the Derby, the Kentucky Oaks was won by a female jockey for the first time.
of course a 2 minute horse race is going to be more watched. It is exactly the same here in Australia for the Melbourne Cup. The country literately stops for it. Most workplaces around the country stop at around 11 to go to Melbourne Cup lunches to watch the race (it is a public holiday in Melbourne, but an unofficial public holiday everywhere else)
Of course, 99% of the people who watch it never watch another horse race all year. And to be honest the only reason anyone watches it is because everyone becomes a gambling expert for that one day of the year. It's funny watching people who never bet on another race spending $100's on every possible bet and exotic combination they can. Of course, in Australia every single pub as a TAB outlet (the largest betting agency in Australia) and internet gambling is 100% legal. If gambling was banned I'd bet the Melbourne Cup would disappear within 10 years.
Although no one watches the telecast until about 5 minutes before the race actually starts.
Let's take a look at some actual returns that reflect larger sample sizes than your suggested "2 minute" and "5 minute" viewership spikes...:
NBC pulled in a 7.2 rating for its two-hour telecast from 5-7 p.m. ET on Saturday...
The final hour of the telecast from 6-7 p.m., earned a 9.0 rating and a 20 share.
Down about 7%, but still not too shabby...
Was it a fuel mileage victory ?
Why? Outside the 500, not one race has had as many viewers in Indiana as attend the 500. It is may. There are no checkered flags in yards. No cardboard race displays in the grocery. You saw people and businesses preparing for the derby weeks ago in Louisville. You cannot even tell we are going to have a race in Indy if you look around.
It is like the pacers or the colts. If they aren't winning then nobody cares.
That says more about the TV ratings system than anything, although that applies to any show. Also, if the Kentucky derby is anything at all like the Melbourne Cup here, there are a lot of TV's on all day around the country with the sound down and no one watching, until the horses are in the gates at which point the entire country shuts ups very quickly, and every TV's is turned to max volume, followed by 3 minutes of screaming before everyone gets back to drinking!
The preceding 4 hours and following 2 (or 4 , or 6, or 10.) are spent getting hammered, preferably at someone else's expense if you are at a hosted function.
Without Gambling, there is no such thing as horse racing. It is not a part of the sport, it is its entire Raison d'être. I'm not complaining, because I love Melbourne Cup day here! But I'm not going to pretend that there are horse racing fans who sit at home watching races on TV the same way most sport fans do... other than a very small number of people directly associated with the industry.
OTOH... the only two options were The Derby & The Indianapolis 500.
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