Why NASCAR’s confusing format is driving away fans

Count NASCAR's convoluted, idiotic playoff system amongst the litany of reasons for its declines over the last decade

First there were 10 contenders. Then 12. Then 12, but with possible wild cards. Now there's 16, but only four get a shot at the Sprint Cup. Sound confusing? Well, that's been the essence of NASCAR's Chase for the Cup format in its 11 seasons due to constant tinkering by NASCAR's brass.

After four major format changes since 2004, fans need a break. Besides, constantly changing the rules is a double-edged sword for the series which has watched both television audiences and the bums in grandstand seats shrink over the past few years.

Although the new playoff-style elimination round Chase may bring more drama to the championship as the series wanted, but it's also overly complex and has the potential to confuse and frustrate fans. Besides, it really didn't deliver anyway.

Yes, the 10 races in the Chase for the Cup averaged about 125,000 more viewers per race at 4.4-million, but that doesn't tell the real story.

First, the Chicago race in 2013 was rain-delayed for more than five hours and only attracted an audience of 2.7-million when it finally got going, down almost 1.3-million viewers from 2012. Taking Chicago out of the equation shows that only four of the remaining nine Chase events in 2014 drew more viewers than the previous season. In those nine, the 2014 Chase attracted 41,000 more viewers than a year earlier, which works out to a statistically insignificant 4,500 additional fans per race.

In addition, controversy also played a huge role in bumping the 2014 numbers. More than 800,000 additional fans that tuned in to the Phoenix race, which was a week after a post-race brawl in Texas involving Chase contenders Jeff Gordon , Brad Keselowski and their pit crews. There's no doubt that many tuned in to see if the off-track pugilism would continue. When all was said and done a few punches in the pitlane accounted for the bump from the numbers in 2013.

Whether or not the newest Chase will help NASCAR's numbers rebound long-term remains to be seen, but the series really needs to stick with one format to ensure fans don't become exhausted as they try to figure out the constantly shifting rules.

The good news is that series boss Brian France said last month that there would be no changes to the format this year, although he didn't rule out more tweaks in 2016. The bad news is that NASCAR loses Sprint as the title sponsor at the end of the year and it may think that more excitement is needed to keep the new one on board long-term. Globe and Mail