Sparse media coverage for the Rolex 24

There wasn’t a single word from Daytona in the New York Times, Boston Globe or other northeastern newspapers on the Rolex 24 and the only coverage of the race in USA Today was all about Gidley’s accident.

Indeed, the media centre at Daytona was very sparsely populated. I believe the Daytona Beach News Journal was the only American newspaper represented, plus the AP’s national racing writer. Most of the reporters at Daytona came from Europe with a total of 10 or so writers from the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Holland.

The sad fact is that the Tudor Series and IndyCar have become two of the smallest sports in America today. Incredibly, over the past 10 years the overall media footprint in the United States for these forms of racing have fallen well behind the American media coverage of Major League and Premier League soccer!

This is a big problem for American motor racing and a key reason why it’s so difficult to sell sponsorship for either the Tudor Series or IndyCar. In fact, increasing the Tudor’s tiny media footprint is as big a challenge for both series as solving the conundrum of finding the right technical formula for the future. Gordon Kirby/MotorSport Magazine