Sebring benchmarks for 2008

The momentum for the American Le Mans Series continued to build as reports for attendance, TV ratings and website traffic trickled in following the 56th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida last Saturday.

The first round of the American Le Mans Series season set a new attendance record for the endurance classic. Sebring International Raceway officials announced attendance of more than 170,500 over the four-day event.

In addition, ratings for SPEED’s 11 hours of coverage increased 17 percent to 173,000 households with Tampa-St. Petersburg (.52 rating), Las Vegas (.49 rating) and Seattle-Tacoma (.47 rating) coming in as the highest-rated markets. SPEED also reported outstanding positive viewer response to both its Thursday night Live Sebring Special and the race broadcast itself, the first event ever shown in high definition on the network.

Web traffic, too, increased significantly with more than 407,000 page views, 107,000 visits and 54,000-plus unique visitors for the five-day Sebring event period.

“I think these increases across most every measurable category, indicate that the American Le Mans Series is clearly adding to the momentum that was established last season," said Series President and CEO Scott Atherton. “This is not an isolated occurrence; we are seeing significant growth across the board. I can’t thank our teams, drivers, manufacturers and corporate partners enough for the role they have played to establish us as the world’s premier sports car series. Our 10th anniversary season is off to a great start, and the best is yet to come."