Looking the Gift Horse Square in the Choppers: Verizon deal

[ICS001]

I will admit she's making some good points. Next Monday is the open test at Barber. Your making the announcement against Sebring practice and Bristol media availability. Specifically Junior's media availability.

You think it should be delayed till Monday then?

[Z28]

Looking the Gift Horse Square in the Choppers: Verizon deal

It depends on where the announcement takes place. If it's at IMS it's only going to be the same small contingent who show up for any other 'major' announcement like the glamping in the infield. Were it at the Verizon HQ maybe you'd get some business writers added to the mix. And while they might not get all the Indycar facts just right there would be far wider coverage than channel 8 sports.

[TimmyZ1]

You think it should be delayed till Monday then?

All I'm saying is she's making some good points. If your a diehard you know this was coming but a lot of other people don't.

[uncommonsense52]

Miles and Frye will announce

Jenna Fryer @JennaFryer 33m
#IndyCar Verizon deal appears to be done and announced tomorrow, about same time Dale Jr. will be talking in Bristol.
Expand

Fryer taking Indycar to task for the timing of the announcement but this is still good news. Perhaps the doomsayers can choke on that for a bit and shut up

And I'm sure some guy named Joe will be taking his morning dump around that time too.

Seriously, it's big news for IndyCar, but it's not time sensitive news. So just let IndyCar announce what it's going to announce when it wants to announce it.

I'm not a Jenna hater, but I'm not an advocate too. She sometimes comes up with valid points. This isn't one of those times.

[Jenna Fryer]

This is great news for Indycar and a job well done by Miles!
Only Fryer could find a way to dump on Indycar while announcing a rumored 10 million per year title sponsorship.

Hi. I am not "dumping" on IndyCar's announcement. Great announcement for IndyCar, great for the series. But for those of you who don't understand media, allow me to explain ... I'd guess 90 percent of the motor sports media that travels to races and covers them live will be at either Bristol or Sebring tomorrow. In the case of Bristol, the bulk of writers who report for national publications will be at Bristol and, because of the timing, will be physically unable to participate in the announcement.

So some of you say "So what if they can't be on the call?" ... Great, we can't be on the call, we can't participate in the call, we can't cover the news. For those who CAN participate, the 10:30 am Eastern story is overshadowed by lunch time by the live action in Bristol and Sebring. Look in your Saturday newspapers, please, and tell me how many column inches are devoted to Verizon announcement and how many are devoted to any other series.

IndyCar should have learned this a week ago when the series announced qualifying on Friday morning. How many papers ran large versions of that story, and how many papers ran Penske cars on front row in Las Vegas?

My point is only this: The Verizon announcement is not a secret, nor is it unexpected. IndyCar could have announced this on Thursday afternoon and owned the news cycle. IndyCar can announce this on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of next week and own the news cycle. Proper timing makes IndyCar/Verizon the headline of an entire day. Now it will be dwarfed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. eating banana and mayo sandwiches.

Thank you.

[Dez1013]

Hi. I am not "dumping" on IndyCar's announcement. Great announcement for IndyCar, great for the series. But for those of you who don't understand media, allow me to explain ... I'd guess 90 percent of the motor sports media that travels to races and covers them live will be at either Bristol or Sebring tomorrow. In the case of Bristol, the bulk of writers who report for national publications will be at Bristol and, because of the timing, will be physically unable to participate in the announcement.

So some of you say "So what if they can't be on the call?" ... Great, we can't be on the call, we can't participate in the call, we can't cover the news. For those who CAN participate, the 10:30 am Eastern story is overshadowed by lunch time by the live action in Bristol and Sebring. Look in your Saturday newspapers, please, and tell me how many column inches are devoted to Verizon announcement and how many are devoted to any other series.

IndyCar should have learned this a week ago when the series announced qualifying on Friday morning. How many papers ran large versions of that story, and how many papers ran Penske cars on front row in Las Vegas?

My point is only this: The Verizon announcement is not a secret, nor is it unexpected. IndyCar could have announced this on Thursday afternoon and owned the news cycle. IndyCar can announce this on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of next week and own the news cycle. Proper timing makes IndyCar/Verizon the headline of an entire day. Now it will be dwarfed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. eating banana and mayo sandwiches.

Thank you.

No, thank you!

People on here still think Indycar should be up there with Nascar news but the fact that Nascar still dominates racing news to the point that anything racing related in the US is just referred to as Nascar should give insight into the situation. This is excellent news for Indycar but again, they find a way to do things in a 'meh' kind of way.

[ramberg]

Jenna, I just wanted to thank you for posting here. It is so appreciated by most of us - please have a thick skin and keep us informed. The vast majority of us love that you take the time to post.

Hi. I am not "dumping" on IndyCar's announcement. Great announcement for IndyCar, great for the series. But for those of you who don't understand media, allow me to explain ... I'd guess 90 percent of the motor sports media that travels to races and covers them live will be at either Bristol or Sebring tomorrow. In the case of Bristol, the bulk of writers who report for national publications will be at Bristol and, because of the timing, will be physically unable to participate in the announcement.

So some of you say "So what if they can't be on the call?" ... Great, we can't be on the call, we can't participate in the call, we can't cover the news. For those who CAN participate, the 10:30 am Eastern story is overshadowed by lunch time by the live action in Bristol and Sebring. Look in your Saturday newspapers, please, and tell me how many column inches are devoted to Verizon announcement and how many are devoted to any other series.

IndyCar should have learned this a week ago when the series announced qualifying on Friday morning. How many papers ran large versions of that story, and how many papers ran Penske cars on front row in Las Vegas?

My point is only this: The Verizon announcement is not a secret, nor is it unexpected. IndyCar could have announced this on Thursday afternoon and owned the news cycle. IndyCar can announce this on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of next week and own the news cycle. Proper timing makes IndyCar/Verizon the headline of an entire day. Now it will be dwarfed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. eating banana and mayo sandwiches.

Thank you.

[Jenna Fryer]

I posted because someone brought it to my attention that was either getting slammed on here again, or accused of trying to destroy IndyCar again. I love covering the racing and covering the drivers of IndyCar. I hate the way series management handles business and claims to be trying to grow and reach a broader audience, only to do things that reach a smaller audience or appear amatuer.

Now, I'll be accused of being a shill for NASCAR. Not true, either. I hate when NASCAR does dumb, greedy or thoughtless things and I call them on it just the same as I call out anyone else.
Proof: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nascar-must-address-dangers-qualifying-format

25 hours after that column was posted, and 25 hours after NASCAR informed me "nothing has changed" on their stance from Las Vegas that no changes were coming to qualifying, and they planned to give it a few more weeks to see how it developed:

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nascar-allow-cooldown-units-pit-road

Oh, and one more piece of information: RLL planned to announce Servia's limited schedule two Tuesdays ago and was blindsided by the Kurt Busch double announcement. You know what they did? Delayed announcement a day because they understood how media works, and understood their announcement would be virtually ignored against Busch. That's appreciated in the media and public relations business.

[irlracingfan]

Hi. I am not "dumping" on IndyCar's announcement. Great announcement for IndyCar, great for the series. But for those of you who don't understand media, allow me to explain ... I'd guess 90 percent of the motor sports media that travels to races and covers them live will be at either Bristol or Sebring tomorrow. In the case of Bristol, the bulk of writers who report for national publications will be at Bristol and, because of the timing, will be physically unable to participate in the announcement.

So some of you say "So what if they can't be on the call?" ... Great, we can't be on the call, we can't participate in the call, we can't cover the news. For those who CAN participate, the 10:30 am Eastern story is overshadowed by lunch time by the live action in Bristol and Sebring. Look in your Saturday newspapers, please, and tell me how many column inches are devoted to Verizon announcement and how many are devoted to any other series.

IndyCar should have learned this a week ago when the series announced qualifying on Friday morning. How many papers ran large versions of that story, and how many papers ran Penske cars on front row in Las Vegas?

My point is only this: The Verizon announcement is not a secret, nor is it unexpected. IndyCar could have announced this on Thursday afternoon and owned the news cycle. IndyCar can announce this on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of next week and own the news cycle. Proper timing makes IndyCar/Verizon the headline of an entire day. Now it will be dwarfed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. eating banana and mayo sandwiches.

Thank you.

I think this can be attributed more to the media's erroneous perception that nascar defines racing in this country! I doubt those with this mindset would attend, write about, or even acknowledge an IndyCar Series announcement of any kind regardless of the timing UNLESS it was negative in nature... involving an accident, injury, etc. Unfortunately, I guess IndyCar will have to BUY the "news cycle" to "own" it, which I suspect nascar does to a very large extent... likely more than any media personnel would be willing, or possibly even able due to contract stipulations, to admit!

[Jenna Fryer]

I think this can be attributed more to the media's erroneous perception that nascar defines racing in this country! I doubt those with this mindset would attend, write about, or even acknowledge an IndyCar Series announcement of any kind regardless of the timing UNLESS it was negative in nature... involving an accident, injury, etc. Unfortunately, I guess IndyCar will have to BUY the "news cycle" to "own" it, which I suspect nascar does to a very large extent... likely more than any media personnel would be willing, or possibly even able due to contract stipulations, to admit!

So, USA Today, Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, ESPN ... none of those national outlets ever report on IndyCar? And when they do it is only negative in nature?

You are grossly misguided and incorrect.

Why was media day in Orlando? Because it was physically impossible for the national media who wanted to attend media day to get to Barber from Bristol in time for the Monday morning test. But competition didn't take that into account when they scheduled Barber. So the PR department scheduled a media day in Orlando, during an off day at the track in Daytona, so those national media outlets could have access to the drivers in advance of the season opener. We want to cover IndyCar. The Series makes it very difficult to do so. The demand for NASCAR far outweighs the public demand for IndyCar. That's fact. A survey of domestic sports editors across the country last year ranked NASCAR in the top five sports that they want daily coverage of from AP. IndyCar and F1 didn't even make the list. If more people wanted IndyCar coverage, then the reporters who very much enjoy covering it would receive the funding from their bosses to cover it daily.

That's fact.

[Jenna Fryer]

I think this can be attributed more to the media's erroneous perception that nascar defines racing in this country! I doubt those with this mindset would attend, write about, or even acknowledge an IndyCar Series announcement of any kind regardless of the timing UNLESS it was negative in nature... involving an accident, injury, etc. Unfortunately, I guess IndyCar will have to BUY the "news cycle" to "own" it, which I suspect nascar does to a very large extent... likely more than any media personnel would be willing, or possibly even able due to contract stipulations, to admit!

And you chose to ignore my point about column inches. Please, count the column inches in your newspaper. Tell me how many are for the Verizon announcement and how many are for Sebring (NOT NASCAR, last I checked) or Bristol.

But look back to, say, the day Graham announced National Guard. No competition that day ... more coverage on a national basis.

[irlracingfan]

So, USA Today, Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, ESPN ... none of those national outlets ever report on IndyCar? And when they do it is only negative in nature?

You are grossly misguided and incorrect.

Why was media day in Orlando? Because it was physically impossible for the national media who wanted to attend media day to get to Barber from Bristol in time for the Monday morning test. But competition didn't take that into account when they scheduled Barber. So the PR department scheduled a media day in Orlando, during an off day at the track in Daytona, so those national media outlets could have access to the drivers in advance of the season opener. We want to cover IndyCar. The Series makes it very difficult to do so. The demand for NASCAR far outweighs the public demand for IndyCar. That's fact. A survey of domestic sports editors across the country last year ranked NASCAR in the top five sports that they want daily coverage of from AP. IndyCar and F1 didn't even make the list. If more people wanted IndyCar coverage, then the reporters who very much enjoy covering it would receive the funding from their bosses to cover it daily.

That's fact.

So, if I understand correctly, you are saying we, as IndyCar fans, need to call these entities: USA Today, Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, local newspapers, TV, radio, etc. and DEMAND IndyCar coverage!!!

I think ALL OF US who love and/or enjoy IndyCar racing need to initiate a campaign to do precisely this!!!

I do, however, wonder how these entities know what people want. I've never been called, surveyed, or asked in any manner about my personal preferences in sports EXCEPT by a medium which is already covering IndyCar.

I also notice there was no denial of nascar's alleged "buying" of media coverage... so I'll take that as an acknowledgement that it does indeed take place!

[Turn13]

I think you would do better to simply encourage (or at least not chase off) new fans If you have the fans, the media will come find you.

[Jenna Fryer]

So, if I understand correctly, you are saying we, as IndyCar fans, need to call these entities: USA Today, Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, local newspapers, TV, radio, etc. and DEMAND IndyCar coverage!!!

I think ALL OF US who love and/or enjoy IndyCar racing need to initiate a campaign to do precisely this!!!

I do, however, wonder how these entities know what people want. I've never been called, surveyed or asked in any manner about my personal preferences in sports EXCEPT by a medium which is already covering IndyCar.

I also notice there was no denial of nascar's alleged "buying" of media coverage... so I'll take that as an acknowledgement that it does indeed take place!

Clicks per article is a good measuring stick. Calls to the paper and letters to the editor asking for more coverage help.

[ramberg]

Jenna, if IndyCar sends out a press release, how is it handled by the larger media outlets? Ignored, lost, printed, etc???