I'm with you, I'm not a fan. But this isn't about whether you or I like it, it's about the viability of a sport over time wrt fundamental changes in the sport. In 2005, NASCAR races had higher TV ratings than the NBA, MLB, and NHL - now it trails all of them (in addition to the NFL). MLS has surpassed NASCAR viewership as well. NO ONE would have predicted this.
There aren't fewer racing fans, fewer rednecks, etc. - the sport fundamentally changed too much, as TPTB thought the racing fans would never leave. They were wrong.
Same with CFB - when they fundamentally change the sport in a manner where formerly hardcore fans begin losing interest, the formerly unthinkable should be considered as a possibility. No one has a crystal ball, but I know far too many formerly die-hard CFB fans that literally barely watched their own teams this year.
I'm glad you brought this up. As someone who watched more than his share of NASCAR races and - in fact - won a drawing that put me in Robby Gordon's pit at the Texas race in April 2008, the implosion for NASCAR was quick and brutal.
For those not there, let me give you an idea: in 2004, NASCAR was talking with other countries (most notably Japan) about ADDING OVERSEAS RACES to their season and creating an international brand. They were undone by:
- a guy won the championship (Matt Kenseth) who won only one race (and NASCAR overreacted)
- because of that, they created "the chase" playoff (which ticked off the old fans)
- they replaced reliable venues in the SE USA with the same type tracks each in KC, Chicago, and California
- the same guy won the championship five years in a row BECAUSE of the things above
- Dale Earnhardt had died, robbing the sport of its best draw
- the Great Recession destroyed incomes as races were expensive to attend
- they put races on secondary networks that 1/2 the country didn't get
NASCAR had a ready excuse for this: "well, the recession hurt all sports."
Uh, then shouldn't your TV ratings have gone HIGHER if fans were not losing interest?
In short, they RAN OFF the lifetime fans and FAILED TO MAKE new ones.
Most of the old tracks now don't even sell out, and they gutted a bunch of seats at Bristol, the toughest ticket in motor racing.
CFB is headed the way.