Speedway parent sees revenues fall, plans focus on families and kids

The parent company of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway saw 2012 fourth-quarter revenues drop nearly 8 percent from the previous year and plans to focus on attracting more families and kids to increase revenue in 2013.

Speedway Motorsports Inc. reported Wednesday that revenues for the three months ended Dec. 31 were $82.1 million, down from $89.1 million a year earlier. Charlotte, N.C.-based Speedway Motorsports owns eight race car tracks, including the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Total revenues for 2012 were
$490.2 million, down 3.1 percent from $505.8 million in 2011, Speedway Motorsports reported. The company projects 2013 revenue of $480 million to $510 million.

To grow revenue, Speedway Motorsports’ “focus on capturing the next generation of race fans is intensifying, with innovative marketing programs for families, kids and first-time fans, as well as leading-edge entertainment options for all fans,” Speedway Motorsports President and Chief Operating Officer Marcus Smith said.

The company will put that business strategy to use at this weekend’s NASCAR event at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

A grandstand ticket for kids 15 and younger will be $24.50 — half the regular $49 cost, Las Vegas Motor Speedway spokesman Jeff Motley said. Plus, kids 15 and younger can enter the Neon Garage for free, Motley said, instead of paying the $49 charge.

“We’re trying to make it easier for kids to make it to the track,” Motley said Wednesday. “We want to make it more affordable for families to come to a race.”

University of Nevada, Las Vegas professor Nancy Lough, who teaches a sports marketing class, said she and a colleague recently discussed attracting younger fans to races. She said they agreed the challenge is, “How do you engage the next generation of fans without shunning the tried and true fan in his/her mid- to late-40s?”

Lough recalled that students — who are in that younger age bracket that Speedway Motorsports covets — suggested selling the tailgating and carnival-spectacle feel.

“Students felt ... if you got them close to the arena, eventually you would get them in. They struggled most with boredom during the race. They were interested in what was happening, but they wanted to be more mobile during the race, yet still watch it, almost in a sportsbarlike atmosphere,” Lough said.

“From responses we’ve received, millennials (people born in 1980-2000) appear to be ADHD sport consumers — requiring constant action and integration to keep their attention,” Lough added. “This is where social media can actually be used to keep these young fans engaged, certainly more so than the ‘traditional fan.’u2009”

She also noted that Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center for Sport Leadership is hosting an event at the Richmond, Va., racetrack next month to sell young fans on the science of the race to “hopefully hook some new (young) fans who just thought it was a bunch of guys driving fast cars.”

Speedway Motorsports also is investing in social media, Web applications and wireless technology to attract those younger fans.

In Las Vegas, speedway officials are unveiling a social media hub that will let racing luminaries fire off real-time comments and quips, and fans can watch the feeds on large screens at the Neon Garage.

Speedway Motorsports managers also are working with local lodging owners to lower prices and drop minimum stays and transportation agencies to shorten travel times, Smith said in the company’s quarterly earnings report, issued Wednesday.