DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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Streaming services like DIRTVision, FloRacing, continue to change the landscape of dirt racing | Daily 4-6-2022
Coming up we go deep on the dirt racing streaming services in response to some recent comments and questions. Let's go!
Today is Wednesday, April 6th, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.
In recent weeks I've had a few comments and questions about the dirt racing streaming services, so I figured we could address some of those today. Two specifically came from Steve and MS Dirt Fan. The business of dirt racing is something that is super interesting to me, as I'm a nerd like that, and I spent a lot of time working on DIRTVision when I worked at World Racing Group. I was around for a lot of the different iterations of DIRTVision, including when we added the free vault section and when things moved from pay per view to subscription based. I built all of the code to handle the added features. Nowadays, Chris Owens has transitioned into that role, and Brian Dunlap and his DIRTVision squad have continued to evolve the service and make things better. So I feel like I have a decent grasp of the technology, the promotion, and just generally how things work with the streamers. I was even around for the beginning of FloRacing, when they did a deal to stream the Super DIRTcar Series, and we did a lot to help bring them up to speed at a time when they didn't have anyone in house who really understood the sport of dirt racing. Obviously things are very different today with Michael Rigsby at the helm. At this point, DIRTVision and FloRacing lead the way, with a bunch of smaller, niche streaming services making up the rest of the landscape. DIRTVision is owned by World Racing Group, and they aren't going anywhere as the official service of the various series owned by WRG, like the Outlaws. Along the way they've also made deals with several marquee tracks like Knoxville, Williams Grove, Huset's, Jackson and even expanded down under to Perth Motorplex. FloRacing is a sub-brand of the larger FloSports universe, but I think is actually one of the top properties now under that brand. Flo is a venture backed business that was started in 2006 to cover college sports, but has since expanded into all sorts of other verticals including combat sports, bowling, rodeo, rugby, and a bunch more. Mark Floreani, who was part of the three man founding team is still the CEO today. Unlike most of the rest of the dirt racing streamers, Flo has a ton of capital at their disposal, having raised something like $75 million through series A, B, and C rounds of funding. That money isn't all behind FloRacing, but those resources have allowed the service to acquire Speed Shift and Dirt on Dirt, and make deals with series like USAC, the All Stars, and now even NASCAR. Whereas we know that DIRTVision is a cornerstone of World Racing Group as a whole and isn't going anywhere, the future of FloRacing and FloSports as a whole is definitely something to watch for. The investors that have put all that cash into the company will want an exit at some point, and that usually means one of two things. Flo will either get acquired by another media entity, or they will go public. Only time will really tell where they eventually end up going.
In the meantime, as we've talked about regularly, streaming has pumped a bunch of money into the ecosystem of dirt racing, and has allowed for stability at companies like World Racing Group, and added purse and points and bonus money for racers around the country. A big reason why XR is able to do what they are doing on the late model side is because they own their own streaming service. But this proliferation of streaming has led a lot of race fans to need to start making some tough choices about the way they consume the sport. Like we've seen across the board in entertainment, the unbundling and cord cutting that was originally supposed to help us save money from the expensive cable companies, has now probably reached the point where we are actually paying more than we used to. When you start talking about subscriptions for DIRTVision, Flo, MAVTV Plus, XR, RacinDirt, plus pay per view broadcasts through Speed Sport and the myriad of services that use their platforms, things can get expensive very quickly. I currently have active subscriptions from several providers, and if you wanted a year of DIRTVision, a year of Flo, and a year of MAVTV Plus, you're going to spend about $550. On a monthly average, that's about $45, but none of those are actually monthly plans. I do the pay up front deals, so that $550 all comes out at once. That's a tough ask for a lot of people. If you go monthly with things like XR or even the DIRTVision monthly, it gets even more pricey. That's the tough thing when people ask which service they should get. The big players aren't really interchangeable. The question is really which races and series do you want, because each offers different things. I do think over time you'll continue to see prices come down a bit, and for their to be some consolidation, but Flo and DV aren't going to be interested in every track and series and race, because some just won't make enough money to be worth adding. And because of that, some of the smaller providers will continue to exist on some level. And along with that, we've even seen some tracks start their own services, because they want to control everything. Smoky Mountain Speedway is one example we've talked about this year, and Lernerville does their own through the Speed Sport platform. This obviously means they get to decide pricing and which events to show, and they also get the cash flow. But in an ever more competitive landscape, can they convince enough people to pay on a per race basis to make it work. I think that's a big question. Especially for much smaller local and regional racing. It's easy to see a bunch of people tuning into a World of Outlaws or Lucas show, but when you've got a local program consisting of six divisions of local, hobbyist racers, are people going to pay to watch that online? Color me really skeptical. So more options then ever good, more money in the system good, but lots of choices is a double edged sword, and the costs will eventually push out a lot of consumers.
There are also other negatives with the services, including the fight for control over certain events. And what I mean by this, is when we have series race together on one night that have deals with competing companies. The USAC and World of Outlaws stuff at Eldora is one example. Same with the DIRTcar and All Star stuff at DIRTcar Nationals. And another time we'll see this coming up is when the World of Outlaws late models go to Wisconsin in May. They share that weekend with the USMTS modifieds, and RacinDirt has already tweeted that they will be switching back and forth, because a deal couldn't be worked out to show both sets of racing on both services. The services don't want to budge on their ownership rights, which they are certainly entitled too, but in the end the fans really end up losing. I would have thought after a year or two of pressure and complaining from the fans that the services would find a way to handle these situations better, but so far we've had no movement. The sides stay dug in on their positions.
As a whole though, I think the expansion of streaming has been a net positive for dirt racing. The money is obviously good, as is the opportunity for fans to watch more racing then ever before. As fans of dirt, we don't want to be limited in what we watch, and if we can't get to the track, we should have the option to watch what we want, when we want. It's allowed fans to learn about new tracks and drivers, discover new series and car types, and make the big events even bigger. All of that is good for the future of the sport. There is still a lot of antiquated thinking out there about the effects of streaming on ticket sales, and I think for a lot of the smaller streamers, they need to realize the value of the video they capture and do a better job of promoting the racing. I would also like to see show quality expand across the board with better cameras and stream quality, better audio, and expanded content around the actual on track product. I think we still have a long way to go in that area of these services. So hopefully all of this answers some of your questions and gives you a better idea about the full picture of dirt racing and the streaming platforms. If you have other questions about streaming, or just dirt racing questions in general, feel free to drop them in the comments, email, or DMs.
Over to a news item I wanted to mention today, the first points paying weekend for the All Stars has been postponed. They were supposed to be at Attica on Friday and Saturday, but wet weather is pushing the racing back a week to April 15th and 16th. Obviously not what we wanted, but hopefully the weather will start playing nice and at least the event was postponed and not cancelled. For more on the All Star schedule, visit allstarsprint.com.
Just this morning I dropped a fresh conversations episode, this one featuring NASCAR crew chief Jeremy Bullins. Jeremy won the Daytona 500 this year with Austin Cindric and has been a fixture at Team Penske for several years, but I wanted to know about his upcoming deal to field Tyler Courtney in his dirt late model at Eldora. Sunshine will take on the FloRacing Night in America show next week before attempting the Million in June. When he's not busy atop a NASCAR pit box, Jeremy dabbles with late models and currently has both a crate car and a super. He's had some notable names drive for him in the past, including Chris Ferguson and Devin Moran. We get into all of that in the episode, so check it out on the YouTube channel or where you get podcasts.
If you are looking for other dirt racing podcasts this week, Ohio Dirt has Nate Dussel, Passing Points has Whit Gastineau, Forward Bite has John Ruggiero Jr and Dale McDowell, and there are new episodes of Open Red, the Dirt Reporters, and the Dirt Nerds. To see the full list of shows and episodes, hit up dirtrackr.com/podcasts. If you have your own dirt racing show, drop me a message. I'd like to keep that page as updated as possible, and it seems like we've had a few shows go dark. So shoot me an email or DM with your show information and we'll get it added to dirtrackr.com.
There are two shows on the streaming schedule for today. DIRTVision has micros and legends cars from Millbridge, and there is FloRacing 24/7. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
That's it for the show today, have a good Wednesday. If you have thoughts about the topics on today's show, leave them in the comments below or tweet at me.
Thanks everybody for tuning in, I'll see you tomorrow for more DIRTRACKR Daily!