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Concerning Kevin's response that the way purses will be increased is to get more fans in the seats at local tracks.
I don't know anything about the West Coast tracks and their attendance, but, in the Midwest, where are the tracks supposed to put these additional fans?
When USAC runs at Gas City, you can hardly move the people are packed in so tight. Bloomington is usually at full capacity, as is Kokomo. And then there are the tracks that are not SRO, but don't have much more room to make a substantial difference in the purse (Lawrenceburg, Haubstadt, Winchester, Salem).
As I see it, the only tracks that could handle a much larger crowd are Eldora (which has cut the number of USAC shows in half), Terre Haute and the asphalt tracks like IRP. The crowds at Toledo and Mansfield last year could have been a lot better.
I believe some of these tracks would draw more people if they invested in some expansion. I know fans that won't even consider going to Gas City because of the lack of seating and parking.
Our sport is best displayed on the short bullrings, but, that usually means limited seating capacity. So, what's the answer? If the tracks can't expand, then the admission has to go up. And then you find yourself with WoO-like prices.
Perhaps if the number of events run at the core tracks was doubled/tripled, the track owners would take that as more of an incentive to invest in increased seating (and parking).
Of course, all of this is supposed to happen in today's economy? Hell, my job went to Mexico in December and I still haven't been able to find a new one yet. One night at Volusia, got to talking to the fans around me and four of us had recently been laid off. Gonna be a tough year to try and increase fan turnout.
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