BRASELTON, Ga. (April 28, 2008) -- In an era when television ratings and attendance at many sporting events are showing declines, the American Le Mans Series is moving the needle appreciably.
Attendance at American Le Mans Series' first three rounds is averaging more than 106,000 per race, while television viewers have increased more than 4 ˝ fold. The attendance mark is a 3.2 percent increase over the same period last year. Reported estimated attendances this season are: Sebring 170,000; St. Petersburg 45,000; and Long Beach 105,000. Figures are derived from media reports and other sources. Sunday attendances for the IRL races at St. Petersburg and Long Beach are not taken into account.
Last year, SPEED televised the season's first three races to more than 156,000 viewers per race. This season, two of the ALMS races have been on ABC, while the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring remained on SPEED. The two network telecasts have shown a 37 percent increase over network telecasts last season, while Sebring's viewership increased 14 percent, giving the series an average of more than 710,333 viewers per race for the three telecasts, a 4 1/2 times increase from 2007.
The April 19 Tequila Patrón ALMS race at Long Beach, which was a tape-delayed telecast on ABC, generated an 0.8 ABC rating, the series' highest rated network show since a similar 0.8 CBS rating at Lime Rock, Conn., in 2006.
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04-28-2008, 05:06 PM
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