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NASCAR Hall of Fame


cityboi

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I think the intent was the appeal to non-NASCAR buffs. I hope that pans out, as I am not that excited about articles a year from now talking about how much of a bust this was, and we get no where near the projections. Given the perfect storm of events with the NRA convention with Palin, and race week, I have a feeling that a decent percentage of the first annual visitors will be found this month.

This city does have a surprising number of German visitors (I notice a lot of German speakers walking around 4th Ward with tour sheets and news articles have indicated the German connection here). I hope that some of those, who are formula one race fans will check out the NASCAR museum too.

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Ate at the BW3s last night (along with several proud NRA members). The patio space there is HUGE esp. for uptown. Regardless of whether you like BW3s/NASCAR or not I think it will be a great place to people watch in uptown.

Too bad the view right now is of a crappy cinderblock United Way building and an unfinished Park condo.

Once Brevard St gets an upfit...might be a better view...

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  • 1 month later...

I went with my wife to the Hall of Fame yesterday. I will start by saying that I'm not much of a racing fan by any means, so I probably have a pretty objective viewpoint. I was pretty impressed with it. We started off on the first floor (there are 4 floors for visitors to browse) in the Belk theater. They have a 64 foot, curved wide screen theater that shows a ~15 minute video of the history of the sport. Interesting tidbits if you like history in general. After that you go outside the theater and there's a curved ramp (for a lack of better term) that takes you by photos of all previous and current race tracks, along with the original versions (minus a new paint job) of the cars in different eras. Up on the 3rd floor you have the racing simulator. For $5 you can spend about 5 minutes racing in a selected car on any of the racetracks throughout the country. I was actually terrible. Every time I got over 150 mph I had a hard time keeping the car on the track, lol. But it fun anyways, even though I think I got beat by some women pretty handily. On other parts of the 3rd and 4th floors that had some dedicated spots to the current years inductees along with some of their personal memorabilia. You could also do things like using some of the tools they have in the pits. Makes you realize how strong you have to be to do some of the jobs these guys do. Everything was pretty high tech there. They used a lot of "iPad-like" devices for interactive applications on building cars, historical info, etc. It was definitely worth the $19/per ticket we paid. To this causal observer I could see myself going back again sometime. To the hardcore fan, as long as they keep the exhibits fresh I could see many going back. Definitely very family friendly and a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon, especially when it's 90+ degrees outside.

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  • 3 months later...

The HoF continues to struggle badly with attendance. Where before it looked like they might hit half of their year one goal of 800k, it looks like a third of their goal is more likely (225k - or an average of 617 visitors a day). Layoffs are anticipated to keep their budget in line, and they've already been working to cut expenses as their situation became obvious in the summer.

http://www.thatsracin.com/2010/10/13/49274/as-attendence-declines-nascar.html

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The HoF continues to struggle badly with attendance. Where before it looked like they might hit half of their year one goal of 800k, it looks like a third of their goal is more likely (225k - or an average of 617 visitors a day). Layoffs are anticipated to keep their budget in line, and they've already been working to cut expenses as their situation became obvious in the summer.

http://www.thatsracin.com/2010/10/13/49274/as-attendence-declines-nascar.html

I've got a bad feeling that they are really going to have to cut back on the hours of this operation. Which in the end, may benefit it. Hopefully the exhibits don't suffer as a result. One really has to question the viability of it too. I don't care where you put this hall, I think our city leaders and even Nascar really overestimated the popularity of this facility. When Charlotte was awarded it in 2005 or 2006, the sport was really at its peak in popularity. You look at attendance at every race and they are down. Charlotte doesn't draw like it did before. Atlanta just lost one of their races for next year because of sagging attendance. Richmond doesn't come close to selling out anymore and the Brickyard which is popular with the drivers took a huge hit in the last few years (I thought I read recently that attendance is down 40% there). If there's one sport that's really been effected by the recession, it's been Nascar. I know some old school fans have complained that it's not as exciting as it used to be either.

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The recession is an obvious partial culprit in the failure of the HOF to meet expectations, but I really think a bigger problem lies with CRVA and the organizers and there disconnect from realistic expectations for the venue.. They never once (that I am aware of) offered any incentives for people to go see the HOF beyond the fact that it was there and the pricing point of $20/person for entrance was ridiculous from the start.

There has been at least 2 street festivals (one was taste of Charlotte) I attendedt that had a HOF table and yet all they were doing was selling memberships and chances to buy memorial bricks. Where is the marketing idea behind that? I was just floored that you have thousands of people a few blocks from the Hall and it doesn't occur to someone to offer an incentive for people to go see the HOF (i.e one day only half off admission price). They should make it a simple marketing policy that when there is a festival there are discount passes. It's almost a captive audience in the city who are looking for things to do, but at the current pricing - most the HOF wouldn't be among those plans (particularly for a family)

The next this to do is reduce general admission. My suggestion would be an immediate 25% reduction in price and a beefing up of membership benefits to include a free pass or two (currently this is not offered for basic membership which is $75 a person). Another idea is a discounted Charlotte resident membership. If you have proof of residence of living within Charlotte you can purchase either a discounted entrance ($12.50 or a discounted membership of $50).

Also, if the HOF is not going to become a complete failure they need to act proactively and fast in ways to attract the audience who are visiting the city but would not normally be interested in either NASCAR or the HOF. They need to work out a package deal with the other museums in town pronto. i.e. $25 for a weekday pass and $30 for a weekend pass to all the museums HOF; Gantt; Mint; Bechtler; Light Factory; Levine and McColl) and promote the hell out of those passes in ALL the aforementioned locations as well as the Info centers. You might have difficulties getting the Mint involved do to their recent opening though.

Finally, they can't rest on their laurels of just having the Hall here. The audience who was going to be excited about that or even impressed based off of the initial opening has come and gone. It's time to get the story of NASCAR (as is done really well in the HOF itself) told again. Stop just saying something gimmicky about Charlotte and the Hall and start promoting the hell out of the experience of NASCAR. People can fall in love with a story of a sport more easily that they can with a Hall celebrating it,

Just some thoughts.

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The recession is an obvious partial culprit in the failure of the HOF to meet expectations, but I really think a bigger problem lies with CRVA and the organizers and there disconnect from realistic expectations for the venue.. They never once (that I am aware of) offered any incentives for people to go see the HOF beyond the fact that it was there and the pricing point of $20/person for entrance was ridiculous from the start.

Yeah. $20 is way too much money. I much rather spend my money at the epicenter or hooter's than Nascar hall of Fame...

I have zero interest in art yet I went to the modern art museum and plan on going soon again. It was cheap and it was just a spur of the moment type deal...

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They need to work out a package deal with the other museums in town pronto.

I'm really surprised that Charlotte doesn't have something like a CityPASS. It's a great deal and at least in my experience in using them, you really make an effort to visit everything that's included. That still wouldn't make the Nascar HOF that interesting to me (I'm just not into watching a few cars go around in circles for hours), but it wouldn't hurt attendance and I'd bet that it would only help the financials.

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I'm really surprised that Charlotte doesn't have something like a CityPASS. It's a great deal and at least in my experience in using them, you really make an effort to visit everything that's included. That still wouldn't make the Nascar HOF that interesting to me (I'm just not into watching a few cars go around in circles for hours), but it wouldn't hurt attendance and I'd bet that it would only help the financials.

I don't really have any interest in watching cars go in circles for hours either - never been to a NASCAR race before. But I did go to the HOF a couple weeks ago and I thought it was a great way to spend a couple hours. I think they could have used some more interactive exhibits - the ones that they had were great, but there should be more. I thought it was worth $20, though, even as a non-fan. You get a plastic card with an RFID chip in it (that you get to keep) which acts as your ticket to get in. You can then register yourself at one of the many kiosks and then you use your card everywhere in the HOF to view/interact with exhibits. Even as a non-NASCAR fan, it was a fun afternoon.

I do think that a CityPASS would be a great idea. The day that we went, we first started at the Bechtler, and then went to the NASCAR HOF. We plan on having my folks in town again for another museum day soon once again, when we will check out the new Mint, Discovery Place, and the Levine Museum of the New South. And I think other people would do the same - have a "museum day" where they visit a few different spots throughout the day.

Regarding the $20 price, I always think about visiting other cities where they charge $16-$25 for an elevator ride up to an observation deck (Seattle, Boston come to mind). So, $20 doesn't seem too outrageous to me for something that you're like to spend 2 hours in as a non-fan, or probably much more than that as a real NASCAR fan.

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  • 3 weeks later...

There are a number of articles hat came out following the CRVA report on the HOF numbers. What amazes me is that the CRVA is planning to do some local marketing to the greater Charlotte area (which I agree with) yet aren't yet considering changing the prices for admission. Seems like throwing more money at the problem instead of addressing a key obstacle for the majority of people - the $20/admission.

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  • 2 months later...

Also...if you have a BofA Credit or Debit card then you get free admission on the first full weekend of every month...to Nascar Hall of Fame, Bechtler, Levine, and Mint.

I had no idea about that. That's good to know. It should apply to a good portion of Charlotte :)

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True to my word, when the opportunity was presented, I went to experience the NASCAR Hall of Fame. In a nutshell, my review is "I'm sure NASCAR fans will enjoy it." My full review is biased by the fact that I'm an architect. I was deeply irritated by some of the poor space planning and circulation choices, not to mention some details like door hardware and signage. Generally stuff that less anal people will probably never notice.

I enjoyed the 3rd and 4th floor galleries. There was a very "full" feeling to them - always something interesting to look at no matter which way you're looking. As a non-NASCAR fan, it was striking to me that the set up and behind-the-scenes of the event is way more interesting than the event itself.

I was a little underwhelmed by the film on the first floor in the Belk-somethingorother-Theater (kudos, Belk, I remember the sponsor but not the actual theater name). It's a 12 minute NASCAR-introduction film, and I was really kind of wishing it was longer. They're able to make some use of the extreme cinematic setting, but I was really left wanting a little bit more.

My biggest letdown was the Great Hall. It's worth noting that most visitors would probably say this was their favorite part. For me, it was just a crammed pathway with cars. Showing off the slope of various tracks was nifty, though. The letdown is primarily in the fact that it's such a huge space with so little going on. (FWIW I have the same criticism of the Bechtler and Mint atriums. Just because a space is big does not make it good or grand.)

At the end of the day, I would expect NASCAR fans (and car fans in general) to really enjoy this museum. Would they enjoy it for $20? That I don't know. All I know is that I'm glad I didn't spend $20 to see it, but I'm not the target audience.

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I think the free days (hours) are a huge mistake and a symptom of wha is wrong with the CRVA running this.

Aren't they running a deficit? Aren't most people complaining about the prices? Wouldn't a better solution have been a week of 1/2 priced admission (and thus ca-ching) for the curious who were disillusioned by the $20/entry versus a freebie entrance and no money (and as exemplified by tovmervo's visit less likely to ever visit again?

Frankly I think CRVA needs to go back to what they do best - promoting the city and leave the running of facilities to those who have real understanding of sales and marketing of museums and arenas

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I would presume CRVA has done some math and decided that they make more money on "add on purchases" such as food items and souveniers ton a per visitor basis than the actual admissions, or it is extremely close, and therefore, charging no admission and increasing the volume significantly could result in a short term financial benefit, plus generate word of mouth advertising, etc etc etc.

Of course, that assumes there are business minds running it. Urbanity may be right, and this is really just an expensive marketing program that does nothing except eliminate future revenue by satisfying that demand for free.

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I would presume CRVA has done some math and decided that they make more money on "add on purchases" such as food items and souveniers ton a per visitor basis than the actual admissions, or it is extremely close, and therefore, charging no admission and increasing the volume significantly could result in a short term financial benefit, plus generate word of mouth advertising, etc etc etc.

Of course, that assumes there are business minds running it. Urbanity may be right, and this is really just an expensive marketing program that does nothing except eliminate future revenue by satisfying that demand for free.

My strong impression is that they're counting on generating some good word of mouth advertising and will get people to return and pay admission to do the "premium" attractions like the simulator, etc. The concession stand by the theater wasn't even open when I was there.

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