Often dirt tracks wonder how they can improve their engagement with their fans. Often fans have limited knowledge of those who are actually racing. For one reason or another both parties seem to struggle with engagement to a deeper level than just providing a race to their fans in the stands and for the fans just picking a driver to cheer for and buying their t-shirts. Sure, there are limited engagements such as trophy kids or draw contests but it just feels so repetitive. While these forms of engagement are useful, they do limit the potential that is there for fan engagement and interest.
Enter, the latest intrigue of sports fan involvement...fantasy sports. Fantasy sports is one of the easiest ways of drawing interest from fans. Need proof? Look at fantasy football. From pick em's to actual fantasy football leagues, the sport of football greatly benefits from the national exposure that is received from it. It doesn't just stop at football either as other sports such as baseball, hockey, and basketball have benefited from fantasy sports as well. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that fantasy sports have begun to make their way into racing. NASCAR has it on national level and other series has individual forms of fantasy sports as well. More importantly, dirt track racing has stepped into the fantasy sports world as well.
What this gives race tracks is an easy tool to help draw fans to the track. The tracks that engage this marketing tool allow their fans to continue a long standing tradition of picking drivers but it also exposes the fans to more drivers for each class. It gives the fans something to be more invested in rather than just two or three cars a night, which for drivers is a good thing. The more a greater number of drivers can be appreciated over a period of time the stronger the fan base will become and that will lead to better turnouts for the tracks. It also allows for tracks a rather inexpensive way to engage their fans and to help create a positive and healthy buzz around their race programs. Simple aspects such as having the announcer call out the top five fantasy competitors at the intermission gives the fans a bit of recognition and notoriety.
By tracks following up on such simple promotional bits such as fantasy sports, they will create an event inside of an event. Which in today's society where the general populations attention span is short and is constantly needing something to engage them, isn't a bad thing. It also benefits the drivers as a whole as well as it forces the fans to take a deeper look at who is racing and puts more eyes on the drivers who may not be friends, family, or the top echelon in the eyes of the fans. In the end, fantasy sports may not be the end all be all answer to all of dirt track racing's problems but it is certainly a fun and catchy way to engage race fans to the product on the track.
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