T VD,
And Scott, also, I have been enjoying your most civil argument/discussion and would like to throw in a couple of points.
I visited the local NASCAR Thunder store in my city last weekend and was surprised by two things, one pro, and one con, concerning ACTN.
The pro, also a pro to NASCAR, is that there were a LOT of little kids in the store oogling and in awe of all of the doodads on sale, and telling their parents what they wanted for Christmas, their birthdays, etc.
I mean, they were really excited to be there and to see all of their favorite driver's merchandise.
In my opinion, this speaks volumes about the future of the sport. When I was young, I followed NASCAR, because I was interested in cars,in particular fast cars, (Fireball Roberts was my favorite driver, so I have been following a pretty good while) but most of my friends were into sports, and were fans of the big names at the time. Now, however, you see more and more people following NASCAR. Whether or not the TV viewership is waning, there is still a tremendous amount of interest in the sport.
Now for the con. There were a lot of competitor's merchandise on the racks and shelves. In other word's ACTN might have locks on certain drivers, but they certainly don't have a monopoly.
I am currently neutral on the company, but have been watching it since I read a report in one of the financial magazines, Smart Money, I think. So far it has been a disappointment.
Have fun,
Phil |
