I think this guys article misses several issues.
First while there will be a hit after Force leaves, I don't see him walking away entirely. As someone else said the bigger issue is what happens when Schumacher, Kalitta or Force(the owner) walk away. Still this is always a common question across all sports. They NBA was worried about the post Magic/Bird era, then the post Jordan era. How would the NFL survive without Montana or Manning or whoever. Elliot, Earnhardt, Palmer, Gretzky, Garlits the list goes on and on from sport to sport. Sure Force has pull at the gate for the casual fan, although I question how strong it is now compared to 10 years ago, but if your sport is wrapped around one person then it is already doomed.
People getting up during sportsman racing is part of the deal. If the track is non-stop action then when do people go buy food, when do they browse the midway and get up close with various sponsors and their products? That is part of the "sell" to a sponsor, they know that they will get people past their booth. If there is never a lull then how does the NHRA sell that space? Going to complete off-time/half time/down time or whatever you want to call it would be bad as well. 45-60 minute down time, 3 times a day would kill. Who would wait out that time to watch a final round with 3-4 passes and how would that stands look on TV and to the sponsors. You would chase people out early which again means less money for concessions, less eyes on sponsors and such.
Admittedly, I am one of the people that sits in the stands to watch sportsman. Yes I do have friends in the class but it's also just good racing. Except throttle stops, they should be banned
Pinks all out showed that there is passion and market for these types of cars. They were filling race tracks to see 8-11 second cars.
I would like to see a restructure of the sportsman classes into 1 or 2 ET classes. Pick your dial and run. I was at a race this summer and there was this 16 second car out there that kept going rounds. People were going nuts watching 8 and 9 second cars trying to chase it down. It was great and every round there were more and more people in the stands to see the growing fan favorite. While I would personally love to see a top dragster try running me down in my daily driver I race I realize that might be overkill. So a 9.99 and below class and a 10 and above class. It lowers the cost for sportsman as they don't have to buy the newest go fast parts, they just need to be consistent. It makes for some fun matchups and good racing.
He does mention price, which is a big issue. Yes we can point out $60 for a days worth of entertainment is a good deal per hour. But to bring the family you are still shelling out big bucks to get in, plus food, travel and anything else. At the end of the day, the family budget isn't showing X dollars per hour of entertainment, it is showing $400(or whatever). Brining that cost down is what will bring new fans in. Taking away the sportsman means less money coming in, the NHRA would have to raise ticket prices to cover that gap then.