Can a Dirt Track Benefit from Streaming on YouTube?

An interesting comment to one of my posts the other day had me go down a wormhole of how YouTube works and how a channel makes money from their videos. It got me thinking…could a dirt track stream their weekly racing on YouTube and make it profitable? The short answer is, probably not. Most dirt tracks do not have the resources needed to produce a good stream and manage a successful YouTube channel. There is a risk factor involved, as YouTube is extremely popular and streaming live could hurt track attendance.

Theoretically, if a track did have the resources and/or the connections to produce a stream and maintain a channel, they could probably make it worthwhile. A lot goes in to having a successful YouTube page and live streaming races alone would not be enough to generate revenue. A track would have to produce consistent content for the channel and get creative with their page.

While the numbers online vary, the average YouTube video makes $18 per 1,000 views. There are some factors that can change that number, like if the viewer watches a full advertisement or not. In some instances the number can be higher or lower, but if the channel is consistently growing and increasing viewership, the number should rise. Take Ohsweken Speedway for example, a track that does livestream races on YouTube. A quick glance at their page shows that some of their videos have around 20,000 views. That’s around $360 in ad revenue, or maybe 15 general admission tickets at the gate. Not to mention, YouTube is definitely taking some of that $360.

In order to start getting paid from YouTube, a channel has to have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours within the past year. That might be a tall task for an individual starting a channel, but not for an established dirt track with a social media following. It would take a few posts about subscribing to their YouTube to get access to live races to hit 1,000 subscribers. To rack up watch hours quick, they could post highlight videos from the previous season or full race replays if they have access. Another option would be to upload historical races from the track that might have video footage.

Once a track hits 4,000 watch hours and 1,000 subscribers, they will gain access to YouTube’s Partner Program. The program allows you to make money from advertisements. As a video gets more views and more ads are watched, the channel earns more money. Earning potential is not necessarily determined by number of subscribers, but by level of engagement and the audience that the video reaches. Subscribers help by increasing views and engagement, as the more subscribers a channel has, the more likely their content is to be shared around other social media platforms.

This is the part where monetizing a YouTube channel gets expensive and unrealistic for most dirt tracks. In order to build a steady channel with consistent content to go with the live streams, the track would need to hire a full time videographer/editor or both. Having a professional produce solid content consistently would be no cheap bill. It becomes evident that any profit generated from the channel would likely go right into the videographer’s pocket.

If a track already has access to someone with YouTube experience or can somehow manage the cost, the next steps would be to produce unique content during the week. Follow a driver around for a night in the pits and in the car, have different in-car cameras, post individual highlight videos by class, livestream weekly track prep and turn it into an educational video, do short features on drivers, and anything else that adds to the live racing. The goal is to produce consistent, unique content that is generating engagement.

A few other things a track can do are:

• Enable Channel Memberships
• Add merchandise to their channel
• Allow subscribers to donate during live races
• Sell local ad reads during the breaks in the action
• Sell ads to be placed somewhere on the stream

Channel membership allows users to pay a monthly fee for extra perks. Those perks could be anything from discounted merchandise to special access to emojis in the chat. The track could parlay a channel membership into discounted tickets to a future race. Adding merchandise to the channel is an easy way to promote it and attract customers to your store.

Allowing subscribers to donate during a live stream is another way to generate revenue. While it is unpredictable, there could be some nights where race fans are feeling generous and appreciative. I have been in some YouTube livestreams where a lot of money was being donated in the chat.

Finally, the track could offer local businesses a chance to advertise on the stream during breaks in the action. It would be a unique way for the business to reach a larger demographic and an easy way for the track to make some money off of the stream.

The truth is, creating a successful YouTube channel is a lot of work and a big investment. If it’s not a big investment financially, it’s a big investment in terms of time and energy. For most dirt tracks, the potential to make it work is there, but the resources to make it happen are not. I don’t know what would be considered a success in terms of revenue, but the risk of losing in-person attendance due to YouTube’s extreme popularity might be too great. A race fan might not know what DirtVision or FloRacing is, but they probably know what YouTube is.