Dirt on Dirt

[Mindwalker]

Only thing I read on DoD is the race wire off the master schedule because that part is free.

Welp, there goes that... Lol...

But I agree 

[Tireguy17]

I’ve been a DoD subscriber since the beginning, but this last price hike was enough for me, and I emailed to cancel my renewal coming up this week. Here’s my problem with the price hike every couple years:
1. No PPV discount for yearly subscribers.
2. I don’t/didn’t subscribe to get results from every local and regional race nationwide. I got it for the in-depth coverage of the national racing. So if the price hikes are to expand the coverage of races I don’t necessarily care who won, I’m paying for a product I don’t need.
3. DoD sponsorship. It seems like DoD is sponsoring more things in racing. $500 here, $500 there, and more. I understand that’s marketing and giving back to the sport, but when you continue to raise subscription fees as sponsorship increases. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Their price being $100/yr is finally too rich for me

[powerslide]

I'm going to guess its the increased coverage of the regional shows, he is having to employee more people to cover all those smaller races. Pretty much all i do is watch the videos and i feel i get my money worth.

[zyoung25]

I've been a subscriber basically from from month one, this wont stop me from being a supporter. But if it keeps going up, I dont know how much longer I'll continue to be a supporter of the site.

I'm sure the price hike has to do with them putting more money into the sport somehow or another, which is awesome of course. It just won't be worth it to me to keep supporting it anymore if it keeps going up. I think it has went up 2 or 3 times in the last couple years.

[Dirtfan04]

The way I see it, my cable, satellite radio, cell phone and internet bills are all way more expensive than DOD. It is not even close. However, I probably spend more time on and get more enjoyment from DOD than TV or Sirius. I watch probably 90% of the videos and read just about every article the they post. If I miss one its usually because I just didn't have time to watch it. So to me, even with the price increase it is still by far the best thing going if you are a DLM racing junkie like myself. So I guess it just comes down to a personal decision based on how much you use the site as to whether or not you think the price is worth it.

[cgrace]

I really like DOD, just wish they'd consider different types of subscriptions. For example, I read articles watch PPv but don't watch the videos. Perhaps they could have different packages. but I bet they'd have to revamp the entire site at that point. Overall -- great job!

[slmcrewchief99]

Yes he did LOL......

Need to shorten that left rear chain and get that spoiler closer to the ground. It would have never flipped if he had used the Ray Cook rule. SMDH

[DirtonDirt]

Hey all ... thanks so much for the feedback and I'm happy to respond.

Obviously NO COMPANY wants to raise prices. Ever. It's not something anyone wants to do. So it's not a decision we take lightly, and really contemplate before we do it.

To answer the questions in this thread regarding the "why" ... it's pretty simple. As was stated by many people, the amount of people we now have covering races, (ESPECIALLY regional content now, and growing national content like including interviews from the TOP TEN many places) ... is growing each and every year. And will continue to grow this year. It is more expensive than ever to put someone on the road, pay their salary, expenses, insurance, etc. etc. Costs just keep rising.

When we make a price increase, it goes right back into hiring folks and providing for other aspects of racing. As someone else mentioned, we have REALLY engaged in sponsorships not just on the national tours, but regional tours as well. We spend thousands to give back to the sport that's made us what we are, and that's really important to us.

For the amount of the raise, obviously everyone is on a budget, and we appreciate that ... which is why we kept it delicate. $1.00/month for monthly folks, and $0.83/month for yearly folks. It all counts ... I get that, but we felt that was minimal. 1 buck or 83 cents/month we thought was "acceptable". Or as close to it as we could get.

And I can CONFIDENTLY TELL YOU ... that unless something drastic happens ... this is our final price raise for quite some time. Of course something could happen where we include several LIVE races in a subscription, and we'd perhaps bump it then, but as it stands, it will be a LONG time before any price raise is even considered again. Again, unless something DRASTIC happens, there are no price raises on the horizon for DirtonDirt.com. (Again the only "other option" on that would be if we changed our pricing models to include PPV's which isn't feasible for us right now. See below.)

Regarding including PPV's in the subscription cost. We are exploring the idea of giving some to subscribers this year, but there's a major reason we don't. We share revenue with the racetrack EVERY SINGLE TIME we do a LIVE PPV ... and we can't include that in our subscription cost, or there is no revenue being generated for that specific event with the track. Those relationships are REALLY important to us, and that's why we handle them in that fashion. But keep an eye on 2018 as a year you may have one included in your subscription cost!

Which is also why we don't offer "other packages/subscriptions". There's the DoD subscription, and then every time we go LIVE we're in a partnership with the track, so those costs have to be kept separate, and worked out with the track.

And regarding discounts for subscribers on PPV's. EVERY multi-day PPV ... there is a subscriber discount, aside from Eldora and Gateway. So virtually all of them we try to take care of our subscribers. For instance the upcoming Wild West Shootout if your'e a subscriber you get $10 off the whole package!

A few notes on some of the responses. For the person wanting us to interview more drivers, etc. this time of year. I'd steer you to our PRI coverage. Over FORTY drivers were interviewed in two days alone, and our DirtWire page has been on fire the entire "offseason" with driver interviews, etc. We are definitely not lacking in the content department. Throw in Late Model LIVE, and we have mountains of driver interviews/content.

For person talking frequency of price raise. Last one was 2016 ... so it's been nearly two years.

In closing ... it's basically a dollars and cents thing. if you've been with us since the beginning, you know the MOUNTAIN of more content we've added, and continue to add each year. That comes at a cost, and we do our best to be fair to the subscribers, while covering the rising costs.

I'm just like you ... I'm a fan, and I know you have a choice. All I can promise you is ... we'll leave it all on the field for you. I think about our subscribers EVERY SINGLE DAY. I want the value to be there, and will fight for you ... for it.

Hope you understand where we're coming from, and thanks so much for your time.

Michael Rigsby
DirtonDirt.com

[smith19]

crewchief99....lol

[Krooser]

OR you can send me a $1 a day for a greater cause, I'll put half of it towards kroose and Blackie chassis building program they just getting off the ground lol.

You're a good man no matter what I hear on 4m!

But take it easy on Mastersbilt Racer... he's our chassis engineer!

[Krooser]

It's good to hear from the horses mouth so to speak...that's twice this week we've heard from the people we have discussed here...Dunn Benson now DoD... I'd like to hear more from the folks who are the subject of our praise and, sometimes, ridicule.

When I say I can't afford it it really means I have better uses for my racing budget. Some of you know I'm redoing an old MB chassis to race at my weekly track. Believe me that $90.00 will be spent... I can buy 4 used Hoosiers with that cash. I just spent $100.00 on carb rebuild parts, a set of telescoping gauges for my engine build and a part I need to build a new valve spring compressor. Or it will buy me almost four pit passes.

Two things I can recommend to Mr. Rigsby... allow a NEW prospective customer to have a 14 day free trial to see what they are missing. My ex-gf offered that to me and I stuck around for two years paying a heck of a lot more than $10.00 per month for a lot less satisfaction than DoD can provide.

And I'd just like to ask what percentage of the average (not rabid just average) race fan knows about DoD? I never heard of it until I found this joint by accident trolling the inter web. And I've been a dirt racing fan since the 60's.

Easy for me to say but I think some local track promotions might generate a bunch more folks to discover the product and sign up. Give a bunch of local drivers a free six month subscription in exchange for a big DoD decal on their car. Give them a cheap subscription if they carry a decal and mention/thank DoD for sponsoring them. Sponsor a heat race at some local tracks and make sure they pump your product.

Maybe go out and hand out flyers and decals in the grandstands every week at different tracks. Maybe more subscribers could keep profits up and costs down.

I used to write for Checkered Flag Racing News during the 80's. I wrote and shot photos in exchange for a free pit pass and, maybe, a ticket to the company Christmas party. And now I find out these guys are now getting paid... what a country!!!!

[kidrock]

The way I see it, my cable, satellite radio, cell phone and internet bills are all way more expensive than DOD. It is not even close. However, I probably spend more time on and get more enjoyment from DOD than TV or Sirius. I watch probably 90% of the videos and read just about every article the they post. If I miss one its usually because I just didn't have time to watch it. So to me, even with the price increase it is still by far the best thing going if you are a DLM racing junkie like myself. So I guess it just comes down to a personal decision based on how much you use the site as to whether or not you think the price is worth it.

I have to agree with a lot of what you said here and that will be how I come to a decision on whether I renew my subscription. It's only around .28 cents a day so, when I look at it like that it's really not that much for all you get but, I found my self last year not watching as much as I have in the past because of being so busy with work.

[turnleftandgasit]

Based off the number of drunks I see at tracks, many of you could afford lots of things if you just put the bottle down.

[SFrancisFan15]

Based off the number of drunks I see at tracks, many of you could afford lots of things if you just put the bottle down.

I agree with that 100%. I watch every single video and read all articles and I feel it's all worth the price. Been a member since the beginning and have no plans on canceling.

[regis78]

best $100 doliars sent thanks dirtondirt