Alan Pozner <AlanP@identicard.com> wrote:
> OK Reality check time. In motorsports there are very few arenas for true,
> full-time, "professional",
> earn-enough-to-pay-the-bills-buy-a-house-and-send-the-kids-to-college
> drivers. Why? Money of course. Sponsor money. Big Big sponsor money. How
do
> you get sponsor money? TV. Lots of TV. How do you get Lots of TV? Lots
and
> lots of Fans.
Bah, you don't need TV, you need spectators. People in the stands. TV comes
much, much later.
> Now answer this one question and you will KNOW why Solo II will never
truly
> support "Professional" drivers. When was the last time a non-participant
> paid money to see a Solo II event?
When was the last time they were given an opportunity?
If the dragstrips can fill a 25000 seat grandstand to watch 15 second
Civics at an NIRA or IDRC race, then we can fill our stands with spectators
too. It's just that we don't even TRY. We chase them away, with waivers and
wristbands and lack of facilities and zero promotion - and that's
understandable, given the volenteer context in which we run our events.
But I'll tell you this - had the outside of the course at Harrisburg been
lined with portable softball stands, had there been extra facilities to
accomodate the spectators, and had the whole event had been concieved and
run as a spectator event (with a little promotion) I bet those stands would
have been PACKED.
That's why the creation of "Roger Johnson Motorsports Park" (aka Peru) has
me so excited. With just a little bit of work and a little bit of planning,
that site could be turned into a paying spectator autocross site. It's got
fencing. It's got a gate. It's got room (in spades!) to put stands,
parking, and so on. And it's got an airport authority trying to make money
off a former military base that might be persuaded to help out with site
improvements - like maybe demolishing the old alert building, setting up
outside-the-gate parking lots, and running more fence to keep strays off
the active. It Could Be Done.
It doesn't need to be flashy - ever visit a dirt track?
It requires a mind shift, from "event organizer" to "promoter", and that
probably entails some financial risk, but that is all good.
Naysay all you like, but hey! I've got paying sponsors on the car NOW.
That's with no exposure to speak of, and questionable talent. What would
things be like for us if we had just a _few_ spectators? Just a _little_
promotion? Just a _smidgen_ of media coverage?
Whatever happened to that American enterpenurial spirit y'all are so proud
of?
DG.
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