From Joe Saward: Thoughts en route to Texas by Joe Saward As we head off to Austin in a couple of days, there are quiet rumours cooking over in Texas that the promoters of the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas are struggling to make the event pay and want to make some changes in the future. The word is that Texan free enterprise and the Formula One group seem to have a potato/potahto, tomato/tomahto kind of problem and are beginning to head either to High Noon on Main Street or towards Gerschwin's celebrated chorus: "Let's call the whole thing off". Now, Austin is charming and is, if nothing else, a race in the United States, but it is not New York nor Los Angeles and F1s penetration into the US markets is still minimal as a result. This makes no sense because F1 is a consumer business and the United States is the world's largest consumer market (by a million miles - and will remain so for at least another generation, no matter how hard the Chinese work). Thus if F1 is to fulfil its potential it should be making major efforts to get into the United States. This talk of a race in Las Vegas does not appear to have any substance at all (in the finest traditions of Vegas smoke and mirrors), but serious projects in California and New Jersey have fallen by the wayside because F1 will not compromise on money. F1 compromises to be in Monte Carlo, why cannot it do the same in other places? Many big international corporations alter their approach in different markets, in order to achieve the best possible results. At the same time we are going to Austin with two assets that might help growth in the US market and there is no definite sign that either one will be used. Alexander Rossi is the only American driver within realistic range of F1 and yet getting into a race seat has proven to be difficult because there is no money to support him. If he is again left out in Austin because someone else came along with cash, it would not be smart, although one can understand it if Marussia need the money to survive. Surely, it would be wiser for the sport to find some cash from a shoebox under the bed somewhere and got Rossi into a car. This would get the US fans excited. If there is a US driver more people will watch... etc etc etc. The same is true of Simona de Silvestro. She has enormous potential for the sport, not simply because she is a women who can (perhaps) race competitively and not be merely a token presence, but also because she is already a known quantity in the US, with a proven record in IndyCar, including a second place finish on a street circuit (which is a pretty good recommendation). As we have seen with Danica Patrick, the popularity of a racing series can go through the roof if there is a woman racing. It adds massive interest in the sport. The two youngsters are assets that could go to waste and while there is an argument that F1 drivers have to make things happen for themselves, there is also logic in the argument that wasting assets is simply not very sensible. I dont always agree with him, but I think he's right. the cost of doing F-1 seems to be way out of line for any form of ROI to the organizer. I know We love F-1 but most Americans dont know it exists ... that being said - Austin gets over 200,000 fans on the weekend - pretty good attendence if you ask me do there is an F-1 American audience but just not as large in Europe or Asia. SO if not in Austin - where?
I hope it is Austin's year. But I fear that it's not. Nobody I know personally "In Real Life" is talking about going. Usually by now I have had three or four groups of friends asking me what my F1 plans are. This year, silence. Which I didn't even notice myself until this afternoon. Maybe I need to shower or maybe I stopped being considered for joining those groups of attendees after doing my own thing for a couple of years. Or maybe far fewer "local" (Texas) people care in general. Which, as pointed out in the original post, doesnt mean the event is doomed. But it is under huge scrutiny by the taxpayers footing the bill due to election season mudslinging, and if attendance drops a bunch due to "Locals" losing interest, you might get an answer to your question "if not Austin, where?" sooner than expected.
Why is the US public so obsessed in watching US drivers competing? Nationality is irrelevant, talent is.
I truly hope it does well, but like you I do not know anyone that is going this year. I have attend 23 Formula 1 races, but I cannot justify spending the hard earned money to attend in person for this generation of racing. I am sorry to say that the sound and fuel saving strategies (recently critical at Russia) have removed the allure of actually seeing the races in person. I still watch every race, but my enthusiasm is at the lowest it has been since I started following Formula 1 in 1974.
Tom...Starting to take a shine to Joe Saward. Not familiar with him until the LV-F1 thread, and am unsure how accurate his info is, but he is entertaining! Does anyone know what a typical audience is for an F1 event? How does the 200K estimate for COTA compare to other places? So, could it be that F1 need not negotiate on price to get into a market, because there are no shortage of customers willing to pay Ecclestone's standard fee? Andnew venues willing to replace any that get out of line? I am not sure it is an obsession to see home grown talent, as baseball & NBA have substantial international talent. Of course, as much as it pains me to say it, NFL is the most popular sport in US, and has little overseas talent, apart from kickers & punters, maybe 'cause we don't have enough soccer playing Americans! So, William may have a good point there. As has been discussed in the F1-in-LV thread, a major issue I see w/ Austin is that it is not easy for many on the east/west coasts of US to get to & although it is becoming trendier & trendier due to an influx of people moving there, Austin is for the foreseeable future not going to be on a par with SF, LA, LV or NYC in terms of things to do (and therefore ways to separate people from their money) before/after the race. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but COTA got state funds to help lure/keep/entice F1 (Trouble at COTA? Texas newspaper claims $250 million in state funds may be in jeopardy | News | Motorsport.com). If so, I think most states/cities in the US are going to be less reluctant to use public $$ to lure such a sporting event, esp. one that is, let's face it, not among the most popular sports in America. So, it seems that some other No. Am. location is going to need a benefactor - corporation, casino, private, etc. - with very deep pockets to put up the cash to bring F1 to town, in the hopes that the event will generate revenue above and beyond what a typical week in that town might provide. If the Super Bowl proves anything, people in the US will put up with a disrupting sporting event if (a) the locals consider it of interest, (b) local biz can make a profit and/or (c) they think the event will show their city off in a positive light.
Do you think the BBC represents the view of the British public? Watching GPs on TV, I often have to suffer a commentary I do not agree with. Having said that, Hamilton is a regular title contender and a previous WDC as well, so I cannot see how he could be ignored; he is always in the fight. Even as a Brit, I would prefer Rosberg to be WDC rather than Hamilton.
If true, COTA's gripe is probably based on the Mexican GP. At only 900 miles away, it's closer than a race on either coast (or Vegas, for that matter). Plus COTA's business model (down to the name) was all about being able to attract fans from Mexico. COTA's leverage? Probably not much. But the addition of the Haas team might be part of it. If F1 is even pretending to care about the US market, the idea that they might have a US team and no race in the USA seems ridiculous. The taxpayer subsidy is not in any danger. The current establishment candidates for Governor and Comptroller are hugely ahead in the polls; the only reason the subsidies made news recently is because of the political race. But they didn't have any effect with the voters. Problem is, with the annual escalator in the F1 contract, a subsidy that could support the race in year 1 isn't enough to support it in year 4 or 5. It has to make money some other way.
200k people coming to Cota is great. Viewership of the on NBCSN is about 400k per race and 1.5 million for the NBC races. This is a star driven sport like basketball and needs more marketing of its stars to americans.
Here are the veiwership numbers. NBC Sports Group?s Formula One Coverage Sets Numerous Viewers Milestones - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers.Zap2it.com
Attendance at a race is important, but doesn't most of the money come from TV here in the 21st Century?
It probably does. Attendance is poor in some Far-East country, but TV viewing still strong for the GPs held there.
I don't think they are. I think its more of a talking point than an actual gripe. Not many I know got behind Scott Speed and for all the pissing and moaning he really was no better nor worse than his competitors then at the back of the grid. Then Vettel showed up..
Thanx, Trevor; interesting numbers. Other things it has going for it - it is a GREAT track, and we found ingress and egress to be about 30 min. for the inaugural race.
Not the specific monies that the race promoter counts to pay Bernie his $25mm race fee. In Austin, that money is paid by a special fund set up by the state of Texas to lure events that will have positive economic impact. As much as I hate to believe it, the reality is that if the 2014 race suffers in attendance and local hotel and restaurant reciepts are significantly lower than last year, that special state fund money will evaporate and Bernie will sell the 2015 date to another venue.
if austin fails it will not be because austin isnt a great town. There is so much to do there not involving racing. The city is a boontown. Food is awesome. Very unique flavors and flare like no where else in the world. Its texas...liberal texas but texas none the less. The track is phenomenal. I have raced on it. The facility is world class. Cota management will be the undoing of cota. Much has been written and it has not been favorable. Access to the track is simple by air and by car.
The F1 product is simply no longer compelling. The cars have been neutered (and are horrific to look at), the rules are becoming contrived and artificial, and thanks to the testing/development bans the season was more or less over the instant the Silver Arrows hit the track in Australia. No competition + no spectacle = no compelling reason to go. FWIW, I don't give a hoot what flag the teams fly. The sport has been made boring and no US driver or team would change that. Americans don't ignore F1 because there are no Americans in it. No, Americans ignore F1 because it's on when we're asleep, watching sports on tape delay is unsatisfying, and it's an already overcrowded market. (We're busy watching live NFL/MLB/College/NBA/Golf/NASCAR/etc. and F1 doesn't compete successfully for our attention.)
Oh, I guess another potential piece of leverage for COTA is the Texas Teacher's Retirement Fund's >$2BN investment in CVC. The TRS fund is one the larger of these funds in the world, second in the US only to the California teacher's retirement fund. And with the board of directors appointed by the Governor, it's at least in part a political slush fund. I keep forgetting about these "macro economic" aspects of F1. It is, in so many ways, tapped into the largest wealth transfer systems in the world -- governments. So although the TX taxpayers shell out $25M per year to F1 as part of the METF, the state of TX expects to get that back (and more) through CVC eventually selling their F1 stake at a new, ridiculously high valuation. And the future owners and investors will do the same. The small percentage of graft and profit on these transactions are enough to make politicians and their cronies very rich as individuals. So the cycle continues. At any rate, look to Christian Sylt for any real news regarding the Austin race. He's been right on so many things regarding F1, he gets it and AFAIK is the only one that does.
Strange, maybe if you met him you'd think differently, I just cannot understand how anyone that is a fan of F1 could dislike any driver so intensely, let alone a brilliant one. And besides even the Aussies on here, like watching the BBC coverage, each to their own, I suppose.
The TV money does not ever get to the promoter - which is the problem. the promoter at an F-1 race only gets to keep 100% of the gate ( ticket sales ) and a portion of food & beverage sales - which are mandated by F-1 ( have to use their approved brands - coke, Redbull, etc... ) all souviners on site and with x miles of the event are 100% licensed and authorized by F-1 ( so no private companies selling non F-1 approved stuff... that is why they all look the same.) there is no promotional activity alowed by F-1 without a fee to FOM. as well FOM owns all rights to all photography used for commercial uses. even your ticket says you cant take pictures for commercial purposes. FOM controls all media access, and the number of photograhers assigned to the event. so from a financial perspective the promotion of the event is a loss leader for the country / geographical area. the hard part is to figure out the real impact $$$ wise on Austin. how much do they actually earn vs. spend to bring F-1 to the USA. amortization on the track alone i would hazard eats up all the ticket sales alone. i think the fee is $25M per race from FOM? or something like that..... hard nut to crack when you can get Nascar for almost nothing.
I still maintain the best way to get F-1 exposure in the USA is for an F-1 team to showcase and sponsor a NASCAR team and or us football team ... get prime exposure all the time. also using Lewis Hamilton becuase of him being black - get him on Oprah, and other high profile talk shows - turn him into a household hero for the Afro American world like Tiger Woods... that is the way to go. he would command huge $$$ and US sponsors... but it will take careful crafting of the story to bring race in to the fold. but think of it what a success story that would sell... plus he's good looking and can be likeable when he tries.
Lol ANY race organizer wants a local driver, it boosts audience up. Likewise when local drivers were out, fans often leave before the race is over. Rossi in Austin is BIG news for the race
Agree 100% with this post, however, regarding NASCAR and COTA, there is a proximity issue with Texas Motor Speedway. I read recently that whatever Indycar is called now cannot race at COTA because TMS has contractually restricted them from racing within 300 miles of TMS. I suspect the same with NASCAR but don't know for sure.
