I think they have yawned since Day 1. This was Tavio's show, to make or break..... This is like Colonel Travis drawing a line in the sand of the Alamo, then tossing the sword at his troops and galloping off into the night!!!! I don't think he told all those investors: "By the way, if the going gets tough leave me a voice mail.." That's not the way you raise venture capitol down here....ask Allen Stanford!
Time will tell!! 2 weeks ago I wouldn't have thought this would be going on. It seemed like it was tracking pretty well!
Only downwind...sales will be slow, in THAT grandstand... "Imagine if you will.....the World's largest can of Glade air freshener" You DID see the local politicos and Union bosses announcing that event?? Thse are going to be the MOST expensive cardboard trash barrels known to mankind, by the time they are full and emptied!
As I said, this is theatre and it's also about Tavio's Exit Strategy..he's only got the one marble to shoot.
What you cavalierly call "theatre" just cost them $25M in up front money... I think your Alamo analogy is more accurate.
Silver lining: loosing upfront money, means it doesn't matter if they apply for the major events trust fund, or the event trust fund. The statutory qualifications for the latter are a lot less stringent. That being said, if they don't reach an agreement soon, Tavo is going to end up with nothing, and Epstein is going to end up with a $250MM dirt track.....
No leaves. Read the deed. He does. It was put up to secure a $250MM loan from Epstein.... I posted a link to the Travis County Site to find it. Can't direct link to it though...... http://deed.co.travis.tx.us/RealEstate/SearchEntry.aspx search 'ahspe' last result at the bottom.....
We'll pave the rest, and make it a BIG car lot!! Imagine Test Drives in the new Mustang!!! Like the Range Rover dealers with the artificial mountians....
Power struggle seems to be exploding. Sure wish these guys would swallow a little pride and work together (Epstein and Helmund). Image Unavailable, Please Login
At what point did it diverge?? There seems to be a lot of agreements "missing" from the public view (as there always is) but Tavo balking at a deal at this point seems disingenious at best. Assuming it's a full partnership and he isn't getting thrown under the bus... It's obvious they should work together..partnerships usually do! They need to hammer out the percentages and get back to paving and selling tickets. This type of conflict will do them no favors..
I could not agree more. From what I've been told from inside source, he was to be handsomely rewarded for his efforts putting the project together but his time was past. So it seems that he is being pushed out and he does not want out. Power struggles generally are not good for one partner. I had been privy to some of the BS going on inside over the past month. This press release to me is another power play to get Tavo to cave in or he has nothing. Of course Epstein has nothing but a track with no marquee event without Tavo's F1 agreement. The agreement between F1 Management for the USGP was with Full Throttle Productions (aka Tavo) not COTA. In an interview at the F1 race over the weekend, Bernie was quoted as saying there was no issues with the construction but issues internally that needed mending. It seems COTA has even tried to get a new agreement without Tavo, and Bernie said no. From what I gather, he is backing Tavo into keeing his position in the partnership. They seemed to have overlooked the fact that Tavo is very tight like family with Bernie or it would not have landed in Austin in the first place.
I can't see the need to force him out entirely?? Bernie's support was to be expected, IMO.... There's a Front Office/Track Operations duality to these events... Newman Haas had ops folks from the Milwaukee Mile and a consultant from the West Coast (Long Beach GP street course) 'doing the track"...and then a Front Office, handling VIP Corporate sales, general sales and catering concerns on the other side. Seems like a pretty natural division of responsibilities to me. Paul Newman sat around and made the ladies swoon. Everyone played to their strengths!!!! One hand washes the other.....
Quite a few reports in the last few days that BE offered Epstein a contract, but Epstein didn't like the terms and didn't sign. Obviously, I have no knowledge of the accuracy of these reports... As for BE backing Tavo, I'm not so sure... consider, Bernie said that he has no concerns over track construction (that supports COTA),... but that Tavo and COTA aren't talking. I'm not sure that's not directed at least as much to Tavo if not more. Tavo may be overplaying his hand. All speculation of course...
As I said a couple days ago: When Bernie calls it the end, then it normally is. Time to change the thread title.
Good point....no idea what Tavo "wanted out of it" in the first place. With risk comes the reward, and ten years is a long time. CART only lasted four of the five years here in Houston, for example. Bernie has worries of his own, when he looks ten years forward from now.....
He didn't say it was over....just that they need to resolve their disagreements. They still have a few weeks. why give up now? They get passed this, and it's going to happen...
