Agreed. Maybe you're right, maybe not. I truly believe he wants a NY GP because what could possibly be more glamorous than that (except Monaco and a London GP that is)? I'm coming to the Austin GP this year but I honestly don't think it could be anything close to what a NY GP will be. I'm sure the Austin GP is great in the same sense a regular GP is cool, but it is still Austin and not NY. Sorry pal. BTW: I still sense some Austin defensiveness. Get over it. I'm glad there is an Austin GP, nothing wrong with that and it is not really in competition with the NY GP anyway. The NY GP will be in direct competition to Montreal. A hemisphere is "vertical", so Europe/Spa is out of the picture.
Hasn't Bernie floated the idea of a Paris race as well as a London one? Not to mention Moscow. World Capitol venues that would bring Bernie a level of respectability to cement his legacy.
tifosi12, you better look me up when you're in Austin My honest take on the "Bernie wants NYC to happen" idea is simply this : How much is he willing to pay for it? It's easy to say "he wants it" ... he's even said so himself, of course. But does he want it bad enough, to PAY for it? How much does his wallet want it? We all agree that NJ has been delayed due to a lack of funding. Bernie could have written a check last year for $60~80 million (or whatever the amount may be) to finish construction in NJ (for a 2013 race), and even agreed to a "reverse sanctioning fee" where he pays NJ ~$20 million every year to make the race profitable and attractive to investors & banks. Done deal. (and please note, as already discussed, that any sanctioning fee reduction for NJ is also "paying" or "leaving money on the table", since he can no doubt get his full sanctioning fee from other new venues). But of course nothing of the sort happened. So, my take-away is that Bernie doesn't want it that bad ... or else it could be on the calendar this year. In short : what's Bernie's comfort level of cost, to fulfill his desire? Of course, none of us know the answer. But ... we can put some upper bounds on it, by noting that NJ isn't on this year's calendar. BTW : no defensiveness for Austin here! YOU invited the comparison, with the hemisphere comment ... plus, Austin (unlike NJ) is now a REALITY. No need to defend it
... plus (most likely) bring him a full sanctioning fee, year after year "Bernie wants NYC" is meaningless, without a dollar figure attached to the desire.
If only out of habit Bernie's interested in money but at this stage in his career I suspect legacy counts.
+1 Bernie has more millions left than years. A NY GP would be the ultimate legacy. Short of not being able to get a London GP.
so have they worked out a major network TV deal? from what I have been reading the race will still be on the same weekend as the US open, and NBC wants that event on their main network.
I don't think there is a realistic alternate date for this event. In addition the promoter went on live TV during the Montreal GP preview show stating that the race will be in June. So I'm guessing NBC will cave in and air the race on its sports network and the US Open on its main station.
Google Heidi NBC Debacle. They left a Raiders Jets game in the fourth quarter so Heidi could be aired on time. The screaming can still be heard. The golf audience is a bigger and richer demographic than F1.
So what's your point? I said golf will be on their main channel (5 in our town) and F1 on the sports network. No Heidi will bother Bernie there. And even if they cut F1 short (to be able to cover the try outs of synchronized swimming in the Midland Highschool), nobody will scream as it doesn't have a following in the US.
Indeed. Further, didn't the Raiders stage a comeback for the ages? [Something like 3 unanswered TD's?] "We thought it was a blowout"..... Oops! Totally OT, but it does also seem the Raiders are the unwitting masters of getting shafted and thence the rules get changed etc. Cheers, Ian
Good for TV issues here in the states, but what of the Canada-NJ pairing? Perhaps do NJ first? F1: FIA Prevents US Open/New Jersey Date Clash
Outch! There goes my NY reservation. Or does it? Haven't we had 24 hours on the same weekend as a GP? I still can't see how Bernie could come up with a different date. Monaco is fix and the rest are dominos falling into place
What I don't understand is how the organizers start construction without having all the financing in place and a deal done.
Why do I suspect that this is another maneuver in the ongoing Bernie vs. the FIA saga? Don't hang the crepe just yet.
I'm wondering if he is trying to snag a July 4th weekend for the NJ GP. They do the Macy's fireworks on the Hudson in front of the paddock area. Next year the 4th would be a Friday. This would also minimize local law enforcement needs to shut down the area two seperate weekends. They shut river road and BLVD East for the fireworks every year. You have to be down here by early afternoon if you want to get a spot. Most just hang out and picnic in the public open areas or along the riverwalk. The river also is packed with boats to view the fireworks. So if you could host both on the same weekend logistically it would make sense. So maybe Monaco is a lock for Memorial day. British GP swaps with Canada's spot and they do a back to back canada/NJ last week in June and July 4th. Nothing interferes with Le Mans or Golf.
