Interesting. To make money this circuit needs MotoGP as much if not more so than F1 to make money long term. Sounds like they will have to have a long talk with Tavo. Tavo does appear to be in the driver's seat according to this.
Of interest, Tilke has a 4% stake in the project now. Tavo gave it to them to cover the nonpayment of their architect fees.....
As someone on the Friends of Formula 1 facebook page opined, this whole drama would have made a GREAT reality show. Too bad they didn't think of that; would have made money for sure. On another note, to get a feel about how Austin handles huge crowds, now is the time. SXSW starts today. I know it's logistically a completely different thing, but it brought in 286,000 people last year. This year it's expected to be even more. Hotels are full, people rent out their homes, and restaurants/clubs are packed, some streets are closed, and buses/train are on extended schedules. http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/article/Record-crowds-expected-in-Austin-for-SXSW-3392767.php http://www.capmetro.org/sxsw2012/
...and given that Tilke owns a share, that's like asking the baker for an opinion on the taste of his pies
Yup. While the project was fully funded... Ben do you have a count of what percentages are claimed? Red has 20% Tavo claims 20% Tilke has 4% Epstein holds what... hard to believe it's not 50.5% So as the new investor's show up, ($200M per report a couple weeks back) who is selling? No way they are buying 4.5%... Seems obvious it's ALL the early players. I would suspect that if the project shut down today,... the top 2 are already well ahead,... even if they have to write Tavo a big check to keep him quiet. This leads to my reason for the post... Does Tilke still own his 4%? And is he trying to unload it? Would be interesting to know if he is required to keep his 4% for a period of time before selling... I would suspect he is...
90MM of their funding is from issuing debt. pics from cota's site! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I know we are not hearing Epstein's side, but from what is been reported, this guy makes Bernie look like a good guy and honest businessman. Seriously. It almost seems like this track may be completed purely out of spite. Or, if Hellmund wins management rights from a court, then it may well be sabotaged out of pure spite. I don't think someone like Epstein plays with his own money, so the investors involved must really be asking him some tough questions right now...
Epstein said he went on "to work for other investment banks and regional dealers that specialized primarily in mortgage-backed securities." Aren't those the institutions that crashed the economy in '08? This is who we have buildin us a race track. Great. old article: http://www.statesman.com/sports/formula1/austin-formula-one-partner-bobby-epstein-low-key-834501.html
http://www.statesman.com/sports/formula1/questions-about-f1-tax-money-could-lead-to-2228648.html?cxtype=rss_news_36716
I got the same email. This is why one can't find a hotel room: they block the dates for these ridiculous packages I would never buy a package like this and not being able to get a hotel because of this is very frustrating. Indy did the same but is big enough to offer other rooms
According to this, Super 8's are $500/night... but as of the article 2/20/12 motel 6 were still reg rates... (see end of linked article for Motel-6...). I'd be surprised if things hadn't changed or M6 hadn't filled up though... http://www.statesman.com/sports/formula1/rates-for-many-hotels-skyrocket-on-f1-weekend-2189084.html
Thank God for Hilton Honor Points. The Point value of rooms not anywhere inflated as the asking $$ rates. Certainly more bang for the buck(point) for sure, especially in this overly inflated market. But se la vie, arrangements needed made back in Early December when a few rooms where available.
Come on, you know better than this. We've already been told by at least 2 forum members that the only change is that the funds are being paid after the event, and there is no change in the certainty level of whether the funds will be paid. All the newspaper reporters, lawyers, politicians, citizens groups and even Combs herself just have no idea what they are talking about. Now move along, nothing to see here
...and this is going to be another problem. I am not sure how it is surmountable? They are saying there are 30,000 rooms in the area, of which 4,500 will be used for F1 personnel. They also say average occupancy during the race week would be ~65%. So let's say occupancy drops due to the prices down to 25%... that means 75% of 30k rooms, or 18,000 rooms after the F1 personnel are spoken for. Two problems jump out.. 1) At $500-600 a night, that is going to seriously put off a lot of attendees. I paid <$200 a night for a really nice room in Tongeren, Belgium - a short car ride from Spa. I paid around $150/night for a 4* hotel in Milan when I went to Monza. And I paid about the same for a room in Montreal last year. So if you want to go to Austin and you don't live in the city, you're looking at $1,500-5,000 to buy a license to buy tickets (and be committed for the next decade or so). Then $500 minimum for the tickets. Then $500-600 a night for rooms. At least two stopovers if not three stop overs for most non-American fans. That would probably make Austin the most expensive F1 race on the calendar for the traveling F1 fan, other than Monaco. 2) Even if they had enough people willing to pay it, they don't have rooms to put them in. How is that problem even surmountable? It's not like NYC where there is never a shortage of rooms, only a function of distance... there are only so many rooms in the area - then large expanses of nothing before the next built up area. How is this solvable? COTA better be careful, or if they get the track done in time, the first year's race will life in infamy as the biggest debacle for F1 fans since Indy.
Hater. You just want this to fail. When F1 tour the packages are selling San Antonio rooms (~80-90 miles) you know they have a vacancy rate problem. You can't buy a ticket yet, and you can't get a reasonable room. I don't know how other people plan travel,... but I don't book a hotel or a flight w/o checking availability / price of the other. Will out of town fans buy a ticket before confirming a room? Another possible hiccup... Ben posted this earlier: Note that PSL's are required to buy seats to v8 super cars... that causes 2 issues... another weekend commitment. are out of towers going to want to commit? and 2, and a bigger issue in the short term... who holds the contract with the v8SC series... if it's TAVO (as is the case with MotoGP)... they can't sell anything including the V8SC's w/o this being resolved...
Can someone summarize where we are today? Other than the guys running the 'dozers and concrete trucks, etc......... what part of this project is going well?
Certainly not anything that is good for the typical race fan. Ticket prices and hotel rooms are just ridiculous.
+1 I am thankfull I just want a general admission ticket and have friends I can stay with. I would not doubt it if GA tickets hit $200 but that I can afford. As mentioned the first race is a milestone and I hope after 30+yrs as a F1 fan my first race will be a 'home' race. 36 weeks to go though and anything can happen within that timeframe.
I'm hoping to either be living in Austin, or I'll have friends to stay with during the weekend. I'm expecting the most expensive part of the weekend to be the race tickets and probably transportation to and from the race (whether that's parking or a shuttle).
better yet, stay in someone''s yard.... http://www.statesman.com/news/local/trying-to-save-bucks-during-formula-one-visit-2215163.html Looking for a way to make some bucks over Formula One's inaugural race weekend in November? You might try what Tip and Joy Giles are considering. They're talking about turning the side yard of their Southwest Austin home into a campground for a few days. Hey, with motel room rates reaching $500 for that weekend, why not provide a low-budget alternative? "We were thinking about it, and my wife said maybe what we ought to do is rent out parcels of our land for tent camping, and that's how it got started," Tip said. "It started out as a joke." And it may continue as a joke. Tip and Joy, who are retired schoolteachers, live in Tanglewood Forest, and Tanglewood Forest has a neighborhood association. And you know how those people are. Tip said they occasionally take pictures of uglified yards. And you can imagine the stir if a bunch of European motor monkeys are out there yodeling and carrying on. "One of my neighbors is on the neighborhood board," Tip said. "I haven't run it by him yet, but I'm sure he'll look at me and say, You're kidding, right?' And I'll say, Well yeah, sort of.' " "We'll call hell, and if hell freezes over, we'll do it," Joy said. Meanwhile, Tip and Joy have come up with a rate structure for those who want to pitch a tent in their side yard, a standard 125-by-55-foot yard with a cedar fence running through the middle. Tip figures the yard would probably accommodate six couples. Staying in the front section would be cheaper than the back section, since it's closer to the street and traffic noise. With no amenities except for use of the land, you're looking at $50 a night per person. Access to the garden hose jacks it up to $75 a night per guest. Add use of the extension cord, and you're looking at $100 a night. Isn't that a little steep? "If they can get $450 a night at Motel 6, we can at least get $200 for camping with a water hose," Tip said. And that's not all. "For an extra $25 a day, we will include a continental breakfast Twinkies and juice and nightly entertainment me playing my guitar on the our backyard deck," Tip said. We're talking about fresh Twinkies, too. "The Twinkies will be within the shelf life," Tip said. What is the shelf life on a Twinkie? About two millennia? There would be an additional fee for camping under the yard's arbor, a small open-air structure with a tile floor, a ceramic fish for decoration, a bench for sitting and a roof. "That would be an added charge because you're covered," Tip said. "That hot November sun can be tough." I hope the neighborhood association goes for it. These two folks did their time educating our kids. Tip taught at Menchaca and Odom elementary schools for a total of 25 years, with an additional five years in Del Valle and Fredericksburg, and Joy taught history for 30 years at Lockhart High. So they deserve a little economic bump, right? This is not the first time the Gileses have been involved in a lark. They were in a loose-knit group called the Austin Non-Jog. In April 1980, the group gathered in the morning along the route of the Capitol 10,000 race, handing out beer to the runners as they went by. Some joggers appreciated the handout. Others got their jockstraps in a twist. I was covering the race that day. Tip said he offered me a beer. He said I told him, "No thanks, I have my bourbon," and that I had a flask in my back pocket. I don't remember that part of it. Maybe because I had a flask in my back pocket. Anyway, it's a nice yard with plenty of healthy eats for campers. Joy grows lots of organic vegetables and fruits: Swiss chard, onions, plums, all sorts of greenery. And if you want to use the bathroom, I guess you could go next door and bother the neighbors. Maybe they'll play along and turn it into a pay toilet. The newspapers, lawyers, politicans, and citizens groups must have bought into Combs posturing. The money is staying there. To unfund it, they'd have to kill the program altogether, and return the money to the general revenue fund...Not going to happen. My opinion has always been, they'd be better off going with the ETF now instead of the METF; only real difference is the funds couldn't be released as early (thats moot now). And that they will default on the tax generating requirements and not get it the next years....
I guess we know what they think of F1 fans. Nice. $25/person/day to drink from a garden hose. Even the locals are looking to rip off the F1 fans.
I think you should let them know it's academic and the money is already guaranteed. They're spending a lot of time talking about whether the money will be paid or should be paid, and apparently they don't know what you know - that it's already dedicated to F1 and can't not be paid without cancelling the whole project. If only they knew this, so much time could be saved!
