Silverstone - £1million short of breaking even
Discussion
So the BRDC were apparently £1million short of breaking even for the weekend's F1 event.
Poor ticket sales are to blame - don't think we can blame the racing this year. It's been pretty good. Merc are dominating but Williams and Red Bull were looking better.
Hamilton was a firm favorite for the win. So why didn't they sale more tickets ?
I guess the numbers are that down - that's only about 5000-6000 tickets but how much does it cost to host a GP !? It must be £20-25 million!
Most circuits struggle to make any money on an F1 GP weekend. That is entirely due to the excessive fees they have to pay for the priviledge of hosting the GPs.
At least Silverstone has multiple other users throughout the year from which they can garner alternative income to recover or cancel the losses from hosting the GP.
Many other GP circuits have no other serious activity throughout the year apart from the GP.
At least Silverstone has multiple other users throughout the year from which they can garner alternative income to recover or cancel the losses from hosting the GP.
Many other GP circuits have no other serious activity throughout the year apart from the GP.
Eric Mc said:
At least Silverstone has multiple other users throughout the year from which they can garner alternative income to recover or cancel the losses from hosting the GP.
and there's the rub!in the past, Silverstone made money from the GP that they then used to subsidise some club racing (amongst other things).
these days, club racing is being asked to subsidise F1.
Look at the Britcar 24 that's no more, the economics of it just fell apart with astronomical circuit hire costs (amongst other things).
(all not helped by that monstrosity they call a new pit complex, not only did it cost a fortune, it's a disaster from several perspectives, not least of which is the lack of visibility for the TV and crowd.)
£1M loss means they need to make up £20K a week, so, how much more do you think your club race meeting entry fee's are going to be going up?
moribund said:
Clash with tennis, Le Tour & the Classic Le Mans won't have helped.
I rather suspect this. Whoever decided to put the British Grand Prix on at the same time as the Wimbledon Men's singles final is an idiot. It's not as if Wimbledon was a surprise, it's been that weekend for decades. Outside of football, you could argue that the GP and Wimbledon are the two biggest events on the British sporting calendar.
kambites said:
moribund said:
Clash with tennis, Le Tour & the Classic Le Mans won't have helped.
I rather suspect this. Whoever decided to put the British Grand Prix on at the same time as the Wimbledon Men's singles final is an idiot. It's not as if Wimbledon was a surprise, it's been that weekend for decades. Outside of football, you could argue that the GP and Wimbledon are the two biggest events on the British sporting calendar.
Motor sport in the UK in general is actually nothing like as popular as it was 20, 30 40, 50 years ago. Like a lot of leisure activities, younger people are finding alternative things to do with their time quite different to what previous generations had traditionally done.
It's not just motor sport. Many, many activities are seeing declines in involvement.
In 50 years time, I wonder what types of motor sport will still exist?
Regarding F1, the trend has been to ramp up the cost of participating to make the whole thing attractive to investors and lenders. In doing so, all other parties involved i.e. those who are involved because they LOVE it rather than want to make money out of it - are gradually being squeezed out of the equation.
The only thing that has allowed it to survive up to now has been the willingness to take the events to new territories (often with little or no motor sport tradition) because of government willingness in those countries to bankroll what they perceive to be a prestige project.
This approach is ultimately self-defeating and in the end, F1 will snuff itself out - unless it rediscovers its roots and re-engages with its core followers .
It's not just motor sport. Many, many activities are seeing declines in involvement.
In 50 years time, I wonder what types of motor sport will still exist?
Regarding F1, the trend has been to ramp up the cost of participating to make the whole thing attractive to investors and lenders. In doing so, all other parties involved i.e. those who are involved because they LOVE it rather than want to make money out of it - are gradually being squeezed out of the equation.
The only thing that has allowed it to survive up to now has been the willingness to take the events to new territories (often with little or no motor sport tradition) because of government willingness in those countries to bankroll what they perceive to be a prestige project.
This approach is ultimately self-defeating and in the end, F1 will snuff itself out - unless it rediscovers its roots and re-engages with its core followers .
The only reason I don't go to Silverstone every year is the cost.
Been in the past when we've managed to secure last minute reduced tickets from Ebay or here or similar but refuse to pay the prices charged at face value.
General admission is poor and the grandstands are just very very expensive.
Done Spa for less and planning on doing Monza for less this year too.
Been in the past when we've managed to secure last minute reduced tickets from Ebay or here or similar but refuse to pay the prices charged at face value.
General admission is poor and the grandstands are just very very expensive.
Done Spa for less and planning on doing Monza for less this year too.
It's silly expensive, a ball ache to get to for a lot of people, and there were tons of other sports getting airtime.
Plus, I suspect many, me included, would rather watch it on the TV and not have the hassle. SS just isn't a track I care enough about to visit these days, be it driving or riding on track days or spectating. Similarly, I enjoy watching F1, but I'll be damed if I'm dropping a grand for the privilege of doing so.
Plus, I suspect many, me included, would rather watch it on the TV and not have the hassle. SS just isn't a track I care enough about to visit these days, be it driving or riding on track days or spectating. Similarly, I enjoy watching F1, but I'll be damed if I'm dropping a grand for the privilege of doing so.
Gaz. said:
I do wonder if the shortfall isn't just ticket sales but people saying b
ks to paying XYZ for a burger & a coke too.
How does that work then? I would have thought individual providers/contractors pay a flat fee to the circuit and any profit is theirs to keep. Happy to be educated though.ks to paying XYZ for a burger & a coke too.Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff