RE: At What Cost ?
Wednesday 11th December 2002
At What Cost ?
Crowds are dwindling so how do we encourage more people to watch motorsport? Not by charging £24 for attendance to the Autosport Show!
Discussion
The cost of motorsport isn't just being felt by the spectators. Taking part is painful on the wallet too - even at the lowest levels of motorsport the basic unavoidable costs for a full season's activity runs at about £2000 just in entry fees along.
Some say there are too many different, competing championships/series but there are a very large number of people taking part. Cutting back and rationalising the competitions is only a small part of the solution and inevitably will only make things worse. One of the nice things about club racing is the (generally) good natured racing with plenty of circuit space for each car. It doesn't make for good spectating but for novices and competitor interest it is far more useful than overly aggressive racing on an overcrowded circuit.
With trackdays becoming more popular it is increasingly hard to justify trackdaying as opposed to racing. Especially seeing as you typically see over an hour's entertainment on a trackday as opposed to just 30 minutes. Especially with all the stress that goes with the racing.
I'm pretty sure that every competing race driver here would agree that trackdays are a poor substitute for real competition!
Sadly this all lies with the spectators now but we have few venues that are likely to attract spectators (standing in a muddy field might be fun for Rally fans, but I can't see the attraction myself). The club circuits tend to only charge £8 - £12 for a day and with 7 or 8 races that is actually (in my book) good value. I can't justify the £150 for a ticket to Silverstone on F1 race day though. No wonder people are staying away in droves. Only the powertour and it's like can seriously offer high level competition at reasonable prices. Somehow F1 has entered a realm of its own where the racing is for racing/technologies sake and not entertainment. This mentality is fine for club racing where competitors are racing for their own entertainment and no-one elses, but when the spectators are being treated to 2 hours of monotony - it is just taking things too far. If I want to watch F1 cars I'll go to a BOSS race, the racing is far more interesting and doesn't require me to starve myself for a month to afford the ticket (I pity those people who take their whole family and envy those who can so easily afford it).
Some say there are too many different, competing championships/series but there are a very large number of people taking part. Cutting back and rationalising the competitions is only a small part of the solution and inevitably will only make things worse. One of the nice things about club racing is the (generally) good natured racing with plenty of circuit space for each car. It doesn't make for good spectating but for novices and competitor interest it is far more useful than overly aggressive racing on an overcrowded circuit.
With trackdays becoming more popular it is increasingly hard to justify trackdaying as opposed to racing. Especially seeing as you typically see over an hour's entertainment on a trackday as opposed to just 30 minutes. Especially with all the stress that goes with the racing.
I'm pretty sure that every competing race driver here would agree that trackdays are a poor substitute for real competition!
Sadly this all lies with the spectators now but we have few venues that are likely to attract spectators (standing in a muddy field might be fun for Rally fans, but I can't see the attraction myself). The club circuits tend to only charge £8 - £12 for a day and with 7 or 8 races that is actually (in my book) good value. I can't justify the £150 for a ticket to Silverstone on F1 race day though. No wonder people are staying away in droves. Only the powertour and it's like can seriously offer high level competition at reasonable prices. Somehow F1 has entered a realm of its own where the racing is for racing/technologies sake and not entertainment. This mentality is fine for club racing where competitors are racing for their own entertainment and no-one elses, but when the spectators are being treated to 2 hours of monotony - it is just taking things too far. If I want to watch F1 cars I'll go to a BOSS race, the racing is far more interesting and doesn't require me to starve myself for a month to afford the ticket (I pity those people who take their whole family and envy those who can so easily afford it).
I'm not fussed about the autosport show - one of the advantages of spending all that money elsewhere is I get free entry (except to the autodrome - but I see enough of that sort of stuff anyway) thanks to the BRSCC.
Still think the rest of the industry needs a serious rethink about where the money is being spent though!
Still think the rest of the industry needs a serious rethink about where the money is being spent though!
at Castle Combe a regular clubbie event (10 races) costing a bout £10 will get between 5 and 8k people attending and that is depandent on the weather in all honesty! I have never seen it advertised in anyhting other than the motorsport press except a small advert in the local paper the thursday before a raceday though. clubbie circuits need to go find the spectators, not hope that they spectators stumble accross a crcuit. I still think £10 for 10 ten lap races is great value though, especially when its nicely condensed into a saturday afternoon!
Havent they announced a seson ticket which gets you in all the octagon circuits for almost every race day around £100, i know not everyone wants to shell out £100 and you cant get to some circuits easily, cant attend them all etc etc but if you compare it to a season ticket at a football club, its good value. a season ticket at Bristol City (2nd division) is around £330 for about 24 games and if i read this octagon thing right its everything involving four wheels at their circuits including the friday GP day for £100.....which i think is good value for money. i think the biggest problem, and this is going to sound daft, but its the fact that motorsport is outside and you are exposed to the elements!. still the autosport show is expensive and if you are just an armchair F1 fan there is bugger all there really, not even sure if this is mamking any sense at all or whether you are all laughing at my nonsensical ramblings but I'll stop about now!
cheers!
Havent they announced a seson ticket which gets you in all the octagon circuits for almost every race day around £100, i know not everyone wants to shell out £100 and you cant get to some circuits easily, cant attend them all etc etc but if you compare it to a season ticket at a football club, its good value. a season ticket at Bristol City (2nd division) is around £330 for about 24 games and if i read this octagon thing right its everything involving four wheels at their circuits including the friday GP day for £100.....which i think is good value for money. i think the biggest problem, and this is going to sound daft, but its the fact that motorsport is outside and you are exposed to the elements!. still the autosport show is expensive and if you are just an armchair F1 fan there is bugger all there really, not even sure if this is mamking any sense at all or whether you are all laughing at my nonsensical ramblings but I'll stop about now!
cheers!
i guess they charge that because they know people will still go.Someone is raking it in somewhere as the price of a stand at the show is a forture.I heard someone say it was 12k for two small stands on the edge of the centre section.You can find out more about motorsport on the computer/internet than going to the show and you don't get charged £4 for a beer!
The autosport show was NOT intended to provide entertainment to the masses it used to be a trade show for all those people envolved in motorsport - sponsors, engineers, drivers, etc.
Recently though they have tried to turn it into something else so as to attract crowds and help pay for the stupidly massive bill for hiring out a venue of any size for any length of time!
Recently though they have tried to turn it into something else so as to attract crowds and help pay for the stupidly massive bill for hiring out a venue of any size for any length of time!
I compete at Oulton mostly and they have started to have "family race days" where they have a good mix of racing along with a fairground for the kiddies in the infield and a local radio station truck etc. Its the normal £10 or so in, but I think kids are free. It seems to work as there are definately more people there. I think circuits need to attract families rather than just race fan blokes if they want to get numbers up, and no matter how good the racing it's not going to keep a 5 year old kid amused all day.
Sparkey
Sparkey
the motor-sport-show is well worth going to, as long as u get there early, and make a day of it. if youve never been its worth spending the money too.
like somone said, jimbro? it was for all people involved in motorsport, but i think thier making it like this to get the money for overheads. but also i think it helps to attract people in to motorsport too.
-i went last year and it was pretty cool, the show was good, but could have been better though, but still good.
-there are many universities repd. there too which was good as im now going on to study motorsoprt engineering, and didnt even know such thing existed till then!
-if your needing or wanting to buy things such as clothes or bits and bobs, its best to go on sunday as all the stalls are trying to fob off all thier last bits of stock on the cheap eg.helmets, overalls, etc.
-oh, if nothing else go for the women! just dont take your girlfriend or wives!
like somone said, jimbro? it was for all people involved in motorsport, but i think thier making it like this to get the money for overheads. but also i think it helps to attract people in to motorsport too.
-i went last year and it was pretty cool, the show was good, but could have been better though, but still good.
-there are many universities repd. there too which was good as im now going on to study motorsoprt engineering, and didnt even know such thing existed till then!
-if your needing or wanting to buy things such as clothes or bits and bobs, its best to go on sunday as all the stalls are trying to fob off all thier last bits of stock on the cheap eg.helmets, overalls, etc.
-oh, if nothing else go for the women! just dont take your girlfriend or wives!
Motor sport in the UK has practicaly no marketing activity. Club racing relies on hard core fans to make up the numbers which is OK, but there are too few of them to spread the cost to bring it to a sensible per-head level.
This is not helped by a confused formula system, where we are seeing kids step out of a FF pretty much straight into F1.
The tracks and clubs need to get their heads and wallets together and come up with a marketing strategy to promote motor sport to the wider public.
As a motor sport fan, it's easy to become cynical but let's not forget, a day at Brands, Snetterton or wherever, is a jolly good day out!
The betting industry also needs to be targetted. When people start putting a fiver on Stancombe to win race two at Mallory - watch the attendance go up and the costs come down!
This is not helped by a confused formula system, where we are seeing kids step out of a FF pretty much straight into F1.
The tracks and clubs need to get their heads and wallets together and come up with a marketing strategy to promote motor sport to the wider public.
As a motor sport fan, it's easy to become cynical but let's not forget, a day at Brands, Snetterton or wherever, is a jolly good day out!
The betting industry also needs to be targetted. When people start putting a fiver on Stancombe to win race two at Mallory - watch the attendance go up and the costs come down!
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff