I'm checking out the Motegi "crowd" from various camera angles. It's about 30 minutes before the green, and the people in the pits outnumber the people in the grandstands. I am not exaggerating. There can't be more than 2,000 fans in attendance. They might get to 5,000.
Did Bridgestone forget to distribute the free tickets?
And Danica won this race last year? She should run as fast as she can to any NASCAR (sans-culottes!) series where she is able to land a ride. She doesn't need to fly half-way around the world and waste three weeks so that she can race in front of an average high school football crowd.
One camera has been fixed on a tight shot of about 100 people who appear to be eating lunch. That's the best crowd shot they've got.
This is why you operate your business for the benefit of consumers, not corporate partners.
If this were a street race, then we would calculate as such:
2,000 team members, sponsors, race officials, safety crew, food vendors, etc.
Let's be kind and say 5,000 fans in the grandstands
3 days
We're up to a crowd of 21,000!
On second thought, let's make it 4 days.
28,000 in attendance!
But ovals don't lie.
I can understand why the teams don't like them. It's tough to play Big Time Racer Dude when 5th grade productions of Our Town draw more people.
Honda should be embarrassed. It brought everybody to Japan for this? Well, sure, the teams and the IMS really paid for it. Think of it as the Motegi Tax portion of the engine lease, but still.
And why are IRL teams and the IMS still paying the Formula Dream Tax? It's no secret that Mutoh has about a dozen fans in the United States. But it looks like he has even fewer in Japan.
Maybe it doesn't matter. It isn't like Japan imports American sponsors' goods and services, anyway. Except Marlboro.
The poor camera operator in Turn 1 is gonna need some serious Ben Gay after this. The guy apparently is forbidden from showing the empty (and small) grandstands. He stops short every time he starts to pan left.
I'm sorry for piling on, but this really makes me angry. Let's chuck this puppy and start from scratch.
Roggespierre
Friday, September 18, 2009
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I think you may have under estimated the crowd, but your points are well taken.
ReplyDeleteIf as some think, Danica doesn't need to stay in open wheeel racing check out this:
http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2009/09/18/danica-patrick-still-worthy-of-attention-despite-disappointment/
Page down a bit and there are 500 photos of Danica at Motegi--500. I know the Japanese love photos--but 500!!!
Then check out SI.com.
We need fans and if people come to watch racing to see Danica--great!!!! Just come watch.
The Motegi race sucked, big time.
As one of the guests who came to my home to watch the race said at 1:00 AM when she was leaving--"If I'd wanted to see a parade, I'd do it in the daylight, and if I'd known that Dixon would win on a pit stop, I'd have watched Travel Channel".
Now we'll hear how great it is that 3 drivers are within 8 points.
Ask a few friends to tell you where the three drivers are from and to tell you a little about each.
If they even can name where they are from--they'll know nothing about any of them--wanta bet??
Then ask them the same about Danica.
osca
Well, on that note, ask Buddy Rice about the 500's ability to make stars...
ReplyDeleteBut, osca, you're a xenophobe in a world of no borders... :' ( sarc/off
I choose to look at the positives. For the first time in the history of AOWR, IndyCar can now claim the distinction of being a 'loss leader' for an entire country. Sure CART did the same with auto manufacturers and tobacco, and the IRL with IMS, but the entire nation of Brazil!
ReplyDelete-John
Buenos dias Citizen John !! Would you like a bailout too?? Time to clean the house and start over!! Shall we try several of the ideas presented here? It's got to be better than this slop they are feeding us !!
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteThat's very funny in a macabre sort of way.
Seriously, how long do you figure it'll take for APEX Brasil to realize that it can get its foot in the door at regional supermarkets without having to purchase and give away tickets to IndyCar races?
Best,
Roggespierre
"oldwrench said...
ReplyDeleteBuenos dias Citizen John !! Would you like a bailout too?? Time to clean the house and start over!! Shall we try several of the ideas presented here? It's got to be better than this slop they are feeding us !!"
I think Roggespierre's done a great job laying the groundwork of a niche strategy, but niches carry liabilities. Are you okay with IndyCar taking the role in American auto racing the Arena Football League held in football?
It's that or picking a fight with the 800-pound guerrilla.
-John
John,
ReplyDeleteI'm not seeking a niche, per se. I merely want a base from which to build. The recession is bound to hurt NASCAR because its prices are too high. If the IRL were positioned as the low cost, high value player, then it would have a significant competitive advantage.
Unfortunately, the IRL is such a bad value that it can't even compete with one-off Cup sponsorships. Things are not good when your competitor establishes a secondary market before you establish a primary.
Niche strategies that are well managed can get you to the tipping point of mass market acceptance. NASCAR itself is evidence of that.
Best Regards,
Roggespierre
Roggespierre,
ReplyDeleteOkay and I'm all for exploiting a weakness in a competitor's strength.
So for expediency's sake lets suppose the car of choice is the current Indy Lights car - simply because it will fit in with the form follows function model (1.2 million budget). NASCAR bit the performance bullet with the restrictor plate and while people moaned about it, ultimately the change has produced their most popular races. But nonetheless, let's just suppose that's the way we're going.
Now we have a viable product in which the drivers and teams won't need Joyce Julius' help to sell, assuming we can pull it off without devaluing the product too much. But value's a relative thing and with the current car out of the way, we'd only be competing with memories, which wane over time, and NASCAR which an Indy Lights car can run circles around.
Next we'd need the oval-centric venues, but I doubt this would prove all that difficult. In fact if maintaining a field of American drivers is mission critical, it might be in the series' best interest to run ovals only to keep the foreign interests out.
Ironically, the current economic climate could play a very positive role in this; it's not likely the dissenters could/would launch a competing series.
Thoughts?
-John
John,
ReplyDeleteYour last thought is exactly what I've been trying to articulate. NASCAR is very vulnerable - look at the sponsors it lost just this week. A 17-race series that includes the Indy 500 for $1.3 million is, I think, a very compelling value proposition in this economy. There is very little risk.
Thus, the league could drastically reduce the TEAM subsidies. That's approximately $1.2 million per race. Let's say you cut that in half - the teams still come out ahead because their operating costs are $1.3 million and they actually have legitimate sponsorship. They can make money if they so choose. They can hire drivers, rather than the other way around.
Now the IRL can drop its sanction fee from the $1.2-$1.5 million range down to $600K to $900K. At that price, the league would have its choice of venues - ovals, natural road courses, temporary circuits, whatever. You could increase the schedule and get some continuity going.
I would select mostly ovals because it would likely draw U.S. drivers. But I would make some exceptions, maybe 3 or 4.
I don't want to keep the foreign interests out. Matching price to value means that it is no longer an either/or proposition. It is a both/and if the international drivers don't mind spending a lot of time on ovals. But that's their decision. I'm running my own business.
If you think of the whole thing as a large supply chain, then it makes sense. If costs are reduced at the bottom (mainly chassis and engines), then the costs are reduced at every step up the supply chain, the last of which are promoters and advertisers.
Could dissenters launch a competing series? Sure, but that's always the case. Besides, unlike last time, the competing series would not be an established market competitor. It might not even be able to land the Edmontons and Baltimores of the world because it has not demonstrated its ability to deliver anything.
NASCAR sponsorship in 2010 will not be worth as much as it was in 2009. That is true because ratings and attendance have declined and because prospective sponsors do not have the same resources that they had last year. Those who are not locked into contracts are fleeing.
The IRL could pick up the pieces and begin building from a very reasonable price point. Even if some fans complain about adopting the Lights chassis, then so what? How many fans can the series actually lose at this point?
Thanks for providing good discussion.
Best Regards,
Roggespierre