This is absolutely hilarious.
First, let me explain that, if you have never been in a media room at a race track, then you are missing quite a treat.
Motorsports reporters are, on balance, a motley collection of misfits. They tend to be slovenly, poorly dressed, and malodorous.
Until now, they have typically been well fed. However, California Speedway has determined that the scribes will have to pay for the privilege of manning the buffet table. The following excerpts are from an email that was distributed to angry members of the the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association.
"As some of our members may be aware, California Speedway (nee Auto Club Speedway) has decided to charge for meals during the upcoming Cup weekend, October 9-11. I wish to encourage AARWBA member not to pay the $25, and instead to seek other alternatives."Horrors! I am a former news reporter. In the news business, reporters do not get free meals. They do get to spend a lot of time in awful neighborhoods, knocking on doors to obtain bits of information about the daily murder and mayhem. That is one reason why I am not a reporter anymore.
Sports reporters are the envy of newsrooms everywhere. Those guys get to hang out with athletes, attend cool events, and chow down on free food.
Let's just say that my sympathy for motorsports reporters is, well, limited. Frankly, $25 for three days of meals sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
"The track is owned by International Speedway Corp (ISC), and they are making plenty of money. A few years ago, the fall race had a gross margin in excess of $30 million. But that’s apparently not enough for the controlling shareholders."This quote helps to explain why the writer opted to cover auto racing rather than work for the Wall Street Journal. The term, "gross margin", actually means something. It is the difference between sales revenue and production costs. It is not operating profit because overhead is not included in the calculation. Because racing facilities incur significant fixed costs, they tend to have substantial overhead liabilities.
Notice that ISC announced its quarterly results Thursday. They were not very good. We will not know ISC's gross margin until the company files its financial statements with the SEC. Nevertheless, we can say with certainty that it is a number that will not attract the attention of Wall Street analysts.
But it most certainly is the focus of that gluttonous band of motorsports reporters.
Roggespierre
Well, there is always the Golden Corral !!! All you can eat for $9.95 !! Everyone else pays so why shouldn't they? Lord knows, I worked on the car and no one fed me !!!
ReplyDeleteI remember a call from Smokey; the race car was loaded on the trailer (in Daytona heading for Indy), but he didn't have money to buy gas (let alone food--which was optional in those days)---so I sent him a WU money order to cover fuel for both truck and Smokey.
ReplyDeleteAnd these guys whine over 25 bucks!!
Ain't life great!!
osca
To be fair, I've seen low level boxing cards provide hot dogs to dudes working press before. The idea is to make the press feel welcome so that they write good things about you. Hit them in the stomach and that's the first place you're likely to see resistance. It makes NASCAR look really, really low rent.
ReplyDeleteVirtualBalboa,
ReplyDeleteWe're not talking hot dogs, at least not in the cafeterias I've been in. There are several options, generally, served by a staff of significant size. Granted, racing operations personnel and track officials eat there, too.
The cheapest of cheapskates is the NCAA. I covered Regionals and Final Fours for about eight years. The NCAA never fed us anything more than chips and fountain soda (no ice). If we wanted real food, then we had to pay full price at the concession windows.
At least ISC isn't asking the reporters to do that.
Best Regards,
Roggespierre
ISC is having a tough time and Motorsports Authentics a 50% owned subsiduary is facing a possible bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteThe state of racing, (and not all caused by the economy), has been in disarry for some time.
The idea that a "single race car"; COT and IRL (both chassis and engine) will promote for better racing and fan appeal is really unbelieveable!
The appeal of racing--has been--- driver appreciation and recognition, but the car being an additional and major part of it; shape, sound, (can anyone forget the Novi for those of us who heard it?), the difference between a lay-down Lesovsky and a upright Watson, which allowed fans to cheer for their favorite car as well as driver.
In NASCAR, Remember the days when Ford battled Chrysler with the King Kong engine from Ford and the Hemi from Chrysler. The Roadrunner was a visual giant--who could forget it?
The current IRL "crapbox" ,and the COT "Car withOut Taste"---are what?
Totally fogettable.
The business plan for ISC is better than the God awful lack of plan which is the IRL, but NASCAR is far from recession proof---be sure to read the quarterly report due out yesterday--and don't forget the foot notes.
Things are not well in both the IRL and paradise, (NASCAR).
osca