IndyCar: Barber Tickets on Sale Today

Tickets for the government subsidized IndyCar race at Barber Motorsports Park are now on sale. The road course in Birmingham, Alabama reports that it will build temporary grandstands to accommodate what is expected to be a "phenomenal" crowd.

Previously, BMP indicated that seating capacity would be limited to 30,000 paying customers. That figure has since been revised. Not surprisingly, a new number was not released.

We now know that between 3,000 and 5,000 temporary grandstands will be erected for the April event. If that in fact brings capacity to 35,000, then Barber would likely be able to hold the crowd that half-filled Homestead-Miami Speedway for the penultimate race of 2009.

Nevertheless, attendance at Barber will look good to the couple hundred-thousand or so who watch the event on television.

Roggespierre

Surprise! IndyCar Barber Capacity Expands

Barber Motorsports Park and its government-backed promoter, ZOOM Motorsports, have learned a valuable lesson.

Never disclose seating capacity at a road course or street circuit.

The reason for this is simple enough. If everyone knows your capacity, then you can not fudge your attendance figures. If you can not fudge your attendance figures, then you risk losing your government subsidies.

Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star learned this week that Barber's previously announced capacity of 30,000 is apparently not the case. This would seem to imply that more fans will be permitted. How many more? Apparently, the BMP official did not say.

They're learning.

Roggespierre

IndyCar Barber Buzz

The truth is obvious to those who wish to see it.

The Indy Racing League will stage an event at Barber Motorsports Park in 2010 because the contracts include either explicit or implicit government guarantees that everyone - league, track, promoter and contractors - will be paid.

Daily attendance will be capped at 30,000. So it would seem that drawing a large audience is not a priority - although the crowd will likely be deemed "phenomenal." A writer to Curt Cavin's blog at the Indianapolis Star now suggests that selling tickets might not be too high on the list, either.

The IRL is a market failure. That is why it needs APEX Brasil. That is why it is seeking subsidies in Baltimore. That is why it will continue to lose events at facilities that are expected to turn a profit. And that is why it sold a race to ZOOM Motorsports, the Barber promoter that is backed by the governments of the City of Birmingham and the State of Alabama.

Those who sell products that are rejected in the marketplace have no choice but to seek non-market solutions.

Terry Angstadt is indeed a fine salesman. He is the architect of what could well be the first publicly underwritten IndyCar event at a permanent racing facility.

Bravo!

Roggespierre