According to Dave Kallman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a new promoter will assume control of the Milwaukee Mile this Friday if it pays NASCAR's 2010 sanctioning fees by Thursday. It seems that the Indy Racing League is being treated as an ancillary concern.
This makes perfect sense.
Forget for a moment that NASCAR Grand National drew an estimated 45,000 spectators this year while the IRL increased its audience to 28,000 paying customers. The old Mile promoter owed money to both series. Unlike the dominant market leader, IndyCar decided to forget about returning to Milwaukee until at least 2011.
The key here is television revenue and commitments. NASCAR has quite a few of both. IndyCar has very little of either because the product is not designed to attract U.S. television viewers.Therefore, NASCAR is willing to take a chance on the new Mile promoter because it needs to fill its Grand National television schedule. If the promoter fails to pay, then NASCAR still collects a (smaller) profit because it earns significant television revenue.
The economics of IndyCar racing are very different. Most of its revenue is derived from sanction fees that are paid by promoters. The IRL can not afford to get stiffed again in Milwaukee. If the state and municipal governments in Wisconsin were more like those in Alabama, then The Mile would be on the 2010 IndyCar schedule.
Unfortunately, the Dairy State is not willing to subsidize IndyCar racing. The politicians in Alabama are more amenable. Therefore, Terry Angstadt is taking his failed product to Barber Motorsports Park, which offers less seating capacity but more profligate government agencies.
The Wisconsin State Fair Board demands that the Milwaukee Mile operate in the competitive marketplace. That is bad news for the IndyCar Series, a market failure that requires taxpayer handouts to sustain its unwanted product.
Roggespierre
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