What will it take to increase attendance at Sport Compact Events? What will it take to draw people to come watch sport compact drag racing. Why do spectators come watch Sport COmpact Drag Racing?

Why is drift drawing so many spectators and how did they do it? Note: The founder of Formula Drift was the national director of IDRC in the past.

What marketing actions were performed in the past that resulted in great turnouts for the future.

What was the difference in the past during Sport Compact Drag Racing huge turnouts 1997-2004 in comparison to what is going on now? 2004-present. The marketing plan in the past must be different to what is being used now?

NOTE: Immediate results will not happen overnight but what is done now will reap benefits in 2009.

Please chime in with positive and productive input.

 

I believe spectator's want to see "fast cars" period. Some of the flyers you see don't really advertise "fast cars" that are going to be there.

What worked in the past was the spreading of flyers with performance shops...sometimes you got flyers at the clubs....

Maybe the circulation of flyers could improve spectator counts. Also, when people know that certain cars are going to attend, that might help as well.

In for more input

We need spectator counts to increase to help offset costs nowadays for throwing races.

 

The entry fee being at $50 for Nopi races is one thing that comes to mind. That is a lot of money for some people, no matter how you look at it.

I am sure that if more people attended more races, the fee could go down. I can understand that Nopi is probably just trying to offset the low attendance with a higher admission fee. Kinda seems like a lose / lose situation to me.

 

follow this formula -- http://www.adrl.us/

give away as many free tickets as possible and they will come -- then the sanctioing bodies need to try and make the money elsewhere

ADRL is killing it for attendance, more people = more sponsors = more racers = more money for all

FREE TICKETS will set you free

 

yeah jeff beat me to it.
used to get 1 pit crew in with racer fee. that aside, i still think that the gate fee is a little high.

 

more contestants = more spectators. who wants to see the same 3 cars battling it out ?

 

have every race at moroso and e-town . no, but on a serious note. believe it or not, but not everyone that owns a sport compact is on honda-tech. more fliers/radio advertizing would help. entry fee's are also a big turn off.

like James said about adrl. bottle sent us about 100 free tickets to pass out to watch titan race in GA

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bergenholtzracing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What will it take to increase attendance at Sport Compact Events? What will it take to draw people to come watch sport compact drag racing. Why do spectators come watch Sport COmpact Drag Racing?

Why is drift drawing so many spectators and how did they do it? Note: The founder of Formula Drift was the national director of IDRC in the past.

What marketing actions were performed in the past that resulted in great turnouts for the future.

What was the difference in the past during Sport Compact Drag Racing huge turnouts 1997-2004 in comparison to what is going on now? 2004-present. The marketing plan in the past must be different to what is being used now?

NOTE: Immediate results will not happen overnight but what is done now will reap benefits in 2009.

Please chime in with positive and productive input.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

i know for me the presence of police on the streets busting everyone for everything possible made it very difficult to own a street car.. (everyone in SOCAL can understand what i mean) REF tickets are handed out all the time here...

Then the cars got too fast for the regular non-sponsored people to compete..

Then that retarded movie "the fast and the furious" killed off any legitimacy of our sport.. I mean come on "race wars" where everyone is running on street tires in an abandoned airport and they all have 20 foot high wings and a 800 pound stereo system.. and talked about motec system exhausts......

then the NHRA came in and made it into something too big for what it actually was.. which led to many regular people dropping off and getting into other things..

Then a lot of us who were into it in the beginning grew up and had other bills and houses and families..

In the last few years i have seen a lot of people coming back into it. getting cars again and building motors.. but its so hard to compete now. especially with all these cars that have huge sponsors and tube chassis cars..

I used to be able to compete in the All motor 16 class.... now forget about it unless you run low 9's....

which isn't easy or at all cheap....

The SFWD class is about to hit 8's!!!! and those are in full "streetcar" trim!!

just my .02

take it as you will..

In all honesty i had more fun and a better experience at CMI and BOTI which are relatively small events.. more focus on racing, more of a competition between real everyday people with regular jobs who race for the fun of it and not the money (although its nice to take home a check that pays for the weekend!!)

In all honesty can you say that the $1500 payout covers the expensive sponsored cars??? and travel fees?? Gas??

i can't really understand what GM or Mazda gets out of any of this??

There definitely can't be a return of investment...





Modified by h22crxpwr at 11:42 AM 5/21/2008

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Innes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">follow this formula -- http://www.adrl.us/

give away as many free tickets as possible and they will come -- then the sanctioing bodies need to try and make the money elsewhere

ADRL is killing it for attendance, more people = more sponsors = more racers = more money for all

FREE TICKETS will set you free</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have to agree with James, I was at the last ADRL race in GA, it was packed, they charged 10 bucks a car to park either day, not bad at all, so they pulled in some good money that way cause the place was packed!!!! But I think a lot of those people went to that race knowing they would see some real fast side by side racing, and they got it almost every pass. Its going to be tough attracting people to a race, that has only a hand full of of good, solid, fast side by side races

 

I personally have never heard an ad for NOPI/BOTI on the radio or seen a tv commericial, flyer, nothing!! Currently it seems that both series are using a pull type marketing approach by making the information available for those that seek it. A push marketing approach would be more effective by getting the info out there to people that would otherwise not be looking for it. Flyers at local shops, radio ads, commercials, etc.

 

I think there's alot of variables..

-The economy is going down the $hitter
-The Price of fuel to even go specate is alot for some, as well entry fee
-Technology has alot to do with it. Back in the late 90's to early 2000's.. There was no "live Cam" of sport compact races, live results etc.. , Although very innovative, i'm guilty as well for staying home working on the car, and watching the live cam. Why go if i can watch it right from home for free ? I'd love to go travel and watch all these races if i'm not racing.. $$ has a big thing to do with it.

These are just my own opinions..

 

Bottle was telling me that ADRL for the GA race teamed up with Hardee's and gave each restaurant in the area thousands of tickets to pass out for free.

like cubish said they got a 100 tickets or so for the ADRL GA race to hand out, bottle gave me about a 100 tickets to hand out and to ship to customers when i had packages going to that area already, etc, etc

you want spectators you saturate the area with as many free tickets as possible to get them in the gate.

charge $5-10 per car to park and then you sell 25k people $3 hot dogs, $3 cokes, $6 cheeseburgers all day long to make the money.

it is all about getting people there, do you want to get 5k people there are $30 head and do $25k in concession sales or do you want 25k people there paying $5-10 a piece to park and $100k in concession sales?

i know which one i choose and i know which one the sponsors would prefer

 

would you guys like to cover the 35,000 retainer for free tickets? or how about the minimum consession ticket for 12,000?

free tickets are a good idea if you have the capital to make it happen for one whole season.

 

The first event I attended this year was NOPI ATCO and I was pissed that it cost so much to get in and then I had to pay for a pit pass at E-Town. If it wasn't for the love of the sport I wouldn't have tuned around.

I agree about giving free tickets or just make them a lot cheaper. It would be like most web sites like MySpace its free to use/enter the site but it gets so many hits that sponsors give the site money to advertise. In short if there are more spectators than NOPI should be able to get advertisement money from sponsors. Then they can offer more payout money and get more racers to show. I know things aren't as simple as they seem but some changes do need to take place now.

 

Nopi this past weekend here was packed on Saturday. Only reason is wasn't packed on sunday was the weather, hell we didn't wanna be there either lol. 2-3 weeks prior, I was hearing commercials on the radio every couple or hours promoting the race. Maybe not all the local stations in NJ, VA, GA etc do that? Maybe its the area, I don't know. It has always been guaranteed for as long as I remember that MIR gets 2 races a year because the stands are packed.

We are in this sport compact thing for the long haul, so anything we can do (weather it be word of mouth, any kind of marketing help, etc.) we will do.

I honestly think that Nopi's marketing program is lacking. Everything looks very outdated, pictures aren't very clear.... you know where I am going with this. It takes money to make money, so if Nopi has to step their game up and start spending MORE MONEY on marketing... so be it. You can almost sit back and start to watch people give up on sport compact, and something has to be done.

Not to mention that if they would segregate the classes a little more, more racers would come. Tempest is at every race if we are racing or not... and quite frankly the sportsman classes are too repetitive. We see the same 10 or so cars every single race. People with solid 10 second cars don't want to race turbo-street, because they see it pointless. People with high 11 second cars don't want to race pure street, because they see it pointless. There ARE some people with the slower cars in the class that don't care, they are just die-hard racers, and I admire that.

There needs to be an entry level class for Turbo-Street that houses 10 second cars.. so that people can learn and not feel so intimidated to race. People like to watch street cars, because they can relate to it. If the word gets around that more sportsman cars are running, I really feel that the stands will start to be more populated.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MrParks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">would you guys like to cover the 35,000 retainer for free tickets? or how about the minimum consession ticket for 12,000?

free tickets are a good idea if you have the capital to make it happen for one whole season. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I see your point, but the model that James has mentioned WORKS!!!!! If you don't have the capital keep doing what your doing or quit. Business takes risks.. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't.

Try and find some tracks who will partner with you on an endevour like this. I don't visit the local tracks anymore as the cars are mainly slow, and I hate spending the money to see manly heaps going down the track. I'm sorry... I've spent many years racing in Pro Street and Pro Import classes, but just don't see the point anymore. It costs toooo much $$$, no return, and usually you have 1 or 2 which just kick *** and win it all the time.

Sorry for my rant... but I don't think any of the current business models used are going to fix the problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MrParks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">would you guys like to cover the 35,000 retainer for free tickets? or how about the minimum consession ticket for 12,000?

free tickets are a good idea if you have the capital to make it happen for one whole season. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Great point...

Hosting an event isn't cheap. When you take into consideration that insurance & liability plus the cost of track rental & safety all have to be paid in full prior to opening the gates. Free tickets are a hard one to swallow! That doesn’t include staff at the event, marketing & promotion for the event, you gotta know NOPI & BOTI aren't hosting these events for fun. It is a business, you gotta make a profit to keep going.

 

I think what Parks said in the other thread is alot more of it than we think our society as a whole wants to see entertainment which in alot ways means drama im not sure exactly how to provide it but when you think about some of the drama that has happend recently in NHRA powerade series it seems every few races there is some drama going on. look at the ratings on TV for these DRAMA shows but people suck it up like they have to have it to survive


Modified by sportfwddc2 at 12:28 PM 5/21/2008

 

comign from the other thread i posted in....

For those that want to race, or just come to watch the races, a break down on what the classes are, and what can and can not be done to the car class depending. i have searched all over and can find a thing. so for me can someone point me in the right direction, not trying to highjack here. jsut a good idea for people that want to get into the sport as well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Project-D &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I see your point, but the model that James has mentioned WORKS!!!!! If you don't have the capital keep doing what your doing or quit. Business takes risks.. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MrParks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">would you guys like to cover the 35,000 retainer for free tickets? or how about the minimum consession ticket for 12,000?

free tickets are a good idea if you have the capital to make it happen for one whole season. </TD></TR></TABLE>

if you don't have capital to be in business you shouldnt' be in business

i have no idea what situation NDRA or BOTI is in financially but if you can't front money to have 35k tickets printed then i would take a guess that you have bigger problems than what is on the surface

 

i don't think the "slower class" argument is accurate. people like to see fast *** cars. yes, some young impressionable kids (15-19) like watching what their cars could possibly do, but what is entertaining to the general public is fast cars. there was a time when there were over 20 faster than hell cars (relatively speaking for the time) at the track, and that's what used to drive me to watch.

the economy definitely plays a part in this, if you don't believe that, then you're living under a rock.

maybe we don't realize it and the sport is just getting old and repetitive. there's no new excitement anymore so its only fun to the people racing. i'd hate to think this but there may be some truth to it.

 

Possibly have a sportsman series, and a pro series. This formula works well with other venues(Powerade, to name one). You could have more classes. Then televise the eventson a national television network, maybe even tape delay and show results that day or next day. If you can hype it up (tv, radio, newspaper, etc) that would get spectator count up. Of course I dont know the all the answers because I have not tried to run a series but I have been to different events from different areas of sports(NDRA, NHRA Poweraid and SC, NASCAR, MLB and on). If you have a lot of smaller sportsman style events that would probably help event if they are from different sanctioning bodies. Just a couple of observations.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoostedJeff &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
The entry fee being at $50 for Nopi races is one thing that comes to mind. That is a lot of money for some people, no matter how you look at it.

I am sure that if more people attended more races, the fee could go down. I can understand that Nopi is probably just trying to offset the low attendance with a higher admission fee. Kinda seems like a lose / lose situation to me.</TD></TR></TABLE>

you gotta be kidding me.. $50 &gt;?? if you can spend $XX,XXX on building a street car you have $50 to spend on a 2 day race. dynoing in half a hour cost more then $50...

to be honest with you as must i hate to say it alcohol sells, the the domestic side people come and hang out drink a few beers and enjoy the drags.... only problem is people in the sport comapct side get stupid...

there needs to be incentives like goodie bags, more radio advertisement, celebrities too.... thats the hot ticket..!!!

 

what about a buy one get one free or 2 for 1 specials....I mean we are going to have to think out of the box fellas!!!!

 

another thing that killed the indusrty is the pro's the sponsored pro's

i know of at least a dozen or more who own 9 to 10 hotrod cars or and 11 sec all motor cars,

different classes to throw those guys in....??