Would you race for $275,000.00 Purse and $120,000.00 to win?
Governance and economic lessons, then and now. What can we learn?
Modern racing venues differ dramatically from what they were in the past, with the current system favoring pit lane instead of the fans.
As our populace wrestles with the realities in today’s U.S. economy of bloated government, too much of the Nanny State syndrome and fewer go getters relative to those in charge that don’t make anything, sell anything or run anything… I was taking a look in an analogous way, with reference to the plight of our beloved motorcycle racing in 2011.
Having been there and done that to a large degree, let’s take a look at the early ‘70s. Before everyone yawns and rolls their eyes, let’s take a peek down memory lane and see how far we have come – or not – from beer to champagne and the looming prospect of going back to beer again looking increasingly difficult!
THE BIG JING! Believe it or not, the early events that I was lucky enough to promote, here are the purses of the day back then and in today’s dollar according to the statistics site,
www.usinflationcalculator.com:
EVENT Early 70’s Dollars 2010 Dollars
1971 Ontario RR 200, Fontana CA Purse $50,000 $270,000
Winner John Cooper BSA First place: $20,000 $108,000
1972 Ascot 1/2 Mile/TT National Purse $15,000 $81,000
1973 First Laguna Seca RR National Purse $50,000 $246,000
1973 Carlsbad US MX Grand Prix Purse $30,000 $147,000
1971 Ascot weekly 1/2 Mile 20% of Gate, $ 2,500 per week $13,500
Average Adult ticket except weekly Ascot show $10 $50
At that time a private team was a transit van and a dad mechanic, or maybe a box van for one of the OEM teams and a couple of mechanics, no team manager, no salaried riders and no personal sponsors, so the Purse Money was the pay dirt. Also government was minimal, an AMA Sanction fee of around $2,000.00 for which they supplied a basic rule book, a local referee and a starter. The rest the work force/helper was up to me, the promoter and the track.
Promotion for a $50,000 purse offered at the first AMA National Road Race at Laguna Seca in 1973.
WHAT HAPPENED? Just as in today’s U.S. economy, the Government grew as did the sanction fees. The rule books got fatter and more complex. Racers were paid to race by the factory teams and their own personal sponsors. Sponsors paid the promoters to run races and over the years the financial matrix turned upside down. Instead of the reliance on the paying fan to pay the bills, the focus swung to reliance on money from outside the fences. From the competitors stand point, the purse in many cases was the last thing they checked and just viewed as a bonus in terms of walking about money.
THE RESULT? In today’s terms, just as in the U.S. economy, we grew a spending problem based on the false premise the river of income would never end. Well it has, with most factory teams disbanding, many private teams folding and sponsors fleeing in droves or realizing in this internet world that branding, promotion and advertising is a completely different animal.
Old school ad agencies are folding and being replaced by young propeller heads that get the word out through the viral and social Ethernet. Hard-copy magazines are disappearing to be replaced by online dominators of the sport such as this real-time periodical, Motorcycle-USA.
So now the traveling road show has to become more efficient. Promoters have to learn to ‘Promote’ again as the paying public become the most important factor to pay the bills.
CURRENT COSTS: A rough average cost to go racing in 2010, not including fixed assets etc.
DISCIPLINE COSTS NUMBER OF EVENTS
ROADRACING
Factory Team $3,000,000 11 Nationals plus testing etc.
Non Factory Team $1,500,000
Private Young Gun $200,000 One rider, two bikes
SUPERCROSS/OUTDOOR
Factory Team $3,000,000 12 Nationals & 17 Supercross
Non Factory Big Rig Team $1,200,000
FLAT TRACK
Top five individual Team - one rider $120,000 17 Nationals & 12 Non Nationals
These are really just fairly educated guesses, but without splitting hairs one can see problems and I leave it you to think about it relative to current conditions. Obviously, in the early and simpler days, a team was pretty much a transit van or at the higher levels a box van. It would be naive to think that progress marches on, but what stands out is the Flat Track guys who run a lot of events and rely on a purse as income - real old school but the series is suffering also.
Above is a picture from Ascot back in the day, probably 1971. Mark Brelsford on a Factory Harley won that night and a teenage Kenny Roberts won the Junior race on his 650 Yamaha Twin. How ever many fans turned up, the racers got 20 percent of the gate paid out by the AMA Referee in cash, then we all went to the 91 Club across the street for beers!
THE DANGER: If you and I, dear reader, went to an empty stadium to see the Rolling Stones and were in the front row, just the two of us, it would sound like crap and have no sense of an event or atmosphere. Pile in 30,000 people behind you and the show becomes a happening. It is the same Catch 22 with racing.
One has to get warm butts in the seats to create an event, they have to know what’s going on – no more skimpy generic programs – and the racing has to be simple and a competitive show. That requires more than a James Stewart or a Ben Spies. It requires a full field of competitive racers in all classes and, if they cannot afford the price of admission in terms of equipment cost, an ability to make a reasonable living in such a high risk sport and the infrastructure that goes with it, then we are back down to you and I sitting in the front row at a non event.
SOME ANSWERS: We have a spending problem Houston. The extravagance and false economy that were the driving force until recently have withered. It is a realignment of the stars. The sport in all forms will survive, but a cold hard look at harsh reality is due. Fans will still turn out to see a great show, but they need to be embraced and attention must be paid to what they want to see. Rules have to be made from the perimeter fence inwards instead of pit lane outwards for the benefit of those anointed with that special pass!
The cost of participation has to change and rules made simpler. Racers will always race and want to go fast and many now gravitate to track days, in both motocross and road racing, where a $130 check generates up to 300 riders on a Sunday! In business these days, offices and permanent staff such as sanctioning entities and organizations become smaller and more efficient as they embrace the world of cloud computing. Going back to the early days, the equation for the rider, the promoter and the public was much simpler. Here is what it will cost so I, the promoter, need X number of fans to turn up to cover the bills and make a profit.
We can’t go back but just as in politics today, a hard look has to be given to all aspects of cost, spending, rules and the end product. You cut your cloth according to the suit you’re making.
In order for the sport to grow and thrive racing must be approached in terms of what the spectator wants to see.
IF IT LIVES, WHERE DOES IT GO? I have to say there is a last bastion of hardcore professional racing that is living on life support, and that is Flat Track. They turn up in vans, wrench their own equipment, race for a purse, run as many non Nationals as local races from short track, indoor to ice racing, and the most the promoter can hope for is a full house, which in Dirt Track land is somewhere between 4000 to 6000 seats max. The simple math of ticket price times butts in seats is calculated with the hope that they don’t get strangled by over-burdensome costs from the government.
Outdoor Motocross does a great job by virtue of the fact that Davey Coombs and family control all aspects as well as run the events and pay around $70,000 plus purses. Supercross is a great show, but probably needs to look at the health of the also-rans before those racers start looking up at the stands and doing a head count against, my guess, a $90,000 payout. All of a sudden the bulk of the field are not being paid to play by outside entities, the Purse IS the major bread winner, not the sponsors and team managers who are fleeing from pit lane with empty pockets.
In road racing it is a case of time to ‘speculate to accumulate’. Some of the great things expected when DMG, aka NASCAR, took over from the AMA need to materialize. The show is getting better; the racing is good, but there needs to be some serious thought given to those who put on the show, those ‘other guys’ who race and those that own the stages/facilities where racing takes place. Also, encouragement needs to be given to the future racers of tomorrow in the form of an affordable entry level class - F450 of course - and finally getting into the heads of the fan by knowing why they come and what they want to see.
With Flat Track competitors racing largely for a purse, the need to eliminate extraneous costs and government fees is essential to its survival.
When I started out in the ‘70s and ‘80s, we only had a fulltime staff of three including me, plus several part-time horses for courses. But one thing was always preached: don’t let that trick pit pass make you arrogant as you stride down the start line with nose in the air! One office edict was that anyone connected to the promotion end had to go to a major event once or twice a year, join the great unwashed, pay to park, buy a program and be a punter for the day just to keep a realistic finger on the racing pulse.
It’s very easy to go from beer to champagne, but is even harder to go back to beer again! Who’s for a pint I ask? The guy buying the first round will be the spectator again, never more of a bigger factor than since those heady days in the early ‘70s before factory contracts, sponsor deals and governance costs. Above my office door was a quotation of 19th century philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, written before a mechanical wheel ever turned. “The art is not just to create a festival, but find those people who will come enjoy it”!
Back in the day, the fan was king and was the core source of income. If you and I are going to sit front row with a shouting hoard behind us, things have to change to make the spectator a king! Hopefully we all look to a bright future, but also understand and appreciate the past without living in it. Me included!
