Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldtony
But ff1champ, motor racing has in the past attracted much larger crowds as a percentage of population.
Here in Queensland both Lakeside and SPIR have been packed for both Tasman and ATCC rounds. Kieth Williams used to claim 60,000 at SPIR in those days and there were a couple of meetings when I was there when it certainly looked about the number. The one race ATCC at Lakeside that Pete G won in the Cortina was packed like sardines.
Nowadays it seems to take counting the crowd over three days, a gratis rock concert and spending a lot of government money to get the Indy crowds above the one day crowd numbers of the past, and that is drawing from more than double the population base.
I still say it is the core product that is going stale.
P.S Does Muscle car Masters still draw the massive turnout at EC?
|
Muscle car Masters? I don't know. Anyway, while watching the NFL play-offs, I did take some time to think about possible factors regarding crowds and a response to this post. I only have possible factors, since I wasn't around if don't know for certain, but you can confirm this. But before I do, you state "I still say it is the core product that is going stale." What is the core product? What is going stale?
As far as the crowd figures in QLD, back then, are concerned. Did marketing play a huge part in those figures occurring? With SP, did the fact it was an event within the town, a place to go to, contribute? I can imagine, a one-off ATCC was a big event those days and, as opposed to being just a part of a series, being the host track/town/city would've been big news within the city/town. So, the fact it was genuinely a huge event, as opposed to a "fake" big event like the Adelaide/Sydney/GC race, I suspect, could've made a difference. Had a one-off ATCC continued til now, with a rotation of host track, at an accepted and well known time of the year, I suspect, the noise created about it would trump any current V8SC race atm (Bathurst excluded), it'd be like a mini GP. Now, that's what I'm imagining, you might tell me something different.
I'd also say, the emotional attachment the community has with the event contributes to it's success. Compare the Adelaide and Sydney 500's for instance. The people of Adelaide are happy to have the event there, it's creates a buzz of an event happening, it's something happening that interstaters can come and see, it's something to get excited about fills the void of not hosting the GP. With Sydney, there's no attachment there, it doesn't do anything for Sydney "It promotes the Olympic precinct"...Pfft! Are you freakin kidding? (rhetorical question). Sydney has all the unpopularity the GP has in Melbourne without the benefit of a GP being there. That's all I got atm.