Will America Embrace the USGP

[JeremySmith]

Good evening everyone!

What are your thoughts,will american race fans embrace F1..They say they have sold 250,000 tickets..over to you learned friends...By the way this realy is a wondeful site with some very well informed people who realy know there stuff..

[gomick]

i doubt it....do you think the west coast will here about it.

[Super Tourer]

I think it will get a better reception than the mid 1980's races.

I would imagine the American CART fan is now more 'europeanised' than they were back then, when virtually all the CART drivers were US good old boys like , Unser, Andretti, Mears, AJ Foyt,etc.

The CART fans are hooked up on a diet of speed that they get from Oval racing. One of the things that they didn't like about F1 was that it was too slow, which is hardly suprising when you think that the cars raced in places like the Detroit street circuit and a Las Vegas hotel car park...

I haven't seen the track, is it fast?

[Nuvolari]

The CART fans are hooked up on a diet of speed that they get from Oval racing. One of the things that they didn't like about F1 was that it was too slow [/QUOTE]

This shows a stunning ignorance of the series and its fans (among whom I count myself). Our complaints about F1 have nothing to do with it being "too slow." Instead, it's the rules and regulations which have drained the competitiveness from far too many races.

Will the USGP catch fire here? I have my doubts. I don't see it attracting a much wider circle of fans than the open-wheel series now have.

[Super Tourer]

I was referring to the pre-rules and regulations era,when the F1 cars and Indy cars were of a similar specification and F1 itself had closer racing.

Maybe I should replace the word slow with spectacle, in that american race fans were used to more spectacular racing like Nascar for example. In the mid-80's the attendance at Nascar races was always higher than USA Grand Prix.

I still maintain that the race fans of that era and today's worldwide race fans are different in their outlook.

Ignorance works both ways, up until relatively recently how many F1 fans knew much about or watched Cart races.

It wasn't until Mansell went over to Indy that the F1 community took any notice of Cart, regarding it as a mere national series. Conversely, how many more Cart fans watch F1 because Villeneuve moved over to F1 from CART and how many more will watch GP's next year to see how Montoya fares.

Forget the rules and regs, its the cross pollination of drivers that has created interest in both series.

[EERO]

I doubt it will any impression on most Americans. despite Auto Racing being the "Most Popular Sport" in the US, I know NO ONE who is a fan. Formula 1 is also perceived as a European forum and with no American presence, I doubbt that anuone will get worked up about it.
As of yet, I have seen no mention of it in the popular press.

An added disadvantage for the race is that it will take place during the Olympics. This country is obsessed with that quadrennial event. It makes me sad, as an American who has been a rabid F1 fan for nearly 30 years, i think the whole event could have been handled better.

[Nuvolari]

I'm afraid the sad fact is auto racing can barely get space in most major newspapers, so crowded out is it by baseball, basketball and football. Even the "newspaper of record," the vaunted New York Times, rarely does more than offer a four- or five-line summary of races, tucked away somewhere below curling or badminton.

But, I suppose it's always been thus.

When I was a kid in the Midwest forty years ago, I thought "auto racing" was the Indy 500. Never heard about the sport any other time of year.

[kuchi]

I think that th americans will love to have an F1 gp back to the land where it all began, but I don´t know how much of a burned out house can indy be. Some of the local people will be supporting the colts, their football team on sunday so we might see some empty seats.

[KC]

A lot will depend on how much success the race will appear to have. In the overall scheme of things it will not be bigger than 1) the Super Bowl, 2) The Indy 500, 3) the Daytona 500, 4) the Brickyard 400 and 5) the World Series. Is Formula 1 prepared to realize that the USGP will not be the biggest sporting event in America? In places like Italy and Malaysia the Grand Prix is one of their biggest sporting events of the year, but it will take a back seat to American football, American baseball, and NASCAR in America. If Bernie and the FIA are not willing to understand this and accept it then the USGP will be doomed to fail.

Many hard core GP fans will never be able to understand this, but we have so many professional sports in North America that it gives the sporting fan so much else to watch or go and see. I religiously watch every GP, but I also watch CART, ALMS, football, major league soccer, and hockey.

[botsquad]

as of a couple of days ago. all tix, including gen admin. are sold for race day.

this is unheard of in cart.

its going to be pretty awsome to a standing start in front a packed house at ims.

fox is going the extra mile too.
live coverage of friday practice, sat qualifying, and of course the usgp on sunday.

[Oldfield]

I don't know about Americans not being interested in F1, the breakdown here in Indy is that out of the 250,000 attending 25,000 will be coming from other countries. Although 250,000 is short of what would classify as a good crowd at the 500 or Brickyard, it must be remembered that not all the grandstands are being used for the Grand Prix. The closest hotels with any rooms left are 1.5 to 2 hours away, this is pretty unusual for Indy which holds a lot of conventions throughout the year and rarely runs out of hotel space. Although I must admit I'm disappointed with the local coverage concerning the Grand Prix, which is almost none. If it were this close to the 500 or Brickyard that's all you would hear about. But I suppose that's typical American coverage.

[Jay]

Yes, the majority of the people attending are Indy500 ticket holders that wished to retain their seat for the Grand Prix. I have my doubts as to how many people will renew next year.

I think it will be a success for say 5 years, and then, due to low attendance, it will fold.

As for the lack of press, I am not sure that having a ton of press coverage is important. In Canada, the Canadian GP doesn't get much (any) coverage outside of Montreal until the few days before the race. Yet, the Canadian GP is a success year after year.

I have to agree with Jacques Villeneuve about Americans in F1. To make it a success, F1 would have to "have 16 races in the US and have nothing but American drivers".

The US does deserve a GP, it is just too bad they won't embrace one for more than a few years.

[EERO]

Jay, Watkins Glen WAS a success-crowds over 100,000 every year and the biggest purse in F1. It was greed that took the race away from its fan base and to venues like Phoenix, Las Vegas and Dallas where no one cared.

[dms]

Although following F1 is not a common pastime here in the US, I do know that there is a small, but loyal following here on the West Coast. We are certainly hoping that the USGP will be a success.

I am looking forward to attending as my F1 experience to date (despite currently living in Long Beach, CA, very close to a former venue) has been limited to television.

Also, I do not believe that most tickets were purchased by 500 ticket holders as we, and several friends, were able to get very good seats without having previously purchased tickets at Indy.

[Jay]

Eero, you are right, Watkins Glen was a success, and it is too bad that F1 can't go back there.

F1 may become a success in the US with the right marketing. However, judging by how Cart is doing in the US, as it shifts from being an "All American" series to an international series, we shouldn't expect these crowds to last.

[Jared]

I say the race will be successful the first few years. All tickets have been sold out, and hotels are charging $200 per night. (I know, I'm going up there next week.) The people I have talked to up there say the Grand Prix is generating more buzz than the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400.

Look, all it would take it for an American driver to get into a decent F1 ride. Or, better yet, an American team to enter F1. (I know about the 12-teams-only rule, but pay Bernie enough and he'll do anything.)
And no, Jay, as well as other anti-Americans here, I'm not saying that F1 should become an "American" sport to succeed. Look at the popularity of the 1960's and 1970's F1 races in America.

As for me, I usually go to the two NASCAR Daytona races. However, I think I might ditch those two next year to save the money for the full USGP experience.

[Nuvolari]

Without a significant American presence -- and that would include a high-profile driver the likes of a Jeff Gordon -- I don't think F1 will expand beyond the core open-wheel fan base.

[Regs]

No, Americans do not need to dominate or totally Americanize F1 for it to be interesting to an American audience. And I found JV's statement silly and baseless, but considering the source I understand where he's coming from. But having either a driver or team would be helpful. But niether is likely to happen as has been pointed out in other threads that domestic advertisers are not going to put their dollars, especially the kind of money F1 demands, on something that probably generates less than a 1 share on average at home. The larger companies have overseas divisions with thier own advertising and sponsorship budgets that they spend at thier discretion. And they won't sponsor a forign (American in this case) driver or team. Domestically they'll say goto to NASCAR, thats where the ratinigs are. End of story. Forget about what may or may not be the pinnicle of this or that. Or what may be qualitatively better. In this market the ratings are at NASCAR. And when something else comes along, lawn bowling say, that yanks down bigger ratings numbers then they will trip over themselves to pump money into it.So so much for American participation.