When will the 2010 schedule be released?

[SarahFan]

Scary, how?

BTW I do not think Milwaukee is dead just yet. It's been declared dead before and someone has stepped in to revive it. I am witholding judgement until spring on this one.

Gary

I don't think Milwaukee is dead just yet either.... but i feel a couple others are FWIW...

but to answer your question....China and frankly south america do nothing for american sponsors....

so Apex or a similar chinese company kick in millions to the league for the events.....and the league makes a few bucks...

in the mean time Boost Mobile (just an example) whose 5 million budget (again just an example) says 4 of the seventeen races are out of the country in a market(s) were not trying to reach......so instead of 5mil the sponsorship package is only worth 3 mil.....(and don't get me started on the Vs .35's).....

so now we have revolveing schedule of unstable events being telcast on an obscure TV channel and the teams are expected to find sponsorship to PAY for world class racing talent......

it's not like there isn't a precedent set here..... this road map to failure was paved by CC/CART and the IRL following in it's tail lights....

and long time CART protagonists like IC are suggesting it's the way to go...

that IMO is scary

[garyshell]

No real reason I can think of, other than it needs to survive. My previous post was in response to the hypocritical suggestion that "show me the money" is now preferable to having a good series of races. I guess it's all good when the IRL does it.

It's not that one is preferred over the other, they are inextricably inter-related. You can't have a "good series of races" without the promoters and the teams being shown the money, so why do you think the two are not related? I'd love to see them run an Ansan but it's not going to happen unless it is ECONOMICALLY feasible for the teams and the promoter.

Gary

[garyshell]

but to answer your question....China and frankly south america do nothing for american sponsors....

so Apex or a similar chinese company kick in millions to the league for the events.....and the league makes a few bucks...

Are the sponsors paying for eyeballs at the track or eyeballs on the tube? If it's the former your premise is correct, if it is the latter then your premise doesn't hold a drop of water. I'd be willing to bet the sponsors really don't care about eyes at the track. Or if they do, it is secondary to the eyes on the tube.

Gary

[SarahFan]

Are the sponsors paying for eyeballs at the track or eyeballs on the tube? If it's the former your premise is correct, if it is the latter then your premise doesn't hold a drop of water. I'd be willing to bet the sponsors really don't care about eyes at the track. Or if they do, it is secondary to the eyes on the tube.

Gary

both....

I'm sure there is value in both....more so one way or the other depending on the sponsor...

and you can discount my premise all you like...

but like i said ..... the precedent was set with CC/CART

[garyshell]

both....

I'm sure there is value in both....more so one way or the other depending on the sponsor...

and you can discount my premise all you like...

but like i said ..... the precedent was set with CC/CART

I am not trying to discount your premise at all. I am just trying to figure out if there is really any value or not to overseas venues. I know some folks were saying there is no values to the sponsors. Clearly that is not the case. The question is how MUCH value.

Gary

[NickFalzone]

Ken, was CART's strategy (before split) a failure? IIRC it was doing just fine with that schedule. Personally? I'd like more domestic races and stuff like Motegi airing live at 1 am does not interest me. But if the series NEEDS foreign races to stay afloat, then I'd rather see an IRL 2010 schedule that includes 3 foreign races and 14 domestic ones rather than a 2010 schedule that has zero races total. I'd also point out that F1 has done pretty well financially with Bernie's plan of going to whatever tracks pay the most. TV viewers are solid for F1 whether it's a race at Silverstone or Istanbul, and I really do think that sponsors care much more about the tv ratings than the track location. Versus getting .4's is a much bigger issue here than whether there's a race in Brazil or not.

[indycool]

Regardless of who should make the most money, there MUST be a good balance. The fan must get qa good show for his. The promoter must have a good show for his. The teams need viable sponsors and purse for theirs. The sanctioning body needs to get its cash. The TV people need a good show.

When any of those are way out of balance, the entire sport is. The IRL is never going to be rich and I doubt NASCAR is what anyone would consider rich as a company. But the sanctioning body is the conduit for the rest to happen.

[SarahFan]

I am not trying to discount your premise at all. I am just trying to figure out if there is really any value or not to overseas venues. I know some folks were saying there is no values to the sponsors. Clearly that is not the case. The question is how MUCH value.

Gary

take this for what ever it's worth gary...

but IMO.... it's less about any single event... such as brazil or china..

and more about the fact there has nothing beenresembleing a stable schedule in AOWR since the split.... for either series...reality is it was revolveing even prior to the split, i know that


it has been a revolveing door of events......if I was a sponsor that would be scary to me..... especially when events such as Milwaukee are on such shaky ground

[garyshell]

take this for what ever it's worth gary...

but IMO.... it's less about any single event... such as brazil or china..

and more about the fact there has nothing beenresembleing a stable schedule in AOWR since the split.... for either series...reality is it was revolveing even prior to the split, i know that


it has been a revolveing door of events......if I was a sponsor that would be scary to me..... especially when events such as Milwaukee are on such shaky ground

Other than NASCAR what series has not had an ever changing list of events? Again, if eyes at the track are the focus then that makes sens as being an issue. If eyes on the couch at home are the focus, the venue matters little.

Gary

[indycool]

Ken doesn't understand, Gary, that if there's no money, there's no race. Even his beloved CC backed away from Ansan and China.