Fixing NHRA Drag Racing (2 Viewers)

[nunya]

NHRA first needs to get their head out of the sand and help the racers procure sponsors. Their previous policy of sponsoring a team first before they could sponsor a race is gone due to their greed. They are going to have to take the bullet one way or the other.
My plan.
1. NHRA could help teams get sponsors by giving race title sponsor and present sponsor rights to the companies that sponsor a team.
Yes NHRA will be giving up money......but many races don't have sponsors now and nothing is worse for their business than short fields and empty stands, and believe me these two things will go hand and hand and cause them to lose money if it continues.
So The Oreilly Auto Parts Winternationals presented by UPS could keep 2 pro teams out there racing.....X 24 races has 24 TF an 24 FC at every race. Full fields mean full stands so NHRA wins..Teams win and Sponsors Win.
Thoughts?

 

[J.C.]

The optimistic side of my brain hopes that the NHRA brass are sitting in a conference room 10 hours a day trying to come up with a way to keep the ship afloat.

The pessimistic side of my brain thinks that they are taking the holidays off with no worries whatsoever.

Which side of my brain wins?

 

[tnitro2]

I'm gonna take the approach of the "economic advisor" from Saturday Night Live........."FIX IT"........three words for you...."FIIIIIIX........IIIIIITTTTTT...........FIXIT"

 

[Solid Rock]

I have to think that they are taking the holidays off.
Keep in mind that they think so much of the pro classes that they tried to sell them off about a year ago.
I think the biggest portion of their earnings come from the sportsmen ranks.
They pay to race.
They pay for each crewperson to get in to the races.
They pay to have a competition license.
They have to be NHRA members to hold a license. They pay for that.
They have to have chassis stickers on their cars. They pay for that.
They have to have however many SFI stickers on the various safety equipment on their cars. They pay for that. I heard years ago that NHRA got $5.00 for each SFI sticker. It's probably more now.
You take that by how ever many racers there are and however many members there are and your talking some serious money.

The only reason I am a member is to keep my competition license so I can run my car.

I really don't much care about NHRA or IHRA any more. Give me the smaller independent nostalgia events any day and I'll be happy.
Those are the kinds of races that got me interested in drag racing oh, so many years ago.

 

[PJ]

although I'm no fan of the policies nhra has done with sponsors (such as chasing off competitors and such) however in today's economic times its hard to pin all this on Glendora. yes they could have made things easier but right now I'm not sure there is much that they could do for an immediate fix. Ideally it becomes a learning lesson for new policies that will help in the long term.



Just thinking out loud now but as it appears there will be short fields this season, what about going to a regional pro circuit for this year. Cut cost for everyone. Sponsors may be more inclined to spend money for 6-8 races. Also it would open up to regional businesses giving it a try. The countdown has already taken away what a championship is so they could have each divisional winner or the top XX show up at the finals to race for it all.
Not saying I want this, but just thinking out loud about what could be done in the short term.

Divisions wouldn't break down the same as sportman

Englishtown
Concord
Richmond
Bristol
Atlanta
Gainesville


Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Pomona
Pomona
Seattle
Sonoma


Phoenix
Topeka
Brainerd
Denver
Houston
Dallas


Madison
Norwalk
Reading
Chicago
Indianapolis
Memphis

 

[vegasnitro]

NHRA just needs to make it more conducive for teams to do business AT THE TRACK. If the teams could do business at the track ... the rest would take care of itself.

1. Allow competing sponsors in, to hell with the "exclusives" for a minute. Give the exclusives signage at all tracks on the walls, on the tickets, in the official program and in the pits, or presenting sponsor status at some races so there is an actual value to their deal with NHRA. But you gotta allow competing brands signage on the cars and to do a little business in the pits. I can understand Jim Jannard protecting his Oakley deal a few years ago when Snake tried to bring Spy in, but was it really good for the sport? (PS I love JJ, I am not hating on him by any means, he just played by the rules as they were written to him) Is Powerade preventing Gatorade good for the sport? How about the energy drink fiasco? What if FedEx wanted to run a car? What if any new beer wanted to come in?

2. Cut back on commissions at the track for the NHRA out of the souvenir trailers. I hear 30 cents out of every dollar from the Midway goes straight to NHRA, NOT including what goes to the track, which varies track by track. I understand that most people wouldn't be there unless it is an NHRA National Event, but NHRA needs to understand that most people wouldn't be there without the Forces and Bernsteins of the world. Cut the commission back to 15-20%, NHRA still gets a slice and the teams get a bigger piece of the pie. More money equals a better oppurtunity for those wanting to race off of TShirt sales and the like. It could certainly go a long way to making up the difference of sponsor shortages. This also goes for the supporting sponsors ... I have never understood how MSD or Edelbrock and the like could make the nut of taking that rig to the races, stocking it with parts and staff, and make any money.

3. NHRA has to cut down costs on hospitality space in the pits and allow teams to cater their own hospitality areas. Wining and dining corporate America is the way to get/keep sponsors, and NHRA makes it prohibitavely costly to have suit and tie folks out to the races.

NONE of my thoughts will EVER come to fruition, as NHRA is just not going to give up that income in the short term ... and that myopic view of the NHRA board trying to protect their salaries and bonuses is going to have long term ramifications on the sport we love. What they fail to understand is that they would make MORE money long term, by tightening up the belt short term.

My last idea is even more radical, and should cost NHRA less money. Cut back the TV show to 2 hours. It is too long and on too late right now for the east coast folks on Sundays. 3 hours is just too long, there are too many replays of the same runs over and over, and all the same players give the same interviews round after round. Tighten up the TV program NHRA, and rating should improve and you would be spending 33% less money for the time lease on ESPN2.

 

[d'kid]

PJ swap Reading for E-town and ya got a deal...

and Indy and P1 should sit as the only Two National Events... World Finals can 'float' like it did in 'the good old days'

d'kid

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

I totally agree, Chris. I was going to say "especially point number 2", but after re-reading, all points are pretty damn strong.

Greed is finally taking its toll. Pretty hard for me to feel bad for a sanctioning body that's paying the Big Dawg 3/4-Mil when they are in the shape they're in.................................and know it.

Well put, Chris.

Sean D

 

[Reese]

Keep in mind that they think so much of the pro classes that they tried to sell them off about a year ago.
I think the biggest portion of their earnings come from the sportsmen ranks.
They pay to race.
They pay for each crewperson to get in to the races.
They pay to have a competition license.
They have to be NHRA members to hold a license. They pay for that.
They have to have chassis stickers on their cars. They pay for that.
They have to have however many SFI stickers on the various safety equipment on their cars. They pay for that. I heard years ago that NHRA got $5.00 for each SFI sticker. It's probably more now.
You take that by how ever many racers there are and however many members there are and your talking some serious money.

I am suprised to see they haven't eliminated the sportsman grade point system or let all sportsmans classes compete at all national events. Since they will not have that much pro cars, they have to make up the money(lack of fans) and they may need more fillers.

 

[vegasnitro]

I totally agree, Chris. I was going to say "especially point number 2", but after re-reading, all points are pretty damn strong.

Greed is finally taking its toll. Pretty hard for me to feel bad for a sanctioning body that's paying the Big Dawg 3/4-Mil when they are in the shape they're in.................................and know it.

Well put, Chris.

Sean D

Thanks for the kind words Sean, but you should take everything I say with a grain of salt ... after all ... I am the same guy that was standing 10 feet from you photographing your car at the GoodGuys event ... and didn't even have the wherewithall to introduce myself. DOH!

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Thanks for the kind words Sean, but you should take everything I say with a grain of salt ... after all ... I am the same guy that was standing 10 feet from you photographing your car at the GoodGuys event ... and didn't even have the wherewithall to introduce myself.

ROTFLMAO!!! That was pretty funny, huh?!

Good points, nonetheless!

Sean D

 

[Solid Rock]

Armand, I wouldn't surprise me to see that happen.

 

[clwill]

Just thinking out loud now but as it appears there will be short fields this season, what about going to a regional pro circuit for this year. Cut cost for everyone. Sponsors may be more inclined to spend money for 6-8 races. Also it would open up to regional businesses giving it a try. The countdown has already taken away what a championship is so they could have each divisional winner or the top XX show up at the finals to race for it all.
Not saying I want this, but just thinking out loud about what could be done in the short term.

Divisions wouldn't break down the same as sportman... <snip>

PJ, you're on to something. Maybe this even fixes the "countdown"

Have a NHRA East, NHRA West, etc. just like they do in MLB, NFL, NBA, etc. Maybe they have more than just the six races you mention -- maybe even double up on a couple to get to 8 races? Teams that compete across divisions only get credit for 8 races total all year.

Then for the "playoffs", have the top 3 teams in each division make the "finals", and then the teams with the next 4 highest points across all divisions as "wildcards". That makes 16 teams. Then have one weekend (rotates around) be the "Super Bowl" (or whatever). Qualifying just sets up the pairings. Winner takes all.

Split the now huge purse (the powerade/full throttle money) into six parts. Divide four into the divisional winners and the last two for the championship race.

Again, this is just off the top of my head, but this could be cool.

 

[Rajunz]

Is there an ecko in here? Oh wait, this was a year ago!

http://www.nitromater.com/nhra/13123-you-know-economy-bad-when.html

 

[PJ]

cook I like those ideas


CLW- thanks, I'm threw it out as a very short term fix until things bounce back. Perhaps by regionalizing it would bring in some smaller companies that could regrow with it

 

[NHRADeuce]

Few things to keep in mind -

1. While sportsman racers spend a lot to race, the bulk of NHRA's income comes from ticket sales. At any particular event you'll have like 1500 sportsman racers compared to 80k-100k fans.

2. Unless something has changed, souvenir cut is 20% for NHRA. Still too high IMO, this works out to be nearly half the profit since it is based on gross sales.

3. As far as I know teams can cater their own hospitality any way they please. There are several teams that have chefs just for that purpose. Every team I've ever had the pleasure to dine with did their own deal whether it was for 10 people or 100.

4. Title rights to a race used to go for 300-400k or so (3-4 years ago). Even if the price had doubled it's no where near enough to run a team much more than a few races.

5. There are a lot of team expenses that NHRA can't do anything about. Travel, hotels, diesel fuel, and feeding the crew are insanely expensive. 10k per race for a small crew, a lot more for a big team.

What NHRA could do a lot better is opening the door to for racers to get them in front of potential sponsors. Funny Car racer from Fontuckey has zero chance of getting a meeting with CEO from Big Corp. NHRA has a much better chance of using their corporate network to get Funny Car guy a face to face with CEO guy.

Instead of offering weak support once a racer has gotten his foot in the door, they should be out knocking on the doors most racers would have a hard time even getting in the building.

 

[vegasnitro]

Few things to keep in mind -

1. While sportsman racers spend a lot to race, the bulk of NHRA's income comes from ticket sales. At any particular event you'll have like 1500 sportsman racers compared to 80k-100k fans.

80-100K sounds awfully high to me. 35-50K feels about right to me.

2. Unless something has changed, souvenir cut is 20% for NHRA. Still too high IMO, this works out to be nearly half the profit since it is based on gross sales.

Agreed, too high. Cut it back some. NHRA only needs to wet their beak, not drink half of the fountain.

3. As far as I know teams can cater their own hospitality any way they please. There are several teams that have chefs just for that purpose. Every team I've ever had the pleasure to dine with did their own deal whether it was for 10 people or 100.

Can only cater your own deal if you are willing to pay NHRA a big fee for not using their "approved catering service in hospitality areas". I believe it is $1500 a race. Some say whaaaa $1500 a race ... I say multiply that by 24.

5. There are a lot of team expenses that NHRA can't do anything about. Travel, hotels, diesel fuel, and feeding the crew are insanely expensive. 10k per race for a small crew, a lot more for a big team.

Agreed ... NHRA has no direct control over these costs, but they can retract a few races until things turn around. 24 races is a hell of a strain on teams budgets, not to mention the sheer amount of time on the road.

What NHRA could do a lot better is opening the door to for racers to get them in front of potential sponsors. Funny Car racer from Fontuckey has zero chance of getting a meeting with CEO from Big Corp. NHRA has a much better chance of using their corporate network to get Funny Car guy a face to face with CEO guy.

Instead of offering weak support once a racer has gotten his foot in the door, they should be out knocking on the doors most racers would have a hard time even getting in the building.

Agreed again ... this is one of the things NASCAR does very well.

 

[Solid Rock]

I also think the 80 to 100k number is high, but whatever it is, keep in mind that the pro payouts and other operating expenses have to be paid out of these monies. The sportsman pay their own way plus.

 

[Muddy]

From prior posts:

Three qualifing laps, two on Friday, one on Saturday AM and eliminations Saturday afternoon/evening. No Sunday, it all ends Saturday night/evening and you eliminate one day and night of crew expenses, one lap qualifying expense and overhead of the track. I'm just throwing that in for discussion. Of course that's what all us old geezers grew up with so it sounds almost normal.

Eliminate one mag, rev limiter, percentage rule, only 8 spartk plugs, no more than 45% overdrive, no larger than a 1271 blower.

Why is NHRA involved in the transaction between the sponsor and the racer? They need to have a information packet for any racer to purchase and get the heck out of the way unless invited in. They need to market their program and let the owners market theirs. They darn sure don't have a right to any funds that are for a car.

 

[clwill]

Why is NHRA involved in the transaction between the sponsor and the racer? They need to have a information packet for any racer to purchase and get the heck out of the way unless invited in. They need to market their program and let the owners market theirs. They darn sure don't have a right to any funds that are for a car.

The sanctioning body's role is to insure the safety and fairness of the sport, promote it with excellent media coverage, and to provide an environment that makes it easy for the teams to be successful. They need to be doing a lot more than an information packet. They need to be, especially at a time like this, a matchmaker between teams and potential sponsors.

A previous poster had it right, there needs to be a concerted effort to introduce the sport to as many new people as possible. With a special effort on getting the marketing people from any company out to an event. Make it a special Friday night event -- give them a free ticket to see qualifying then have a special tent event for these invited guests (NHRA foots the entire bill.) Get the drivers in there, do the q&a thing maybe, wine and dine them. If Force and Schumacher don't show, who cares -- they already have sponsors -- get every driver (and crew chief) from the alcohol classes on up in that tent. 99% of them are good folks who are fun to talk to, and will make friends.

I've said it before, it's times like this that separate the winners from the losers. If NHRA wants to be a winner here, they need to get really creative, really think outside the box. There are companies that are winning in this down economy, and many would want to be associated with "fast", "strong", "loud and mean".

Advertising in motorsports isn't all about selling the people in the stands, it's about many things. Associating with winners. Being seen as a fast, agile, or strong company. Having the teams do personal appearances and get crowds to the stores. Having a great outing and special "inside" experience for employees, customers, and potential customers. Being different that the competition.

Selling NHRA shouldn't be the job of every team, each and every one in their own way, it should be NHRA's job.