nhra reaction to crisis (2 Viewers)

[mick]

Drag Racing Internet Magazine - Competition Plus.com - THIRTY-FIVE YEARS APART; NHRA'S REACTION TO CRISIS

finally at least a few comments.

 

[Ma Green]

Let's see....the world is in financial crisis; race car teams in every type of racing are dropping like flies; sponsors are bailing by the second and NHRA's answer is to raise prices to the pro racers and sponsors at the races. Ok... makes perfect sense to me.....NOT!

God forbid they should have to take a pay cut to help the cause. And lower ticket prices to put more butts in the seat....wouldn't want to do that. Eliminate one qualifying run to save racers money....won't to do that. Lower the admission price to door cars so more will come to National Events.....heaven forbid. Get together with the racers to see what can be done to insure full fields....that's just not done.

They can't even be bothered to put out any press releases even acknowledging there is a problem. Talk about having your head stuck in the sand. Too unbelivable to express. A fine mess the NHRA suits have created, all in the name of putting cash in their pockets.

 

[Joker]

Let's see....the world is in financial crisis; race car teams in every type of racing are dropping like flies; sponsors are bailing by the second and NHRA's answer is to raise prices to the pro racers and sponsors at the races. Ok... makes perfect sense to me.....NOT!

God forbid they should have to take a pay cut to help the cause. And lower ticket prices to put more butts in the seat....wouldn't want to do that. Eliminate one qualifying run to save racers money....won't to do that. Lower the admission price to door cars so more will come to National Events.....heaven forbid. Get together with the racers to see what can be done to insure full fields....that's just not done.

They can't even be bothered to put out any press releases even acknowledging there is a problem. Talk about having your head stuck in the sand. Too unbelivable to express. A fine mess the NHRA suits have created, all in the name of putting cash in their pockets.

Pretty much exactly what I thought

 

[mick]

regarding mr. archambeault's comments in article:

we plan to bring more creative promotions to the table in 2009

i'm all ears, your season starts in one month; awaiting announcements.

Case in point, Archambeault explained, limiting the number of qualifying runs lowers the ticket value. A lower ticket value affects the purse structure. A lower purse structure further affects many of the teams who are already cash-strapped. A purse restructure would adversely affect those regional racers who attend a limited amount of events.

- less runs = less operating expense for race teams
- ticket money ends up as part of purse? i'd like to know what small %.
what is powerade in place for?
- regional racers.......there are sooooo many. how many 'regional racers'
routinely do not qualify and maybe get 17th money? has that stopped
them from trying again because they did not get 1st round loser money?

Archambeault told CompetitionPlus.com that IMG, the sports marketing agency hired by the NHRA last season, has turned up the wick in their work with teams to procure sponsorships and bring awareness to the NHRA brand.

The unfortunate thing, he says, is that IMG had begun to make large strides forward and were prepared for a strong 2009 when the economic crisis hit, effectively slowing the marketplace.

- first public mention of IMG i've heard since NHRA announcement last april.
- "turned up the wick"...."begun to make large strides"....please explain.

In the meantime, the NHRA has taken steps to ensure their profitability by increasing membership fees by $5 as well as an increase in hospitality fees for professional teams who require additional pit space to accommodate their sponsorship obligations. The NHRA hasn’t raised spectator ticket prices for the coming season.

- how about corporate sponsors that require additional grandstand suite
space to accommodate their sponsorship obligations? also increased fees?
- hospitality is part of the game; i sure hope any increases passed onto
sponsors and teams are equivalent to similar venues (motorsports & others).
- let's not forget the additional pit space that should be available
due to low car counts - hospitality pit space should be on sale!
hello? let them play in your pit space this year at substantially reduced rates
(less than similar venues, motorsports and others)

bottom line: crooks on wall street and in gov't. have temporarily ruined things.
work longer, sell harder, spend if you can.

 

[megadeth]

I think Don Schumacher summed up the proper analysis in the last paragraph!

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

I think Don Schumacher summed up the proper analysis in the last paragraph!

Ditto, Bob!

I'm on the verge of being ashamed..................................no, I am ashamed. What a f!@*ing joke.

Sean D

 

[Vince]

I think I've had about enough from these knuckleheads running the NHRA. They should have been proactive, they should have had a good plan in place by now since the start of the season is going to be here shortly. It's not like this crisis just suddenly jumped up out of the clear blue. To just sit there and not say anything is just a slap in the face to all the loyal fans across the country.

The way I look at it, if people will continue to pay top dollar for a less than top dollar value show, those idiots will sit there in Glendora thinking that they're doing a good job, while a great number of our professional racers are sitting on the sidelines with no sponsorships. The best way to get our true feelings across is to just not go to any races this year. I'm OK with that. I'll watch it on TV. Maybe when they see the stands empty on Sunday, they'll finally get the message that something needs to be done.

It's not like the stick and ball sports, where owners make a ton of money off of the television rights. For the NHRA, ticket sales are the key, and the only way to truly let them know that we've had it and we're not going to take it any more.

 

[GregM784]

I am one racer. Agreed, but i'm sitting out the NHRA Heritage Series, and not going to any nationals. I intend on running with the ANRA out here this year. I expressed to the head honcho there, my feelings for getting boned by Compton, and he said i was far from the first person that is doing this (there goes my rebel streak).

I think if enough people do this same thing, it may make a dent. Probably not, but i can do what i can do.

 

[PJ]

I don't see how raising the price is going to help the teams. Its nice that they didn't raise the tickets, but kicking the teams while they are already down just doesn't seem liek the right move at all

 

[Rajunz]

regarding mr. archambeault's comments in article:


i'm all ears, your season starts in one month; awaiting announcements.



- less runs = less operating expense for race teams
- ticket money ends up as part of purse? i'd like to know what small %.
what is powerade in place for?
- regional racers.......there are sooooo many. how many 'regional racers'
routinely do not qualify and maybe get 17th money? has that stopped
them from trying again because they did not get 1st round loser money?



- first public mention of IMG i've heard since NHRA announcement last april.
- "turned up the wick"...."begun to make large strides"....please explain.



- how about corporate sponsors that require additional grandstand suite
space to accommodate their sponsorship obligations? also increased fees?
- hospitality is part of the game; i sure hope any increases passed onto
sponsors and teams are equivalent to similar venues (motorsports & others).
- let's not forget the additional pit space that should be available
due to low car counts - hospitality pit space should be on sale!
hello? let them play in your pit space this year at substantially reduced rates
(less than similar venues, motorsports and others)

bottom line: crooks on wall street and in gov't. have temporarily ruined things.
work longer, sell harder, spend if you can.

Actually, hospitality pit space should be FREE! That's where the sponsor's representatives hang out all day, NHRA should be making sure these people are having the time of their lives.

 

[tomcat]

Aside from the remarks the Don made in the last paragraph, which are spot on, this is the statement that caught my attn the most.

Archambeault said. “If you change the number of runs then you change the value of the ticket for those who are attending the event. You can’t look at just one thing in a vacuum and make a decision.”

OK Archie, if you haven't done anything to help the racers, and end up with less than a 16 car field, haven't you YOURSELF changed the number of runs and changed the value of the ticket for those attending the event? I can almost see his intention about the number of runs being decreased, but he is assuming the loss of value based on full fields. Guess he hasn't seen the list of T/F cars that won't be attending due to a lack of sponsorship. Hopefully some of the local or regional independents will help round out the fields so that this is a non-issue, but the mere fact that this statement was made leads me to believe that they still haven't grasped the seriousness of this situation.

 

[J.C.]

NHRA must still be on vacation. They'll realize that there is an economic crisis in the works when they return.

 

[clwill]

limiting the number of qualifying runs lowers the ticket value. A lower ticket value affects the purse structure. A lower purse structure further affects many of the teams who are already cash-strapped.

This might be true if it weren't for two things. First, from my calculations, the purse works out to be something close to the cost-per-run for most teams. Cut the number of runs (and the purse, if you must) and you'll probably break even with most teams.

But more importantly, does anyone really run for the purse? The purses long ago were overwhelmed by sponsorship dollars. As far as I can tell, the purse is kind of like the lottery -- really nice if you get it, but hardly an income strategy.

IMG, the sports marketing agency hired by the NHRA last season, has turned up the wick in their work with teams to procure sponsorships and bring awareness to the NHRA brand.

I'd like some verification of this. Has any pro team, DSR, JFR, KBR, KB Racing, ANY team been contacted by IMG with a lead for new sponsorships? Does anyone have any evidence of this upturned wick? Bobby? Anyone?

I've bitten my tongue time and again about NHRA's leadership, really hoping to believe they are working furiously to address the many issues in the sport. But the silence in the face of this most depressing of "silly seasons" is deafening...

 

[kingcobrafan]

I'm still waiting to read that we don't know the whole story and that Compton and Co. are about to unleash some blockbuster strategy that will make us feel warm and fuzzy when we see it in action.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Lets see now...times are bad, how can we help?? RAISE PRICES thats it. Brilliant nhra

Don sumed it up alright.

 

[Smiley]

In the meantime, the NHRA has taken steps to ensure their profitability by increasing membership fees by $5 as well as an increase in hospitality fees for professional teams who require additional pit space to accommodate their sponsorship obligations. The NHRA hasn’t raised spectator ticket prices for the coming season.

How do you increase profitability of a NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION? Any increase in profitability, would assumably go directly to the people running the show as "bonuses". When does that increased profitability roll back to the people putting on the show?

Not only are they doing it, they are rubbing it in all of our faces..

 

[Ron]

I'm still waiting to read that we don't know the whole story and that Compton and Co. are about to unleash some blockbuster strategy that will make us feel warm and fuzzy when we see it in action.

They are working on the next big thing which will move the NHRA to the next level.

After you read this be sure to change the batteries and reset your B.S. detector.

 

[Butch]

Before NHRA can react to a crisis they need to admit one exists. Let's be honest among ourselves. We have all discussed numerous issues here in the past, how many were ever addressed? How many things are still WRONG!

Right now everyone at Wally World thinks there is nothing wrong. In fact they are sitting back thinking to themselves that all is well that they have no worries. Maybe in a few weeks the empty pit spots and empty stands may wake them up. But by then to quote an old saying "the horses are out of the barn".

 

[none]

Did anyone notice in the article that apparently, Don Garlits believes the NHRA is reacting properly..........
Paraphrasing a bit but he actually says Don't do anything, just wait until things get better.

 

[Ma Green]

With regard to the Heritage Series, it is for the benefit of the Museum, not like the national events. Besides, there's a ton of nostalgia T/F & F/C's, so you know there's going to be full fields! Please don't penalize the Museum for the stupidity of the front office.