Quote:
Originally Posted by cutta
The fix, finding a funding source outside of the NHRA(that's not their responsibility) to invest money into all of the purse's for sportsman. If you find that, it fixes quite a few things for everyone and helps cars come back because there's more incentive.
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I don't think you have to look any further back than the original ADRL to see why that scenario isn't practical from a "business" standpoint. It was a great idea for both the racers (who got free entry) and the spectators (who only paid for parking), but even a multi-millionaire like Sheik Al-Thani got tired of losing money every year.
IMHO, the NHRA has a very simple business model -
- Provide a safe venue for the racers (and spectators) to participate at -
- Provide a competition structure that is exciting for the casual fan, and -
- Deliver a plan to provide a decent return-on-investment for its business partners (the sponsors)
The reality is that the majority of the spectators at most National Events, and those who tune-in to the Fox Sports broadcasts, are there to see the competitors that make the most noise, smoke and flames. These are also the folks that spend their money on the products that NHRA's business partners sell, both on and off the property. That's what matters to the corporate bean-counters. Coca-Cola needs to sell a whole lot of Mello-Yello or they'll put their millions elsewhere.
The NHRA has had many, many opportunities to provide the sportsman classes the national exposure that they should be getting, and other than the Alcohol classes and maybe 5 minutes on the "other" broadcast each week, that's it! And it's not like Bob Frey, Alan Rinehart and Lewis Bloom haven't tried to spot-light some of us!
The bottom line is that the coverage (and the money) goes to the competitors the casual fans and sponsors want to see.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cutta
Side bar: I'd love to see an economic breakdown of the NHRA and how they accumulate funds to settle the idea of who brings more value financially. I would love to know that and see evidence to back up whatever stance comes from it.
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Drag Racing Online (
www.dragracingonline.com) has been publishing the NHRA's tax returns for the last few years. They might answer a few questions.