Drawing some paralells - Grand Prix vs Offshore

[cigdaze]

Hey guys, for what it's worth, I thought that some of you may appreciate a slightly different perspective. The grand prix was in town this weekend, and it was tremendous. Good news, amidst a recession, in a city that has everything to offer, except a boat race.

I was reading this article in the SP Times, and though some of this may be poignant.

Grand Prix showed city at its best

In Print: Tuesday, April 7, 2009

St. Petersburg looked picture-perfect this past weekend. Perfect weather, large crowds and Indy race cars roaring along the waterfront produced priceless international publicity. The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is a major league event that reflects well on the community, and it should be a long-term fixture.

In an economic recession, the business generated by the race was particularly welcome. Hotels, restaurants and downtown sidewalks were filled with visitors and residents throughout the weekend. Race drivers talked up the city in interviews, and television coverage beamed to more than 200 countries offered frequent aerial views of the beautiful downtown waterfront. The race's success reaffirmed St. Petersburg's ability to handle big downtown crowds and host large events without major disruptions outside the immediate area.

It is important remember that the city's success with street racing did not occur overnight. There were years of stops and starts, of flirtations with less prestigious racing leagues that did not take hold, of different courses that were not as picturesque. The city's perseverance, the emergence of Andretti Green Promotions as the race promoter and the unification of the competing Indy car leagues have combined to create a signature event. Mayor Rick Baker has good reason to treat this as economic development and to be protective of the Grand Prix when balancing the needs of other downtown attractions, from the potential of a new baseball stadium to the new Dali museum that is under construction.

While some downtown condo owners are inconvenienced by the noise and the race barricades, an engaging city offers a broad array of events — from sports to museums to concerts to the Mainsail Arts Festival later this month. No single event is going to appeal to every resident, but St. Petersburg's diverse offerings in an accessible downtown are enriching the city's public life. The Grand Prix offers top-caliber racing and postcard views that reflect well on the city, and its future here should be bright.

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article990189.ece

And if you're interested in a few shots of mine, see here:
http://www.seriousoffshore.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5718

 

[cigdaze]

As I was there, I was jotting down a few notes of things that I thought were great for the fans:

-Centralized Race Village, with Live audio and video, announcers, jumbotrons, PA systems.
-On the PA system, they had good, detailed Driver Introductions and Class breakdowns, for those who had no clue (like me). It went a long way to understanding who's racing who, and what the qualifications are. The class structure was simple and obvious, which went a long way in my book.
-Here's the coolest thing: Cars in different classes had different identification lights on the top of the cars. You know what class they were in by seeing the light color. Also, on the sides of the car were a series of 5 LED lights. The top 5 cars in each class had the appropriate light lit up, and it was all controlled by race control remotely. It made a world of difference.

There wasn't a single person who could say I have no idea what's going on...including me, a first timer to a race like this.

Food for thought.

 

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

That is great to have that in your town. Did it cost it get in the stands?

Incidentally, OSS started a similar thing this season. The points of the boats are colored according to class.

a couple of examples.

Orange Cat OB, Red, Cat light.






Thanks for sharing Nick

 

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

A race village, A great announcing team , promotion before hand, hand out programs are all usually included.

The Live TV coverage is the deal maker.

Selling seats goes a long way too.

 

[cigdaze]

That is great to have that in your town. Did it cost it get in the stands?

Incidentally, OSS started a similar thing this season. The points of the boats are colored according to class.

a couple of examples.

Orange Cat OB, Red, Cat light.

Thanks for sharing Nick

Yes it is, it's been a great month here for activity between this and the poker run.

You bet'cher'azz it costs to get in! Why shouldn't it, know what I mean?...I can't think of many things that don't cost to attend.

It's great that OSS is somehow coding the boats. That's a big step in the right direction. (now, if there only weren't so many of them [but that's a whole 'nother topic of discussion]).

 

[cigdaze]

A race village, A great announcing team , promotion before hand, hand out programs are all usually included.

The Live TV coverage is the deal maker.

Selling seats goes a long way too.

Yep. TV's the kicker. It ain't cheap, but without it...
You saw it on tv, right?...whoever put that coverage together has it going on. You have to garner excitement, showcase the host city, bio everyone involved.....you have to make someone watching at home say to themselves "That's cool, I gotta go to that next year."

 

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

There is an ongoing discussion among the cat owners to consolidate the 3 Cat classes. It is understood there is a need among the equipment owners involved.

The Smoking the Sound OSS race thread has taken up the subject if you wish to read more. http://www.seriousoffshore.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5679

I invite anyone how wasn't witnessed a OSS event weekend to do one this season.

 

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

Yes, I saw it on TV

I agree.

 

[MANITIE]

I was down there last week....the publisity was great....it seemed like everyday for the 5 days I was down there it was all over the news and in the papers....

 

[Pete B]

IMHO, you cant compare the two due to the fact, Auto companies get behind racing, where as Marine companys dont, (besides Mercury, and Brunswick pulled the plug on that). You dont see OL or Nor-Tech, etc throw a cool million on a event so it would get the expousure of a indy car race or such. One the industry is not that big, and with current economic woes, you wont see it anytime soon, if ever!

It is just my opinion, but the we are only at the tip of the Iceberg when it comes to the economic woes this country will expierence. We are no longer the leaders in the industrial world, or financial world.

Motorsports will be directly affected, as to many this is a hobby. The fall of Magazines, which rely on advertising is just a example of loss of advertising dollars, and sponsorship monies.

 

[H2O Full Throttle]

I would have to say that two things stick in my mind when it comes to promoting offshore powerboat racing.

The first is Class 1. Now this series knows all about how to promote an event and run an event and provide the hospitality and TV coverage. Yes the owners of all these boats have big pockets but they are not afraid of spending money on promoting the sport.

The other thing is the efforts of Haggin to get the live TV coverage concept going. His big jumbotron screen you guys had in FL was awesome and I was in Vegas when he hired helicopters to provide live coverage back to the mixing truck and then straight back to Hooters casino, kudos to him for that and would have been great to see this move forward, but doesnt seem to have been grasped.

Another option is to get the racing live to the internet. We use a company down here called Speedbox who piggy back off the live footage being shot and uplink it straight to the internet. The amount of people around the world who would log on and view it I think would pay for the cost of it and then some.

Anyway just my two cents worth.

Ned

 

[BlackJack58]

-Here's the coolest thing: Cars in different classes had different identification lights on the top of the cars. You know what class they were in by seeing the light color. Also, on the sides of the car were a series of 5 LED lights. The top 5 cars in each class had the appropriate light lit up, and it was all controlled by race control remotely. It made a world of difference.

That is a great method - they use a similar system in the American Lemans Series, and it makes it very easy to keep track of the whole thing. Saw it at Mid Ohio a couple of years ago and wondered why no one thought of it before - should be simple to adapt to offshore...