NHRA Sold

#**151** 06-01-2007, 09:32 AM

OK.. i know we are getting off subject... but...

PPV.. few would or could do it.. but don't think its enough to off set the cost to produce it...

Tv is the key to growth for drag racing... But whats the best time for Drag racing on TV... easy.. mid to early Sunday afternoonon network tv.. If we use common sense we know that Live won't work....not for network.... so here's my idea... and i am copy righting the idea of it...lol.... so if it happens i want credit...or blame.....lol...

alter two maybe three events.... instead of the normal friday saturday sunday deal... figure out a formula... to where the eleminations are on saturday.. or are saturday night.... one round thursday night quailifing.... 2 rounds friday.... one round quailifing saturday morning... eleminations on saturday starting at noon..... last two rounds are in the night time...

Tv...???..... have an saturday afternoon 2hr quailifing show.... then sunday after noon have a 2 to 3 hrs show.. highlites form quailifing.. and eleminations.....

i know ..some are going to scream.. that won't work we got to have same day coverage....bull.... we went years on a week delay in some case... this is only couple times a year... and it would gain exposure NEEDED on network TV...there are 100's of thousands or even millions that still don't have cable or satallites... so one... NEW viewers.. two.... more exposure for sponsors..... more exposure ..means more money for sponsorships floating around....

more details to it.. but.. i think it would work.....

oh as far as the new deal.. it sounds better than the new points deal so i will at least wait and see where it goes....

Billy

#**152** 06-01-2007, 09:51 AM

GUYS... I don't think they will change access to the pits.. I think you are missing the point. WALLY CASHED OUT... He now has millions and still owns the original product that was NHRA... SPORTSMAN RACING.. They pay and race for little or no money. Look at the payouts for sportsman racing it all (But a small piece) comes from the companies that we all buy product from. If you win a super class at national event you can get 10 -14 thousand for a good list of products. How much comes from NHRA? $1500.00 If the number of $800,000.00 is correct for 23 national events for the ticket price for sportsman racing that is a bargian. They will pay that bill after 10 races with profit coming from 13 events. More than 50% profit margin. Looks good to my account.

#**153** 06-01-2007, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Carroll

Here are a couple of links for some more reading.

HD Partners Acquisition Corporation

Roadshow Presentation

Page 31 is interesting.

Jeff

Thanks for the links Jeff. The Roadshow Presentation gives us a hint of what they have planned in the future. It looks as if they plan on potentially adding more National Events to the schedule. Not a bad idea except for their is a lack of National Event caliber tracks and more events means a higher cost to the pro racers. Over the long haul, sponsorship could increase along with payouts which would alllow more events to be run.

#**154** 06-01-2007, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremy Jude

Personally, I could care less if national events became Pro only. I would just as soon have all of the contingency sponsors leave the Pro events and bump up the divisionals. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy competing on the same tracks as the Pro’s at the same events, that is one of the things that makes NHRA so unique amongst all motorsports, but I think for the health of sportsman racing, we as competitors would be better served with a Sport’s National type of series with increased appreciation for the competitors.

Jeremy,

Have you been reading my mind again!!

#**155** 06-01-2007, 12:20 PM

New info at NHRA.com regarding the Sportsman programs:

NHRA News: Open letter to the Sportsman racing community (6/1/2007)

#**156** 06-01-2007, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Stanley

Dave,

I guess both our points were lost in the haze. I fully agree with your analysis of revenue generation from other sources.

And my point wasn't that the sportsman racers are a cash cow at national events. But the non-alcohol sportsman classes do generate enough capital to cover a large portion of the general operating cost of a national event.

I think you missed my comment regarding the fact that the number of additional personnel and support staff required for the sportsman racers is very minimal over what would be required to run a pro only show. I would bet that there are fewer than 20 additional people needed to support the sportsman end of the show.

To answer you question as to why NHRA "enhanced" the sportsman experience...

NHRA would like to try and convince everyone that they restricted the number of class and number of entries for the benefit of the sportsman racers themselves... so that the sportsman racers wouldn't lose time runs, or actually get an extra time run, blah, blah, blah! It had nothing to do with making things better for the sportsman racers or the cost of having them. It had everything to do with speeding up the show, getting the Pros more space for their hospitality tents, engineering centers/rig, & everything else, and the fact that most facilities just couldn't support the number of competitors any longer because of the size of the rigs, both pros and sportsman... but especially the Pros.

Plus, since the sportsman racers more than cover their own tab at the events, it doesn't cost NHRA any additional funds to book in filler material between the Pro sessions.

According to Jeff Burke (Burke's Blast) an unnamed NHRA executive told him “It takes more money, more personnel, more time, and we get more grief from a single sportsman classes than any pro class. We lose money on the sportsman classes every year”

My thoughts as a fan only, run the pro classes, alcohol cars and add Pro Mod and some nitro bikes to the national events and run the sportsman separately. This offers a better TV package, more bang for the buck if you will. This would put the "Pro" in modified and add some cool factor with the nitro bikes. The sportsman are just that and they will race for the love of the sport. They don't get TV time anyway so I don't think it would make a difference to them.

PS: As I said I'm just a fan. I may not know all the benefits to the sportsman for running at a national event with the pros so this may not be a good thing for them. Just thinking out loud.

#**157** 06-01-2007, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Shryne

According to Jeff Burke (Burke's Blast) an unnamed NHRA executive told him “It takes more money, more personnel, more time, and we get more grief from a single sportsman classes than any pro class. We lose money on the sportsman classes every year”

An un-named blowhard who doesn't have the sense to sit down and do the math.

But he is correct in that it takes more money, more personnel, and more time... time being the only significant factor. And the reason they get more grief from sportsman is because the NHRA kisses the Pros' asses while they **** all over the sportmen!

To the rest of your post Jim, sportsmen not running at nationals would be fine with me. But there are a good many sportsman racers around the country who have sponsorships that are dependent on them running at national events. National events still provide the greatest amount of exposure for a sponsor whether the racer be a pro or sportsman.

Also, don't forget, ESPN2 does produce a certain number of sportsman shows from select national events!

#**158** 06-01-2007, 04:43 PM

I hope everyone knows that Sportsman includes more than just door cars built in somebody's garage on the weeknights...

The investment in more than half of the classes is beyond where the Pro classes were 20 years ago... Top notch cars, Stacker rigs and huge sponsor commitments, as well as in-house R&D that isn't cheap.. For the average Nitro fan, these cars are gnats on the ass of their weekend, but I will bet that the flavor of the national events (especially INDY) will be a bit weak if the "amature"

racers get the ol' heave-ho...

There's a hundred million reasons to leave the lineup of competition just the way it is, IMHO...

#**159** 06-01-2007, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Shryne

According to Jeff Burke (Burke's Blast) an unnamed NHRA executive told him “It takes more money, more personnel, more time, and we get more grief from a single sportsman classes than any pro class. We lose money on the sportsman classes every year”
.

I dont care if Wally or Graham or whoever comes out and says it, there is no freaking way they lose money on the sportsman guys.

Say there are 350 cars, thats at $400 a piece: $140,000
Most have atleast 2 crew guys (some have up to 8): 700 at $75: $52,500
and even though most of them provide there own food, some of them still buy it there, so you have to figure that several more thousands of dollars.

So there taking in around $200k a race, and only paying out a little over $50k. How in the hell are they losing money? Answer: THEY AINT

#**160** 06-01-2007, 04:59 PM

I have always enjoyed watching the "sportsman" cars as much as the pros, especially the stockers and super stockers.

When I brought my son to his first race in '05, he was as fascinated with them as I have always been. I'd sure hate to see them disappear from the national events.

Besides, I get more room to sit when they run.

#**161** 06-04-2007, 08:29 AM

Wow. Not sure how I feel about this, uneasy I guess.

I would love to see better marketing, I'd love to be able to walk into Walmart and buy a drag racing shirt. Maybe they are able to bring in more companies with $$$ to sponsor teams.

Maybe they are smart enough to get rid of the assinine countdown the the chase or whatever its called.

I do worry if they are more entertainment then competition oriented. To much show and not enough go? Although its not uncommon to hang on to the current board for a short time after an aquisition. If the old leaders stay on long term then whats the point of making a change? New ideas will come from new people.

What about the sportsman, personally I like watching comp just as much as the pro's. I hope they dont' get shafted on this.

For now I guess its just a wait and see deal. Hopefully this is good for drag racing, nhra, the racers and fans.

#**162** 06-04-2007, 09:18 AM

The video archives could be great way to increase cash, maybe if they get more cash, the new owners would be more willing to increase payouts.

Imagine a dvd of John Force interviews? I would think that would be an instant best seller.

dvds with the history of a class (ie funny car's evolution)

I was surprised that when the top 50 drivers list came out that a dvd box set wasn't sold with it. I would think it could be a big hit.

NHRA Sold

NHRA Sold

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