Indianapolis is My Home

13
Jul

F1 Says Farewell

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Cultural Events, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sports, US Grand Prix - F1

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The news came out today that Tony George wasn’t able to negotiate a deal with F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone.

I probably could have called this correctly this year if I’d thought about it closer. I’ve never missed an F1 race in Indy thanks to a great friend. This year my wife surprised me with a great Father’s Day gift of enjoying a Cincinatti Reds game with my son and brother. It was excellent and I don’t regret spending Father’s Day with my family. The challenge was that I missed the last running of the event in Indianapolis, at least for the time being.

Much greater than my dissappointment with losing the race is the financial impact to the city. That’s what I’m not sure everyone in the local government understood clearly.

However, Schultz added, the $100 million annual loss will be offset by the MotoGP motorcycle race that will begin at IMS in fall 2008.

$100 million dollars every year it’s not here. And saying that having the MotoGP would offset it is somewhat accurate. The only challenge is we had MotoGP signed before we lost the deal with F1. We could have had both. I’m sorry, but isn’t Indianapolis the racing capital of the world? The city should have ponied up any cash Tony George couldn’t balance with Bernie.

Bernie Ecclestone isn’t innocent either though. He’s running a great organization, but he needs to understand that things need to be handled a little bit differently in the states. He’s competing with a much broader fan base of people who love racing and have plenty of other options available to them. With a little more customizing and compromise on his part, I believe Indianapolis could have begun serving as a springboard to build a huge American F1 fan base in the sport. It could have and should have led to another F1 race in the US in their season.

Motorsports experts are divided over who is the biggest loser after the announcement that Formula One will not return in 2008 to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. One observer, Tim Frost, president of the Chicago consulting firm Frost Motorsports, said the Speedway loses a global marquee event, while F1 loses one of the world’s largest markets for its teams. Local tourism officials also consider the loss a blow to their industry.

I’ll tell you who the losers are. Indianapolis. Bernie doesn’t care, he can go off and make the same amount of money somewhere else, but you tell me where Indianapolis is going to replace $100M+ annually in the near future?

Quote Source: IBJ