How important IS the view of the paying public? (Read 3,969 times)

[BarryB]

Dec 18, 2008 15:57:03 GMT 12 @mike44 said:

I would suggest it is relevant because the drivers are choosing to put a massive amount of their resources into the racing and primarily they are doing it for own enjoyment not the spectators. The Spectators definitely get awareness, but if you risk turning the drivers into performers rather than racers you have major problem coming.

Not really - the fans can always find other forms of entertainment, just as the drivers will have to find something else to spend their money on if they don't perform, as they'll be no tracks left open for them to race on. Mind you, it's all getting a little off the beaten track..........bottom line is, if they race to the potential of the cars in the class they're racing in, they'll be entertaining anyway.

[tremors]

Now for my 2 cents worth !! -I am a spectator and have been for many many years ,. attending tracks all over the country -- I think some of you may be getting a little off track , with this thread - I dont expect to be ' entertained ' at speedway - if I wanted to be ' entertained " , I would attend a show ---

ask any spectator, and I 'm sure they will say they go to speedway to enjoy the racing -- all we ask is the drivers have fun and give it heaps.

Maybe the clubs could ' survey" their spectators .

I believe if clubs did more promotion they would get more spectators - recently, while on a trip down through Cromwell ,I noticed there were posters all around the town advertising speedway - everywhere you looked there were speedway posters --also advertising on the radio station - now, that's one go ahead club , that the north island clubs get learn from

[nrp165]

like previous posts have mentioned-speedway needs spectators('the public'),competitors,and administrators to run successfully-and these parts can work together.
When I was driving,I most enjoyed the races/meetings where there were big fields.
A field of 20 plus superstocks will put on a good show for the public,whilst being more enjoyable for the drivers.
It requires effort to present those sort of fields,yes...I feel that many of todays 'promotors' would be better called 'event stagers'
feeling that just because they put a meeting on,paying customers will turn up in droves.
since being reduced to a spectator......I've seen too few great shows-and waay too many not value for money shows.
P.S. NZ F2's will be graded-fast guys to the back-in all races

[nzf2stocks.]

Tremours, you should be bottled then cloned. You seem to get that for the racing to be good the drivers have to have fun which makes a good show. There are too many who go to speedway, sit back and say "entertain me", then pregnant dog when not everything comes up to thier exacting standards.

I come from a background where the competitors paid for everything, track hireage, ambo, crash crew, the lot. If the public wanted to pay $5 to watch all well and good. The racing was good because thats all the preassure that was put on the drivers, to enjoy thier racing. It got to the stage that we were attracting between 2-3000 paying public, without any advertising. This forced the show to become professional, the drivers felt the win at all costs that this brings, and within a year the whole thing had died.

So once again, keep the drivers happy, they'll race well and the public will get thier moneys worth.

[BarryB]

Dec 18, 2008 18:44:56 GMT 12 nzf2stocks. said:

It got to the stage that we were attracting between 2-3000 paying public, without any advertising.

I can think of a couple of tracks that'd kill for those sorts of crowds, as they cannot attract those sorts of numbers today, even with advertising.............I guess times have changed.

The emergence of both $5 meetings AND $15-$25 meetings is a good idea however...........different strokes for different folks.

It's great to see so many contributions to this thread though......great to read the varying opinions.

[wolfysmith]

Dec 18, 2008 0:42:55 GMT 12 Ngahihi o te ra said:

Kia ora Wolfysmith,
Your posts remind me of one of the concepts from my marketing degree
"If it ain't broke - fix it!"
because soon it will be broken and customers will stop coming or someone down the road will create something that will take away your customers away and break it for you.
Key word being customer and making sure we identify and meet their needs - at a profit.
As many have pointed out there are three groups of customers involved in speedway - the fans, the drivers and the administrators.
In my humble opinion the administrators are very important to the overall marketing strategies for speedway and we definitely do not want to lose them - several stockcar tracks have suffered big time as a result of losing the administration customer because something wasn't fixed before it broke or - they were offered something of more value for their voluntary services.
Good research and marketing and the application of the research findings depends strongly on the administrators doing their jobs -case in point - the research conducted by the team from the place of Paradise (Paul Hickey and Co) and the amazing changes that have occured as a result.
Here's a question to consider. Who looks after the administrators to ensure their needs are met?
Green flags and green lights and administrators filling out green sheets.

It's great to see you stayed awake during your lectures because your bang on the money there mate

A lot of talk on here about the importance of the drivers but I think it's worth asking the question:

How many tracks would survive if they relied soley upon the drivers to keep going?

And those tracks that did survive, how would this impact on say Superstock racing - could that class survive with a few tracks dotted across NZ?

Interestingly I've been recommending here in the UK that market research needs to be carried out both with fans and drivers as the drivers are, in a way customers, and they too have a voice that needs to be listened to. However, don't let that voice drown out the fans voice.

[YankeeClipper10H]

Allan Batt has an interesting article in the latest ( January 2009)"The Dirt" magazine on page 107 titled All Heroes....No Villains. Worth a read.