Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Sprint Car Unlimited: Ian Madsen on Knoxville opener, Cody Darrah, weather and fan count affects Williams Grove decision to cancel

My opinion on Williams Grove last Friday is this .Years back when the weather would be like it was Friday , I never hesitated to go to the Grove knowing they would race if they could. The last few years they started the trend of canceling because of weather forecasts and such. Friday night I waited and waited around home until the last minute because I still thought they would cancel at some point. I eventually went to the races (I never miss), I'm thinking the reason of the low fan turnout was because fans still think of how they have operated the last few years. If the new policy is to try to race if there is any way possible , I applaud them for that, and hope that is the way they are thinking. If this  actually IS their new policy , I'm thinking a release or announcement from the track stating this would help. People now still look back at how it has been done the last few years and if there is bad weather forecast , they automatically start making other plans.

My only thing is that they tried to race the week before when the weather was bad. And if not for a gully washer at 5, they would have. Looks like they are trying to shed that stigma built up the last couple years. We will see what happens this week: 80 percent chance of rain in the AM.

I agree with Tenter.  Back in the days (late 80's, 90's and early 2000's), Williams Grove would always put in their best effort to try and race even if it had rained earlier in the day.  This past Friday, we didn't get much rain and I applaud Williams Grove for making the effort to give us a chance to see a race.  I DID attend the race on Friday and said to myself "Where are the fans".  But, the past few years, they have built a reputation for pulling the plug too early and I'm sure have upset many fans over the past few years.  To Jeremy, I very much enjoy listening to Sprint Car Unlimited with you and John Westbrook.  I agree with some of the things John mentioned about fans making other plans if they know rain is in the forecast being they assume Williams Grove is going to cancel.  Also, John mentioned a way of getting fans to come back to Williams Grove Speedway.  I remember years back, I was able to go to Cindy Rowe Auto Glass and get a stack of $2 off admission to Williams Grove Speedway.  I know $2 off admission doesn't sound like much, but if they had these tickets available at a place that helps sponsor Williams Grove Speedway point fund (Lawrence Chevrolet), it might help bring some more fans to the Grove. 

2020 Race Count:
Lincoln 4
Port Royal 3
BAPS 1

Good point with the $2 off coupon. I will take it a step further and say that 25 free tickets a week to Mechancisburg and Cumberland Valley High Schools — the two closest to the speedway — would go a long way to building good will and support from the community.

But that isn't just a Williams Grove directive. That is something all tracks should do in their neighboring communities.

As an outsider to PA, I listened to John Westbrook and heard the same thing I hear from people around Iowa.  He said give away 100 tickets, that's $1200.  This is not true.  Tickets only cost what the printing charge is.  If the track is giving away tickets the right way, they are losing $0 in revenue that they normally get and it costs them very little as well.

Tracks should be giving away FREE tickets EVERY WEEK to schools, large employers in the area (pick 1 every week) --(as a bonus, if their employees give positive feedback to their bosses, you may land a sponsor for the track or a race team) and try to BUILD A FANBASE.  Giving away tickets cost you only what it cost to produce the ticket and to mail or drive it to the place where you are giving it away.  Empty seats don't buy anything.

Now, if you give away let's say 10,000 tickets over the course of an entire season (not to the same people every week), but you gain 10 new fans every week that decide to attend 4-5 events every year from here on out, it was a great investment in your business (that (1) free ticket you gave that person turned into 4-5 paid admissions THIS SEASON alone.  Those people may convince others to attend (especially the younger generation that will use Social Media to connect to their friends and spread the word about how much fun they had.

Many people won't try something they are unfamiliar with due to costs (we're all guilty of it).  I'm not an NBA fan (don't even watch on TV), but we have a NBA D-League team less than 30 minutes from out house,  As a family, we're not willing to pay $80+ for our family to attend not knowing if the kids will enjoy it (we'll choose something we know they and we enjoy).  However, give us free tickets and we'll try it out.  If we like it, we'll attend again during the season (plus you get our concession $$$ when you gave us the free tickets).

The thought process of giving away a ticket that you charge $12 for = $12 less in revenue is not always accurate.  Give those free tickets to people that would be there anyway, and yes, you lost $12 in revenue.  Give those tickets to groups that NEVER attend, and anything they spend on concessions, swag and the like is all revenue you would have never gotten.

Agree. If the seats are empty anyway, there is no reason not to give away some freebies. After all, you are making the money at the concession stand that you wouldn't have made if the seat would have remained empty.