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

20 is way out of line for a regular show at lincoln and Port....that is why there attendance is down.

Let's go Sprint Car Racing!

Knoxville - Best Track In the USA!
Eldora - 2nd Best Track in the USA!

Assuming we have promoters ears , , , , , , If a price is out of line somewhere, why and how much should it be?

The idea is to let folks know what is reasonable for anything event related not that something is just to much.

No reason to not comment on everything. Eldora still has $2 beer I read in several places

I don't buy alchol at the events but I do drink so I'm not aware of pricing for this. Others may want to know including promoters?

For weekly shows, most tracks offer family deals that offer teens up to about 18 years, discount prices.  IN NO CIRCUMSTANCE should a 12 year old be charged adult pricing!  As for events like the WoO, All Stars, and the new High Limit, there should also be reduced pricing for all fans up to 18 years old.  The cost should be at least 1/2 of general admission. They are our future and in most cases are being priced out.

My wife is not a racing fan so that affects how much I can spend and puts me in the situation of having to do solo racing trips.  I'd rather stay home and watch streaming than take a solo trip.  As far as prices go I don't do it often but have attended Vikings, Twins and used to attend a lot of North Star games.  I do an occasional concert as well.  Prices are generally more than racing at every event I have attended.  Racing is a bargain in some respects compared to pro sports and concerts but I can drive to the cities and pay for parking and concessions at a stadium or concert venue and still spend less than a racing trip that requires more driving, motel and a couple days of meals.

Anyways, as is true of everyone I spend what I can when it makes sense.  Driving four and a half hours to Husets every weekend doesn't make sense when I can watch from home.  Running out to one of a few nights of local 410 specials makes sense but two nights fourty minutes from home for $150 vs watching on Dirtvision made sense this year, maybe not next year depending on the budget.  I have a decent retirement but it's not a "spend $150 on racing every weekend" decent.  
 

I'm not an attend a race every weekend and figure out the rest later kind of guy.  It's more like when any event comes around I count my spare change and make it work if it fits.  One other thought is that if racing gets to the next level what exactly defines the next level and what is the cost?  If the he masses take an interest it will raise prices and ticket availability and for every weekend fans that could make weekly attendance more difficult.  I gave up weekly attendance when I hung up the camera for the final time.  Photography and writing about racing made attending races more affordable from 48-65.  It was essentially my way of being able to afford to go every weekend for close to twenty years.  Kind of a sing for my supper thing after the nest emptied and the fourth kid moved out for good.  Be careful what we wish for, if this thing ever goes more mainstream it will cost us more.

Stan Meissner

$20 is not way way out of line for $5000  to win  $500 to start for sprints (that is close to an Allstar regular show) $3000 to win $300 to start for late models + 305 sprints or limited lates most weeks. Not enough of them, raising the student admission & flo has hurt attendance.

20 is too high of a price for a regular show that is watered down is way too much.  It is a combination of the two 20 and flo.  Look at Lincoln this year.  They pretty much stopped with flo only a select few shows and there attendance still was not where it was before the 20 for a regular show in person.  If you cut 3 to 5 dollars off that admission price your stands will start to fill up again no matter what flo does.  What is better a lot of empty seats with a 20 admission or 15 to 17 admission and the seats are a lot fuller?  I know what I would choose....but that is just me.

I don't care how much you are paying to the racers.  I really don't like the other divisions so why should I have to sit through that stuff and the sprints are divided between two tracks.

Let's go Sprint Car Racing!

Knoxville - Best Track In the USA!
Eldora - 2nd Best Track in the USA!

Lincoln made a decision because streaming isn't going to cut it. They realized you need asses in seats. Did it work? Not yet but they saw the writing on the wall. Port tried this year to schedule big events almost every week did it put more asses in seats! Nope. You can't oversaturate the market with big shows in this economy right now. Maybe you can afford to go to big shows only but not everyone can. 

Silver Spring was a great way to spend a Friday night.  As for Flo, and the rest of them, I really don't get it. I see many tracks that do not use a service and put there product out themselves, thus they are reaping the profits.  Why are more not doing it ?

I'm willing to pay whatever my local tracks need to stay alive. If that's $20-$25 for admission plus $5-$10 for parking at a regular show, so be it. I'd rather complain about the prices than complain about another track closing. 

I'm curious how NBA, MLB, NFL, and NHL prices have "gotten out of hand", especially for food, drinks and parking.  When the prices get out of hand, you won't see lines 20 deep at all concessions and the parking lots will be empty.  Since lines are 20 deep at all concessions for these events, parking lots are full, and attendance at some of these venues are literally in the millions each season, I believe the ticket/food/drink/parking prices are priced accordingly to what the demand dictates.  I'm not sure what everyone is driving at when they claim these things are overpriced.  If you're saying it's too expensive for you to attend, that is one thing.  Out of hand though?  No.  Exactly where they should be priced.  These prices, along with the players salaries, are driven solely by the demand for the product.  It's never been the other way around. 

Yes and no.  It's not like parking lots are jammed and concession lines are 20 deep at every city in the big four sports. The demand for tickets at Dodger games, Yankee games and Cardinal games (all of which averaged over 40,000 in attendance this year) is drastically different than demand for tickets for Rays, Royals, Marlins and Athletics games (all of whom averaged under 20,000 a game this year). It is all major league baseball, yet some of the stadiums are sold out every night  and some are over half empty every night.

With the exception of the NFL, most of these events are not sell outs.  Still, the top 26 MLB teams (out of 30) averaged over 20,000 per game.  (1.6 million+ fans)    30 of 32 NHL teams averaged over 14,000 per game over 41 home games.  Pretty solid numbers.  Prices are not too high.  

Agree it's not out of line for what they're paying but $20 is too high to pay in Central Pa. So you have to get your costs back in line to make the admission price more reasonable. If that means dropping the purses, dropping a division, whafever. I think a low cost alternative would do well in Central Pa nowadays. 

Too many divisions? Compared to  tracks almost everywhere where you can sit through 5 to 6 other divisions most tracks in central Pa rarely have more than three classes with 410s.

According to the inflation calculator, an $8 admission in 1990 is roughly equivalent to a $20 admission ticket today.

A two division show is plenty....if not too much already.

Let's go Sprint Car Racing!

Knoxville - Best Track In the USA!
Eldora - 2nd Best Track in the USA!

  I don't mind three divisions, four makes me a little grumpy . Sometimes three does if there is too many cars (over thirty) in a support division.  With three there is no reason for a break all night. People have plenty of time for food and restroom trips when something that they are not reallyy interested in is runnig. Track prep is suposed to be done before I get there. As far as dropping divisions to lower costs, I am not sure a lot of people realize the percentage of a track's income that comes from pit passes 

Regular show; Knoxville $20-$30; It's only sprints, (3) classes, no fillers

WOO/ HL $30$50

Nationals: $50-$100

Streaming I rarely do. 

USAC / XTREME: $25-$40

All per night

Keep It Real

Assuming that Sprint Cars have to be part of the lineup in your area and you are able to attend it's a no brainer.  On the other hand, some of us live in parts of the country where weekly shows are dominated by Late Models and Modifieds.  Tracks typically have about six to eight classses of stocks and mods.  They might have a few 410 special now and then and there are limited Sprints at some shows.  By my way of thinking I'm going to enjoy watching Knoxville weekly or something consisting of one or two classes.  My first races starting in 1960 were one class Sprint shows at the State Fair three blocks from home and we could walk to the track.  Our weekly track was ten miles north of us and ran two classes on a half mile.  

I'd like to go to races every weekend but sitting through classes I'm not crazy about isn't my idea of a good time.  Some classes of race cars are like golf, more fun to do than watch.  Entertainment bucks are tight and people are going to spend it on the things that please them.  

Stan Meissner

I admit to attending hundreds of races since 1960 not knowing or giving a damn about the purse.  All I ever worried about was raising four kids on one and a half incomes and being able to cover the expense.  The average fan at my closest track Cedar Lake is likely to be more interested in the cost of a camping spot and what there is to do while camping at multi day shows.  Up here they break out the motor homes and tailgating and/or camping and enjoying good racing take priority.  

Stan Meissner