- 24 May 11, 17:17#256972
Nice read over at GPupdate. I had the same thought last weekend when I kept seeing a sea of empty grandstands in the background.
Crowd numbers for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix marked the lowest since the turn of the new millennium, with just over 78,000 people entering the Circuit de Catalunya on race day. This figure is almost half the Montmeló venue’s best of over 140,000 in 2007. So just why aren’t we attracted to Formula 1 races like we used to be?
When it joined the F1 circus 20 years ago, Barcelona was easy if you happened to be a spectator; brand-new access roads, plenty of parking spaces and a manageable flow of fans in and out of the circuit.
Fast-forward to 2005 and we were faced with traffic jams which prevented some people from even getting into the circuit just to see the race. Why? The Alonso factor. After a sell-out in 2006, yet more seating was added for 2007 as prices rose and attendances soared to over 140,000. The atmosphere was electric.
However, the sudden drop comes through a combination of things. Not only do we have difficult financial times on our hands, but no winning car at Alonso’s disposal in 2008 and 2009 certainly didn’t help things and any last-minute ticket opportunities for this weekend won’t have been assisted by Red Bull’s domination of Friday – telling locals that Alonso, 1.1 seconds off the pace, would not be in a winning position come Sunday.
Which leads us to a universal predicament which is becoming all too familiar in our sport – ticket prices. Circuits are paying substantial sums to Bernie Ecclestone in order to host a Grand Prix, which means if I turned up to Barcelona with a family of four wanting to sit in the top section of main grandstand on race day, I’d have to be digging out an enormous 1,800 euros. Yes, that’s 450 euros (just over 390 pounds) per person for a three-day ticket, just to catch a glimpse of our heroes on the grid, the start and all of the pit-stop action.
You certainly can’t blame the Circuit de Catalunya and this is only one example. As a business, they are making the most of their investment in much new seating, off-track entertainment, caterers, ground staff and advertising to name just a few. But if I wanted to sit in exactly the same main grandstand for next month’s MotoGP race, it would cost me ‘only’ 80 euros per person, with a special half price offer for children aged 14 and under. How can that be right?
What this does highlight is one big general problem for Formula 1. Ask yourself this: how many drivers would be happy to stand on a podium at an empty venue? The sport simply wouldn’t function without the fans, it couldn’t. For this year, Barcelona even removed the large stand up the hill to Campsa corner in a bid to encourage more spectators for what is now a cheaper, grass section.
So this is where the teams, the FIA and the commercial rights holder need to get their heads together. We need better promotion from governments for the host cities – a month or two before the event, at least - and a good reason to attract Fred Bloggs or John Smith, who wouldn’t have attended otherwise. And, most of all, much lower ticket prices. Otherwise we’ll stay in front of the tele, won’t we?
Circuit de Catalunya F1 Sunday attendances, 2000-2011:
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2011 78,130
2010 98,113
2009 92,430
2008 132,600
2007 140,700
2006 131,200
2005 115,900
2004 108,300
2003 96,000
2002 98,000
2001 91,000
2000 79,000
"I don't want to be part of a forum where everyone has differing opinions." Boom...
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for you on that. I had a wordy convo with SennaVille about where i live once, its an impoverished place in many parts.
