GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: Dare on July 29, 2011, 01:32:39 PM
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lets see what others think
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Are you asking because the Austin GP is an ill thought out venture?
Or because the USA is 3 days from collapsing into anarchy? :DntKnw:
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Or because the USA is 3 days from collapsing into anarchy? :DntKnw:
I've always supposed that was the norm for the US according to how events are portrayed to us in the media over here. :D ;) :tease:
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At this point in 1999, I already had my tickets for the first USGP at Indy, in 2000. Austin won't even admit what their ticket prices will be yet. Most dependable sources say that the cheapest race day tickets will be $200+. For the last race at Indy (2007) my entire ticket package (4 days, seat in the main stands right across from the pits, parking every day and a race day box lunch) was less than $100.
I really and truly hope it does fall through. F1 in the U.S. couldn't survive a disaster of size that Austin will be.
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At this point in 1999, I already had my tickets for the first USGP at Indy, in 2000. Austin won't even admit what their ticket prices will be yet. Most dependable sources say that the cheapest race day tickets will be $200+. For the last race at Indy (2007) my entire ticket package (4 days, seat in the main stands right across from the pits, parking every day and a race day box lunch) was less than $100.
I really and truly hope it does fall through. F1 in the U.S. couldn't survive a disaster of size that Austin will be.
The 2010 Montreal Grand Prix was run with 7 months notice, with tickets comparable to the Austin estimates, and attendance was fine.
Granted, it's a bit different because there was proven demand for the Montreal race, but it's not logistically far fetched for Austin to get it right in 15 months.
The ONLY thing that will make F1 'succeed' in the USA is a successful American driver. (Success is a broad term. I would define that as having F1 highlights on Sportscenter before the first commercial break...)
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Montreal was an established race. All they had to do was send out their ticket renewal list. Austin's web site doesn't even have a place to sign up for info when it's available.
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Or because the USA is 3 days from collapsing into anarchy? :DntKnw:
Since I don't watch or search out news anymore is this just good old Canadian sarcasm or based somewhat on something? :)
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Or because the USA is 3 days from collapsing into anarchy? :DntKnw:
Since I don't watch or search out news anymore is this just good old Canadian sarcasm or based somewhat on something? :)
With respect for this not being the forum to get into it... the US government has run out of cash, and cannot come to an agreement to borrow more. In theory on Aug 2, 2011, they can't pay up: no social security, no pay for the army, interest not paid on bonds etc.
Normally they just issue bonds every 6 months to cover their growing debt, but someone has decided that enough is enough, and won't allow more borrowing without spending cuts, and then someone else has decided that everything has worked thus far, why mess with it. The main problem is that there doesn't appear to be enough spirit of compromise.
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The real problem is people elected a bunch of "Tea Party " ultra conservatives. They don't think anything bad will happen if the US defaults. They also don't understand that on occasion the government MUST spend more than it takes in, like during a recession. Some of them won't vote for a higher debt ceiling under any circumstances. Some won't unless a balanced budget amendment is passed. Mr Boehner can't control them as leaders have in the past. In addition he is trying to give the President a big black eye as the next election is already under way. It's a mess and I hope they all get voted out next year. The public is really p*ssed and both sides are assuming they are mad at the other side, when in reality they are mad at the whole establishment. I have little hope of a compromise.
Lonny
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At this point in 1999, I already had my tickets for the first USGP at Indy, in 2000. Austin won't even admit what their ticket prices will be yet. Most dependable sources say that the cheapest race day tickets will be $200+. For the last race at Indy (2007) my entire ticket package (4 days, seat in the main stands right across from the pits, parking every day and a race day box lunch) was less than $100.
I really and truly hope it does fall through. F1 in the U.S. couldn't survive a disaster of size that Austin will be.
I don't know where/how you got a 4 day ticket with parking and all on the main straight for $100, not even 100 Euros. I grew up 35 miles from there and unless someone subsidized your ticket, you are just blowing smoke up someone's backside, or trying to anyway.
I went all of the USGPs at Indy and never got grandstand seats ANYWHERE around the circuit for $100, except the Michelin Tire year.
I also do not know why you would want the USGP in Austin to fall through. I don't know how you could explain that one frankly.
I went to Hungary this year and was quite disappointed by a few things, but the biggest was the complete lack of "fan fare", for lack of a better term. No parades on the track, or excuse me, the drivers "parade" consisted of all of the drivers being on the back of a a flatbed truck. What the heck is that about?
Indy always had a huge promotional punch with driver/pit access, SPEEDTV running a Q&A with some of the drivers, the drivers parade put the team pairs in vintage touring cars and they drove the circuit (even in the 2 years it rained) . . . Part of it the weekend for most true fans is the "show" of it all - the glamor.
I imagine Austin will be similarly run.
The circuit is coming along nicely and on schedule for the June race; although, it looks like it will be moved to November. That seems a smart move due to the brutal heat in June.
I will be there either way.
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I dug out my receipt. It had gone up from $65 to $85 that year, so the price per person, without parking was $110 for the entire week-end. You can check the Speedway's seating chart to see where the Paddock seats are:
http://indymotorspeedway.com/idx-standmap.html (http://indymotorspeedway.com/idx-standmap.html)
http://indymotorspeedway.com/standmap_paddock.html (http://indymotorspeedway.com/standmap_paddock.html)
I was born at Camp Atterbury, IN. and later lived in nearby Edinburgh, about 30 miles south of Indy
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Holy Cow! At those sort of prices Cos the British GP would be sold out 2 or 3 times over months ahead of the race, I guess the lower price at Indy has a lot to do with enormous capacity of the place. Were all the stands full for the race and if not how many more, do you think, could they have accomodated?
I Britain some GP tickets sold very early get a discount, I see your invoice is dated nearly a year in advance of the event Cos, did Indy offer any incentive for advance booking?
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Holy Cow! At those sort of prices Cos the British GP would be sold out 2 or 3 times over months ahead of the race, I guess the lower price at Indy has a lot to do with enormous capacity of the place. Were all the stands full for the race and if not how many more, do you think, could they have accomodated?
I Britain some GP tickets sold very early get a discount, I see your invoice is dated nearly a year in advance of the event Cos, did Indy offer any incentive for advance booking?
That's why George and Bernie couldn't come to an agreement.
Bernie believed that George was leaving money on the table, while George knew exactly what price point American race fans would pay to see an F1 race.
Bernie raised his fee, George knew he could never break even at that price, and went back to printing money with the 500 and Brickyard 400.
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Stupid. Place. For. A. Grand. Prix.
End of story.
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Stupid. Place. For. A. Grand. Prix.
End of story.
where?Indy or Austin
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Stupid. Place. For. A. Grand. Prix.
End of story.
where?Indy or Austin
Austin. Indy was the best place for a GP that I've ever been to. Even better than The Glen in the 70's.
Something else to think about with the move to fall. If there's a Texas Longhorns home football game that week-end, there will no hotel rooms within driving distance. Traffic will be at an absolute standstill. The race will be lucky to get a one line listing on the last page of the sports section anytime during football season in Texas.
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Stupid. Place. For. A. Grand. Prix.
End of story.
where?Indy or Austin
Austin. Indy was the best place for a GP that I've ever been to. Even better than The Glen in the 70's.
Something else to think about with the move to fall. If there's a Texas Longhorns home football game that week-end, there will no hotel rooms within driving distance. Traffic will be at an absolute standstill. The race will be lucky to get a one line listing on the last page of the sports section anytime during football season in Texas.
It is fascinating how Bernie and the FIA continue to completely misunderstand American sports fans.
The British GP is run the same weekend as Wimbelton, and that doesn't cause them a problem there, so why should a bunch of school kids interfere with an F1 race?
Are school athletics big in Britain? I know they're not so big in Canada, but in the USA college football and basketball are almost as popular as their professional counterparts (and locally can be be much bigger. The largest stadiums in the USA are not for professional sports, but for college sports.)
Even high school football can dominate local sports headlines, especially in Texas.
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In Britain Jeri you are lucky if enough parents and friends turn up to make a complete ring of people round the touchline for most college or Uni matches. There is no real leagues for student sports over here, nearly all the sports here have leagues consisting of town, city or even village clubs that run independantly of the education sector.
It's always been a source of wonderment to most of us Brits that you can get a scholarship to a college simply because of your sporting prowess, can't imagine Cambridge, Oxford or any other uni rushing to emulate the US colleges anytime soon. ;) :D
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High school & college football is huge in Texas. This is the new $60 million, 18,000 seat stadium being built for Allen High School in Texas.
That's right, this is for 15 to 18 year olds to play in. :o
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Austin. But then I guess no more stupid than Phoenix or Dallas, or a car park in Las Vegas
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Only a small percentage of those chosen for sports scholarships make a career in sport, while a large percentage of them graduate with various degrees that they never would have had the opportunity to get if it wasn't for those sports scholarships.
University is heavily subsidized in the UK (as it is in Canada and as a matter of fact Switzerland, where there is no tuition of any kind (unless you are a foreign student). It is not that way in the US. Tuition at American universities puts higher education far out of reach for those not lucky enough to get a scholarship of some sort.
$60m stadium for a high school? I just had a peek - turns out that high school (only three grades) has an enrollment of over 5000 students. Not your every day high school. Boy, they do make them big in Texas... :o
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Heavily subsidised in the UK Scott ? I think not my friend, I don't call £9000 heavily subsidised.
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In the USA the Little League World Series for the 11 and 12
year old baseball is huge.It's covered by ESPN from the regionals
to the finals.
You want to see people enjoying a sport for a sport
just watch this.
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Heavily subsidised in the UK Scott ? I think not my friend, I don't call £9000 heavily subsidised.
That's a quite recent development (starts in 2012), and to be fair, it might be a key election platform which could again reduce it. £9000 is also a maximum, while in the US I don't think it's even close to the average tuition. Medical school can cost many times that.
But my point was only to try to explain why sports scholarships exist, and the benefits.
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Heavily subsidised in the UK Scott ? I think not my friend, I don't call £9000 heavily subsidised.
That's a quite recent development (starts in 2012), and to be fair, it might be a key election platform which could again reduce it. £9000 is also a maximum, while in the US I don't think it's even close to the average tuition. Medical school can cost many times that.
But my point was only to try to explain why sports scholarships exist, and the benefits.
There have been tuition fees, albeit at a lower cost, for many years in the UK. When my youngest twins both went to uni the same year in 02 there was a tuition fee of about £1100 for each per year. The maximum student loan available was about £3000 for each son which was designed to just cover accomodation and basic living costs. The paperwork sent to parents made clear that we were expected to pay the the tuition fees, legally they couldn't make us but how could the kids pay out of the loan when accomodation fees alone were over 2/3rds of the loan.
The new increased tuition fees might seem excessive now but they can all be put on the student loan book and very many will never really repay the money, but that timebomb is a whole other subject altogether.
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Heavily subsidised in the UK Scott ? I think not my friend, I don't call £9000 heavily subsidised.
That's a quite recent development (starts in 2012), and to be fair, it might be a key election platform which could again reduce it. £9000 is also a maximum, while in the US I don't think it's even close to the average tuition. Medical school can cost many times that.
But my point was only to try to explain why sports scholarships exist, and the benefits.
There have been tuition fees, albeit at a lower cost, for many years in the UK. When my youngest twins both went to uni the same year in 02 there was a tuition fee of about £1100 for each per year. The maximum student loan available was about £3000 for each son which was designed to just cover accomodation and basic living costs. The paperwork sent to parents made clear that we were expected to pay the the tuition fees, legally they couldn't make us but how could the kids pay out of the loan when accomodation fees alone were over 2/3rds of the loan.
The new increased tuition fees might seem excessive now but they can all be put on the student loan book and very many will never really repay the money, but that timebomb is a whole other subject altogether.
I know we're getting far afield here... but higher education has become such a scam that I can't help but wonder when Bernie will get involved.
So many people go to university who don't belong there, and it drives up the cost for the people who do.
I didn't go to University or College (there is a clear distinction in Canada Universities grant degrees, Colleges grant certificates), and I know that has caused me problems. People look for that piece of paper (or parchment or sheepskin), and the schools know that piece of paper can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over a life time.
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Even a degree is no guarantee now over here Jeri, a guy up the pub's daughter has a degree from uni, she's now working in Argos.
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Even a degree is no guarantee now over here Jeri, a guy up the pub's daughter has a degree from uni, she's now working in Argos.
It's crazy, isn't it? Without the paper you don't get a second look.
And yet, Bill Gates, very famously has no degree.
Bernie quit school when he was 16, and he seems to be doing ok.
In fact, I think Newey might be one of the few 'big names' in F1 who does have a degree!
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Even a degree is no guarantee now over here Jeri, a guy up the pub's daughter has a degree from uni, she's now working in Argos.
Same for my two Ian, one works in the local Tesco. The other is on temporary contract work, opening and assessing returned postal franking machines, for near the minimum wage, he comes home with his clothes spotted with red dye everyday. ::) At least the one at Tesco gets provided with uniforms.
They can't have paid back more than £50 between them on the Student loans they have had for 5 years now.