I asked Kim DeMotte if I could post some of his comments from Rally-L to broaden the audience. He sent this and I thought this was an excellent proposal for creating a successful relationship between the SCCA and the Championship events. I'll add my comments in a follow-up post. I am sure Kim will Jump in too.
A. Rally organizers provide stage mileage, workers, scoring, timing, hopefully good community relations, etc.
B. Entrants want these things.
1.Because if they're seed 3+ they WANT seat time, practice,
pizza and tee-shirts
2.If they're factory teams they NEED to compete against each
and make the most of the collateral public relations.
C. Sanctioning bodies NEED these things
1.Because they NEED to charge the factories fees for offering
them these venues.
D. Organizers NEED sanctioning bodies for one thing...
1. Insurance
So it seems to me that there could exist a truly symbiotic relationship between the three parties based on their WANTS and NEEDS. Please recognize the difference. The seed 3+ driver does not HAVE to show up at any rally. He does so because it's fun and with whatever disposable income he has he can afford to....but he doesn't HAVE to. The National Points guys HAVE to show up (subtly a much higher level of motivation). I have no problem charging based on need.
SCCA NEEDS organizers (or they can't charge the factories and other sponsors), and organizers NEED SCCA (or some other sanctioning body with insurance connections). I really suspect if you dive into this that it would be easier for an organizer to find insurance than SCCA to find 10-12 organizers if it all blew up.
So what does it take to satisfy all parties?
Let's say a Club Rally organizer has a history of doing a C(3) event with 70 miles for 40+/- cars....costs him $25,000 in expenses (I know the 100AW was close to that). To break even he has to charge $625.car. About what we're hearing these days at least from the NE.
So SCCA comes along and says "we want you to be a National Championship Event. Organizer commits to 120 miles and 100 cars (this is a major commitment as you know logistically...would cut the wheat from the chaff), and all the stuff I said earlier he provides. Let's say he has expenses of $25,000 (wouldn't necessarily go up...he's providing the same stuff), but that does not include any of his personal miles, lodging, phone, etc. Most of us bury that stuff.. If he got 100 cars, spread equally, that would be $250/car and NOBODY would be bitching about that! But most don't draw 100 cars...maybe 2-3 events a year...not even Maine this year.
Let's say instead of organizer paying SCCA a sanction fee, SCCA takes some of their factory/sponsorship money and kicks in $10,000 to the organizer's budget. Now he can recover some of his committee's personal expenses. And on top of that loans them a Subaru for 60 days before the event used to be Mazda pick-up trucks) so he doesn't have to beat the snot out of his personal car. In exchange, SCCA gets to infuse their National Competitors into the list of entrants and distribute National Championship Points based on finishing positions. National Points chasers pay $1000 entry. SCCA gets to own the event (no Bank signs at the water crossing) or at least negotiates with local sponsors to stay in background. So now maybe your budget is $32,000 (you've picked up personal expenses and perked your workers better than in the past).
100 Cars of which 25 are Nationals...$25,000 comes from Nationals leaving $7,000 to be paid by the seed 3+ entrants.....$100 +/-.
I submit that this would A. Increase the number of events being organized, B. vastly increase the number of contestants running, and C. Improve the National Championship because organizers would vie for the rights.
Organizers, BTW would NOT be responsible for all the National/FIA crap. SCCA sends in THEIR techs to do National tech stuff. They get to play THEIR game on OUR field. This is how I ran the CRNC in Salem. It caught Beryl-Ann and the others a little by surprise, but when they figured it out it made sense. WE put on a rally. THEY figured out how to use it to declare a champion. WE were putting on a rally whether or not it was CRNC. WE would put on a rally whether or not it was a National Championship Event. If it is to be so declared, then we commit to 120/100, get a course vehicle and a stipend. We will take ALL National Points chasers at $1000 a pop, and spread the rest of the expenses over the remaining field. Everybody (except possibly the internal SCCA National Office budget) wins.
A. Rally organizers provide stage mileage, workers, scoring, timing, hopefully good community relations, etc.
B. Entrants want these things.
1.Because if they're seed 3+ they WANT seat time, practice,
pizza and tee-shirts
2.If they're factory teams they NEED to compete against each
and make the most of the collateral public relations.
C. Sanctioning bodies NEED these things
1.Because they NEED to charge the factories fees for offering
them these venues.
D. Organizers NEED sanctioning bodies for one thing...
1. Insurance
So it seems to me that there could exist a truly symbiotic relationship between the three parties based on their WANTS and NEEDS. Please recognize the difference. The seed 3+ driver does not HAVE to show up at any rally. He does so because it's fun and with whatever disposable income he has he can afford to....but he doesn't HAVE to. The National Points guys HAVE to show up (subtly a much higher level of motivation). I have no problem charging based on need.
SCCA NEEDS organizers (or they can't charge the factories and other sponsors), and organizers NEED SCCA (or some other sanctioning body with insurance connections). I really suspect if you dive into this that it would be easier for an organizer to find insurance than SCCA to find 10-12 organizers if it all blew up.
So what does it take to satisfy all parties?
Let's say a Club Rally organizer has a history of doing a C(3) event with 70 miles for 40+/- cars....costs him $25,000 in expenses (I know the 100AW was close to that). To break even he has to charge $625.car. About what we're hearing these days at least from the NE.
So SCCA comes along and says "we want you to be a National Championship Event. Organizer commits to 120 miles and 100 cars (this is a major commitment as you know logistically...would cut the wheat from the chaff), and all the stuff I said earlier he provides. Let's say he has expenses of $25,000 (wouldn't necessarily go up...he's providing the same stuff), but that does not include any of his personal miles, lodging, phone, etc. Most of us bury that stuff.. If he got 100 cars, spread equally, that would be $250/car and NOBODY would be bitching about that! But most don't draw 100 cars...maybe 2-3 events a year...not even Maine this year.
Let's say instead of organizer paying SCCA a sanction fee, SCCA takes some of their factory/sponsorship money and kicks in $10,000 to the organizer's budget. Now he can recover some of his committee's personal expenses. And on top of that loans them a Subaru for 60 days before the event used to be Mazda pick-up trucks) so he doesn't have to beat the snot out of his personal car. In exchange, SCCA gets to infuse their National Competitors into the list of entrants and distribute National Championship Points based on finishing positions. National Points chasers pay $1000 entry. SCCA gets to own the event (no Bank signs at the water crossing) or at least negotiates with local sponsors to stay in background. So now maybe your budget is $32,000 (you've picked up personal expenses and perked your workers better than in the past).
100 Cars of which 25 are Nationals...$25,000 comes from Nationals leaving $7,000 to be paid by the seed 3+ entrants.....$100 +/-.
I submit that this would A. Increase the number of events being organized, B. vastly increase the number of contestants running, and C. Improve the National Championship because organizers would vie for the rights.
Organizers, BTW would NOT be responsible for all the National/FIA crap. SCCA sends in THEIR techs to do National tech stuff. They get to play THEIR game on OUR field. This is how I ran the CRNC in Salem. It caught Beryl-Ann and the others a little by surprise, but when they figured it out it made sense. WE put on a rally. THEY figured out how to use it to declare a champion. WE were putting on a rally whether or not it was CRNC. WE would put on a rally whether or not it was a National Championship Event. If it is to be so declared, then we commit to 120/100, get a course vehicle and a stipend. We will take ALL National Points chasers at $1000 a pop, and spread the rest of the expenses over the remaining field. Everybody (except possibly the internal SCCA National Office budget) wins.
