Joined
·
1,132 Posts
Lurch started a great thread in the organizers forum about a new business model for events. They should make money and to do that they need to be promoted, he says. I agree. Hire a promoter, there are very good people out there who don't need to canabalize the sport.
Rally is the coolest, as we all know. The challenge is getting people out to the woods, and safely, to watch the sport. People want to watch the top cars and then leave. Having this chaos occur safely is like making a river flow uphill. Why not give these people what they want? Think about it, our sport is not at all spectator friendly and we still have a ton of them. What if we could make it spectator more friendly?
When I go to a football game it's a fun but tough to follow. Convention says if you want to follow the game, don't go to it, watch it on TV as it happens. Some like the stadium experiene, but there are other choices that increase the veiwership. Can we watch rally, in some form ,as it happens from a safe place? Here is my current hallucination...
I am envisioning a big freakin' tent. It's probably at Headquarters. It might be yellow. There might be a big yellow bus parked next to it. Inside this tent there are 5 or 10 or 15 monitors that are showing real-time, or close to real-time, rally racing on the stages. They are getting feeds from multiple cameras from multiple views from the top cars. They are also getting info from a bunch of cameras in key places on a few stages. There are a bunch of people watching these monitors, it's a big tent after all. Inside this tent is being told the story of the rally with real-time, or close to it, scoring and video information available, maybe that awesome canadian guy is doing it, maybe RA is doing it, I'm not sure. Either way, inside this tent you can sit and watch the rally story unfold and know what is happening as it happens, or shortly thereafter.
There is also an annoying DJ from a local radio station who is in this tent telling everyone on the radio how great the rally is because he has been motivated to do so. Almost everyone in town knows about it. There have been spots on all the radio stations for weeks since the promotor knows more promotion means more people.
See, the rally is being brought to people in a safe place where they can be targeted by advertisers and tickets can be sold for a few bucks.
It is still posssible to see the race in the woods at well controlled spectator areas that charge for admission, maybe 5 or 10 bucks. I just think it's time that there are choices available for the casual fan that might not want to hoof it out to the woods. This way it is not required to be a freak to be a rally fan. You can sorta like it and still be able to enjoy it. There are CHOICES.
Will this cost money and people and time? You damn well better believe it. Would something like this give Lurch's promoter something more to promote in addition to limited access spectator points that cost a few bucks? Yep.
I think it's worth discussion. There is not one puzzle piece that will make wonderful things happen without hard work and new thinking. There is an "if you build it they will come" aspect to any idea. There lies the risk. But look at CORR racing, look at drifting. What can we borrow from these types of events. How about people safely enjoying the sport, being targeted by sponsors, and enjoying concessions. We just have to give the less crazy fan more ways to enjoy the sport. Then we will have more people.
Tear it up.
Rally is the coolest, as we all know. The challenge is getting people out to the woods, and safely, to watch the sport. People want to watch the top cars and then leave. Having this chaos occur safely is like making a river flow uphill. Why not give these people what they want? Think about it, our sport is not at all spectator friendly and we still have a ton of them. What if we could make it spectator more friendly?
When I go to a football game it's a fun but tough to follow. Convention says if you want to follow the game, don't go to it, watch it on TV as it happens. Some like the stadium experiene, but there are other choices that increase the veiwership. Can we watch rally, in some form ,as it happens from a safe place? Here is my current hallucination...
I am envisioning a big freakin' tent. It's probably at Headquarters. It might be yellow. There might be a big yellow bus parked next to it. Inside this tent there are 5 or 10 or 15 monitors that are showing real-time, or close to real-time, rally racing on the stages. They are getting feeds from multiple cameras from multiple views from the top cars. They are also getting info from a bunch of cameras in key places on a few stages. There are a bunch of people watching these monitors, it's a big tent after all. Inside this tent is being told the story of the rally with real-time, or close to it, scoring and video information available, maybe that awesome canadian guy is doing it, maybe RA is doing it, I'm not sure. Either way, inside this tent you can sit and watch the rally story unfold and know what is happening as it happens, or shortly thereafter.
There is also an annoying DJ from a local radio station who is in this tent telling everyone on the radio how great the rally is because he has been motivated to do so. Almost everyone in town knows about it. There have been spots on all the radio stations for weeks since the promotor knows more promotion means more people.
See, the rally is being brought to people in a safe place where they can be targeted by advertisers and tickets can be sold for a few bucks.
It is still posssible to see the race in the woods at well controlled spectator areas that charge for admission, maybe 5 or 10 bucks. I just think it's time that there are choices available for the casual fan that might not want to hoof it out to the woods. This way it is not required to be a freak to be a rally fan. You can sorta like it and still be able to enjoy it. There are CHOICES.
Will this cost money and people and time? You damn well better believe it. Would something like this give Lurch's promoter something more to promote in addition to limited access spectator points that cost a few bucks? Yep.
I think it's worth discussion. There is not one puzzle piece that will make wonderful things happen without hard work and new thinking. There is an "if you build it they will come" aspect to any idea. There lies the risk. But look at CORR racing, look at drifting. What can we borrow from these types of events. How about people safely enjoying the sport, being targeted by sponsors, and enjoying concessions. We just have to give the less crazy fan more ways to enjoy the sport. Then we will have more people.
Tear it up.
