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No one will deny that CART
certainly has had some trying times since the splitting of the sport by Tony
George back in 1995.
Cancelled races, several Presidents, poor attendance at some venues, pop-off
valve controversy, and soft TV ratings. However, it appears we are beginning to see the light at the end of the
tunnel, and that light is shining quite bright.
While some detractors would have
you to believe that all is gloom and doom with CART, nothing could be further
from the truth. It appears CART has bottomed out and ready to
rise. In fact, at no other time in its history has CART been
so well positioned for greatness. Here's why:
1. The new administration
is cleaning up all the leftover issues, most of which were created by prior
administrations.
2. Even though the economy
has tanked, attendance at the majority of its street and road circuits have
been stable. In fact at several venues we have seen record attendance.
3. CART's international
races have been a huge success, proving that CART is indeed a thriving world
championship series. Fabulous attendance at Monterrey, Mexico,
Toronto, Vancouver, Japan., Australia (will be) and Germany underscore the
pent up demand for top-level open wheel racing in the world. If Rio
had not been cancelled this year, a record attendance was expected.
The 2000 running was a sellout on the Roval and this year's race was expected
to be run on the road course. Brazilian fans love road course racing
and the old Rio F1 circuit was a fabulous facility. That event is
expected to be back on the 2002 CART schedule, bigger and better than
ever. What's particularly encouraging about this is the fact that the
Mayor of Rio now realizes what a terrible mistake he made by canceling this
years CART race for political reasons
4. CART's success in
Germany was a watershed day for CART. There was some question as to
whether or not CART would be accepted in Europe after all those years of
badmouthing by Bernie Ecclestone and Niki Lauda. In addition, the
European motorsports press doesn't go out of its way to give CART much
coverage, so CART is still largely an unknown to many Europeans. To
see 87,600 fans turn out on race day in Germany, blowing horns and waving
flags just like they do for F1 races, left no doubt in anyone's mind that
CART can go into markets dominated by F1 and do quite well, thank you.
However, CART is going to have to do a better job of educating overseas fans
about CART. It's going to need better year-round media coverage.
5. CART has shed the
majority of its weak USA races and in all cases, has replaced them with
stronger events. The empty grandstands at those weak races were
ruining CART's image.
6. CART's new TV deal,
while on the surface appears weak because Speedvision does not reach as many
households as ESPN, may turn out to be a marriage made in heaven. CART
needs a TV broadcaster that will will really get behind the product and give
it the proper attention it needs. That means good production, a lot of
on-air time, and good promotion. At the same time CART will be Speedvision's
biggest product. With F1 moving over to ABC/ESPN (although that
announcement still has not been made), and given its NASCAR shows will not be
any live races (just old re-runs and specials), CART will be the only major
race series it broadcasts live. When ESPN took on NASCAR some 20 years
ago, they really got behind the series and did its share to help
grow the sport. At the same time NASCAR did its part. They grew
together. A lot of people are looking for CART and Speedvision
to be a similar success story. Last I should mention, that it was
clear ABC and ESPN were getting behind the IRL because of the power of the
Indy 500 and the contract terms associated with it, and CART was going to play second fiddle. Now CART will be
with SpeedVision and CBS, two broadcasters that don't have other competing
race series to focus on. CART will be their #1 motorsport product.
7. CART has a lot
of potential new venues that are really going to get the series some major
worldwide exposure. Mexico City is going to be a bigger event than any
of us can imagination. My sources tell me to expect over 300,000 fans
on race day for that race. Likewise, as we reported
previously, Shanghai China is going to be another phenomenal success
story for CART. It will see Mexico City like crowds, but more
importantly it will get CART and its sponsors into one of the
world's largest economic markets. No one is as fanatical about their
racing as the Italian race fans, especially the tifosi whom worship
anything Ferrari. While there is no Ferrari in CART today, there may
be Ferrari's sister company, Maserati, in CART someday, and that's likely to
light a fire under the Italian race fans. With Imola, Italy about to
lose its F1 race, CART must be ready to pounce on the opportunity to replace
F1.
Stateside, there are races such
as Miami, New York and San Francisco on the horizon that will each help
raise CART to the next level. If CART plays its cards right, five
years from now we might see a 22 to 24 race schedule with 100,000+ average
race day attendance. Those are NASCAR proportions, and certainly will
grab the attention of the corporate world. However, CART must bite the
bullet and jettison each and everyone of its weak races. Any race that
doesn't draw at least 50,000 on race day today, must be jettisoned. If
the market and/or promoter can't guarantee a big attendance, then CART needs to
move to one that will. Huge race attendance has helped propel NASCAR's
TV numbers. CART needs to do likewise.
8. A real
possibility exists that CART may be able to someday do business with one
Bernie Ecclestone, arguably the most powerful man in motorsports.
Ecclestone is facing a real dilemma. He needs to drop at least two
European F1 races from the schedule to make room for a race in Russia, China
and/or the Middle East. How does he tell a track owner who has been
part of F1 for years, and who brings in over 100,000 race fans today, that
they are going to lose their major #1 race? From where we sit, CART is
primed to help Ecclestone appease those track owners, by offering up CART
and to guarantee to the track owners that he will get behind the promotion
of those races. With additional races in Europe, CART will begin to
really catch the eye of the European Motorsport press.
9. CART, for the
first time ever, now has a 5-year Strategic Marketing Plan in place.
In the past CART has had a hard time explaining to corporate America and to
the fans what it really was, and where it was going. Not only does the
plan lay out where CART will be in 5-years, hopefully it lays out a plan to
'brand' the CART name. And for the first time, the CART board has
actually funded a CART Marketing Plan. For the first time, Rich Henley
will have the tools to work with to market the series. Expect to see a
major announcement soon that CART has signed on one of the biggest
advertising agencies in the world. I am told this firm is going to
propel CART into mainstream Americana and raise overall awareness
worldwide.
10. Some
interesting major investors have been buying up CART stock. Investors
that will insist CART do what's best to grow the series rather than what
might be best for some personal interests in the CART paddock. No
longer will these investors sit back and watch CART race at races owned or
promoted by existing team owners that are not huge successes. A couple of
races that come to mind are Milwaukee and Chicago. While Carl Haas and
Chip Ganassi won't like it that they face the prospect of losing their race,
they are going to be forced to either market their race to grow their
attendance to the 100,000 range, or move aside for a promoter that
will. CART is not 'club racing,' this is serious business with a huge
market potential. There is no longer any place for serving self
interests unless they can deliver the goods.
In a nutshell, while other media
sources have predicted CART's demise, and while a lot of negative CART
rhetoric has been spewed on the internet, I'm bullish about CART. CART
is well positioned to become a global powerhouse. It may never be as
big as F1, but it doesn't have to be.
There is plenty of room in this
world for F1 and CART to coexist, and while everyone talks about a CART and
IRL merger, that looks less and less likely by the day. CART's future
is not butting heads with NASCAR and the IRL, CART's future is a truly
global high-profile world championship series. Why shoot for the moon when
you can make it to the stars?
The author can be contacted at
markc@autoracing1.com
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