Track News: COTA owner considered selling track during Covid
The chairman of the Circuit of The Americas Bobby Epstein has revealed he considered selling the track during the COVID pandemic but with 400,000 in attendance for last year’s race, and more expected this year, he’s sure glad he didn’t.
“Everyone feels great about where we are and couldn’t be happier about the path to get here,” he told Sports Business Journal.
“Certainly, it wasn’t as smooth as we would have hoped, but the hard work of all the employees and our city being very welcoming, and the fans and teams embracing what we’ve created, made this possible, along with Netflix and ESPN drawing extra attention to the sport.
“Certainly, several years ago, with COVID, there was a time where we would have been happy to sell the track alone.”
“There’s unquestionable demand right now from investors looking to capture part of the success of F1,” the managing general partner of asset management company Prophet Capital said. “We don’t need a partner as of right now for the racing business, and we’re very happy with that business.
“What we do have the opportunity for is to grow out the rest of the campus.”
“I don’t think we’ve ever been this prepared because the tickets sold out so far in advance,” he said. “It let us focus on executing the fun part and not just worrying about grandstand production and the installation of temporary structures.
“Things will be a lot smoother. We’ve had our challenges with food and beverage. Our business is not putting on the race, it’s everything else, executing on the fan experience as good as we possibly can.
“So to that extent, we’re focusing on things like a massive food and beverage operation, extra bands and entertainment, more shaded areas, improved walkaways, improved parking lot … things that make the guest experience better.”
“We’re building a massive amusement park that I hope opens in ’23,” he told the American-Statesman during NASCAR weekend. “We’ll have 30-plus rides and two mega-coasters. One of them will be the first of its kind in the country. It’ll be an amusement park to rival any other.”
“We’ve got a lot of room out here, and we’ll keep adding events,” Epstein said of the 1,500-acre complex.
COTA repaved parts of the track where MotoGP and F1 drivers complained about bumps, and Epstein said, “It’s repaired, and I think MotoGP will be here a long time — for as long as it makes sense for both of us.”