Can the Boston GP succeed where others have failed?
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| Boston Mayor Martin Walsh |
You've likely seen some of the numerous reports questioning the viability of the Grand Prix of Boston Verizon IndyCar Series race scheduled for Labor Day Weekend 2016. While Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles and race organizers Grand Prix of Boston (GPB) have stated their expectation that the Grand Prix will proceed as planned, important matters such as the use of convention center and approval of the local port authority have yet to be resolved.
Further, concerns about disruptions to the city and the possible cost to the city have been expressed in various outlets (although GPB has repeatedly stated the race will be conducted without public expenditure).
Concerns were amplified two weeks ago with a letter from Mayor Martin J. Walsh's office to GPB. Walsh stated in the letter that he hoped issues such as the use of the convention center are resolved within two weeks.
Now, it should be noted that obstacles such as getting approval from local agencies, noise permits and informing residents about the inconveniences the event will bring are relatively standard for urban street races, particularly first-time events. Still, in the absence of resolution on important matters, and a steady stream of coverage in Boston questioning the event, uncertainty abounds in Beantown regarding next year's inaugural race.
Over the past week-ten days AutoRacing1 has spoken with many within the industry about the difficulty in getting urban street events off the ground. Today, we will highlight some of the vital elements for getting such events going, and how those issues pertain to the situation in Boston. Hopefully, you will come away from this with a better understanding of what is going on with the IndyCar event in Boston.
To begin, anyone who follows Indy car racing knows temporary circuit events have something of a checkered history. However, there are illustrations of them working. And although it is a popular to believe temporary circuit events are bound to fail, as we outlined in an article two years ago, there is not a significant difference in the percentage failure of a temporary circuit race when compared with other type of events.
Rather, the data indicates that ALL types of IndyCar races, whether temporary circuits, permanent road circuits, ovals, etc. have a strong percentage chance of being discontinued. Also, two of the top-four longest-running events on the IndyCar calendar (Long Beach and St. Petersburg) are temporary circuit events.
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]The simple truth is while it is an uphill challenge temporary circuit events CAN work, or at the very least, have as much chance of working as any other type of IndyCar event.
So, instead of approaching this article with the simplistic premise that temporary circuits are somehow destined to fail, the better question perhaps is what is needed for them to work?
Now, some are obvious matters such as financing. A well-financed operation can better sustain a bad-weather year or any other complications. Think about this past year's Detroit doubleheader which was plagued by two days of rain. All indications were it was a disaster at the box office. But, who is the Detroit promoter? The very deep-pocketed Roger Penske.
The event will return in 2015 and presumably for the foreseeable future.
An attractive location is another key. And the South Boston Waterfront area has all the bars, restaurants and atmosphere one could want. It is a place people want to go.
However, financing and the race venue are ultimately long-term issues, and questions as to whether the event will be around in 5-10 years. In Boston, the issues are of a more immediate nature, pertaining to the event getting off the ground
Buy-in at the upper levels of local government
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| Boston can be bigger than Long Beach someday if they get all the locals behind the event |
From what we gather, most street races are born with a race organizing group selling the event to someone in upper-level city management. Whether this is a mayor or city manager, someone with decision making power in city government needs to buy-in to the event and believe that it can bring something of value to the city. Further, the expectation is this person will be the one to sell the event locally.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh expressed interest in Boston having an IndyCar race as early as the summer of 2014, and in August that year assembled a Boston Grand Prix Committee. In May of this past year, the City of Boston, race organizers Grand Prix of Boston, and INDYCAR reached an agreement to conduct a race in the Seaport District of Boston Labor Day Weekend 2016.
"This is an exciting time in Boston and as we explore new ways to grow and attract visitors here…The event has great potential to bring an influx of tourism and support for our local businesses during what is traditionally a challenging holiday weekend for hospitality," said Walsh when the race was announced in May.
Conclusion: Walsh's office was very much on board when the race was announced. However…
Disseminating the information
GPB clearly sold Walsh's office on the idea. But perhaps even more important is once this is accomplished organizers need someone locally (in this case Walsh and Co.) to be drum-beaters for the event. This person becomes the face of the event locally, so to speak. One successful race organizer told us, people locally will take their cues from whomever that person in upper-level city management, so happens to be.
This is a problem in Boston not so much for the fact the event isn't being sold, rather people don't necessarily trust the messenger.
As you may or may not know, Walsh carried out a rather prolonged effort to have Boston host the 2024 Olympic Games. Ultimately, the effort failed, and what came out of the failed Olympics bid was strong opposition to Walsh's handling of the matter and a rather large P.R. hit for the mayor.
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]In January, Walsh signed a "joinder agreement" with the USOC forbidding the city of Boston and its employees from any statement which "reflect unfavorably upon, denigrate or are detrimental to the reputation" of the USOC or Olympic Games. Critics claimed the agreement was unconstitutional and also became skeptical of what exactly there might be to hide.
Further, as it became more and more apparent that the mayor's office was in regular communication with Boston 2024, the Olympic bid committee, even as he appeared to publicly cool on the Olympics. This and some personal links between Boston 2024 and Walsh raised suspicions as to how transparent the mayor was with regard to the bid.
Also, it was later revealed that Walsh had signed a deal for $25 million to insure the City against any cost overruns without reviewing the formal bid for the Olympics. The city ultimately got off the hook, as Walsh seeing the P.R. disaster in front of him, did not go through with the bid. Still, the image of Walsh not doing his due diligence and spending the city's money took root.
Conclusion: The Boston race may have a local drum-beater. However, what good is that, if residents don't trust the messenger? And the lack of trust in the messenger, brings us to our next point…
The Local Media
"Look, there's no way of getting around it: there will be disruptions," one race promoter told us about the inconveniences brought to residents from street events. The conduit by which the promotion staff will tell people how they plan to handle disruptions will be the local media. And how the local media receives the event can be a sink-or-swim factor.
Clearly, the reception of the race from some outlets, in part to questions surrounding Walsh's office, has not been positive. However, questions from local media began to emerge a few weeks after the event was announced as local media began researching similar events.
One June 5, 2015 (about two weeks after the race's confirmation) an article ran in Boston Magazine on June 5th titled "Is the Grand Prix Taking Boston for a Ride?" Amongst the questions/concerns raised in the article were:
- The fact GPB would use Boston's streets without providing any payment
- GPB suggesting 250,000 people could attend the three-day event and the fact this number was cited by Ken Brissette, Walsh's director of sports and tourism. Writer David S. Bernstein referred to that number as "an unadulterated lie," saying the only other event that draws a similar number is the Indianapolis 500 "which is not at all similar to anything like the event being planned in Boston."
- The fact there was as yet no deal for the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center or a title sponsor.
But perhaps, the most important part of the piece came from the very final sentence which read, "But as we've seen with Walsh's Olympic dream, the headaches only get worse if Bostonians distrust the messenger."
Conclusion: Walsh's Olympic failure fresh in everyone's minds, and the fact certain information about the event was considered dubious at best, is crucial to understanding why the local media has been skeptical from the start.
Reverberations
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| The Boston track is in a prime location and with so many college students in the Boston area, this event could turn out to be huge if they can pull it off. |
A skeptical media will inevitably dig for information and you never know what they're going to pull up. However, in the case of Boston, analysis of the situation has inevitably led to another East Coast city that that doesn't forecast great things for the race: Baltimore.
Without rehashing all the details, the Grand Prix of Baltimore, which ran from 2011-2013, enjoyed good crowds and some memorable racing in a picturesque downtown setting. But amidst a seeming ocean of red ink and red tape, and a local government that gradually cooled after showing initial fervor, the race was discontinued after 2013.
Parallels between Boston and Baltimore have been drawn both locally and amongst racing media. And the parallel to Baltimore can be translated as: destined to fail.
Conclusion: If you're trying to sell a street race locally, you want people to hear parallels between Monaco and Long Beach, not Baltimore.
So, is Boston destined to be another Baltimore, or worse, not run at all?
Certainly, from a big-picture perspective, race organizers and INDYCAR are facing an uphill battle with any inaugural event nowadays. And if you are to look at the sheer metrics, the race lasting five years is probably less than 50/50. That is the racing side of things.
Locally, the biggest issue is the negative momentum that taken root regarding the race. While there was an initial embracing of the race from Walsh's office, for whatever reason the mayor has not been able to get the local agencies, public and media to buy-in.
Worse, the mayor, who should theoretically be the event's biggest cheerleader, appears to be trending lukewarm. With an Olympic disaster fresh in everyone's mind, Walsh is likely sensitive to criticism of his office regarding sporting events in the city. And let it be known, the city has outs in their contract with GPB should certain contractual agreements not be met in a timely fashion. Will Walsh starting down the barrel at more negative P.R., pull the plug at first opportunity?
So, if Walsh is trending lukewarm, will the local agencies and officials trend the same way? Well, maybe they already are. Last week, a spokesperson from the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority told AutoRacing1, GPB was being treated like anyone else in their efforts to secure the Convention Center. Call us crazy, but that doesn't exactly scream, "the Mayor wants this to happen, so by golly, we're going to make it happen."
Overall, the Grand Prix of Boston faces numerous challenges in the coming days, weeks and months. Can they be overcome?
Possibly. And as outlined previously, the Boston market and race venue have the potential to be a successful one for INDYCAR. Further, we here at AutoRacing1 hope the city and organizers can cross their Ts and dot there Is and we can head to Boston next Labor Day Weekend for the IndyCar race.
However, before the race goes green it appears to be facing a skeptical media, and opposition from some the locals, while not exactly enjoying the cooperation of the government agencies needed to make the race go. And if the Grand Prix of Boston is to have any sustained success, or perhaps even see the green flag next September, it isn't a question of whether such opposition and apathy will change. It will have to.
Brian Carroccio is a senior columnist for AutoRacing1. He can be contacted at BrianC@AutoRacing1.com.
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