Sportsman TV Coverage
Discussion
This is a subject obviously close to me, so apologies if my argument seems a little one sided.
As a sportsman racer, I have to pay the MSA for an annual license/ membership fee and either APIRA or SPRC for membership. I pay my entry to race like everbody else and take the cost of rain off's, oil downs etc on the chin. Now FIA Chamionship Drag Racing has had televised coverage for what ? the last 4-5 years or more ? So as a sportsman racer who is able to sell the rights for TV coverage to MSA Sportsman Drag Racing ? and, why has sportsman racing not been properly televised to date ?
The money that is spent in sportsman drag racing is phenominal compared to other motorsports currently televised. Across various Sky channels, you can watch anything from indoor trials, speedway, karting, hillclimbing, one make circuit racing, either funcup, Mini's, Clios's etc. You can see rallycross, stock hatch, minicross, even bangers and stock cars on occasion. All are entry levels of sportsman motorsport all trying to do the same thing, raise the profile of their sports and attract investment.
Bracket racing maybe over shadowed by heads up racing at the track as far as some spectators are concerned, maybe I'm biased but watching Super Pro racers with terminals speed well over 150mph plus or Pro ET fields with 0.001 of a second separating the top 5, is more entertaining than junior karting any day of the week. On screen graphics displaying RT's and win/lose margins could display the win etc, add a commentator who knows the sport who can inject some detail on the skills required to tune the cars and run competativley would make it great TV. Lets face it it's easier to get a car down the track than the FIA classes and there would be no need to pad out the episodes with random interviews with drivers who speak broken English because of rain off's.
Finances are tightening up for everybody I speak to in racing, sportsman racing largely exists on racers bankrolling their own cars. There are very few who actually get financial sponsorship, how are we to continue the search for sponsorship without even having a figurehead pushing televised coverage ? Sponsors want product or brand placement in the media, a racer can only acheive so much on their own. We need representation from one of the sanctioning bodies who has the ability to sell the television rights acting on our behalf.
As a sportsman racer, I have to pay the MSA for an annual license/ membership fee and either APIRA or SPRC for membership. I pay my entry to race like everbody else and take the cost of rain off's, oil downs etc on the chin. Now FIA Chamionship Drag Racing has had televised coverage for what ? the last 4-5 years or more ? So as a sportsman racer who is able to sell the rights for TV coverage to MSA Sportsman Drag Racing ? and, why has sportsman racing not been properly televised to date ?
The money that is spent in sportsman drag racing is phenominal compared to other motorsports currently televised. Across various Sky channels, you can watch anything from indoor trials, speedway, karting, hillclimbing, one make circuit racing, either funcup, Mini's, Clios's etc. You can see rallycross, stock hatch, minicross, even bangers and stock cars on occasion. All are entry levels of sportsman motorsport all trying to do the same thing, raise the profile of their sports and attract investment.
Bracket racing maybe over shadowed by heads up racing at the track as far as some spectators are concerned, maybe I'm biased but watching Super Pro racers with terminals speed well over 150mph plus or Pro ET fields with 0.001 of a second separating the top 5, is more entertaining than junior karting any day of the week. On screen graphics displaying RT's and win/lose margins could display the win etc, add a commentator who knows the sport who can inject some detail on the skills required to tune the cars and run competativley would make it great TV. Lets face it it's easier to get a car down the track than the FIA classes and there would be no need to pad out the episodes with random interviews with drivers who speak broken English because of rain off's.
Finances are tightening up for everybody I speak to in racing, sportsman racing largely exists on racers bankrolling their own cars. There are very few who actually get financial sponsorship, how are we to continue the search for sponsorship without even having a figurehead pushing televised coverage ? Sponsors want product or brand placement in the media, a racer can only acheive so much on their own. We need representation from one of the sanctioning bodies who has the ability to sell the television rights acting on our behalf.
"Sell" TV rights?
In this day and age if you want your minority sport on anything like "mainstream" TV you're going to have to fund the production yourself and then look for enough sponsorship/advertising to pay for its slot, unless its picked up as a filler for 3am. Take Red Bull Air Race as an example. Next time its on check out the adverts throughout the program, you'll soon see how it works. MOST of the TV companies are businesses you know and schedule only on the basis of what makes them most money.
We all know that drag racing being such a visceral sport isn't really done justice too even in some of the best TV coverage. We all know the difference in spectator numbers between say the Euro Finals and a sportsman meeting like the Summer Nationals and why that is, so who and in what numbers would you be expecting to viewers to watch "MSA Sportsman Drag Racing" on Sky Sport 3 and how would these "impressions" be viewed by a prospective sponsor/marketing partner?
If as you say, sponsorship revolves around media coverage then, if you pay for your TV slot and production of the material to fill it up-front, you should have no problem recouping your costs from the prospective advertisers and sponsors who will be lining up to pay you for the mainstream exposure of your primetime TV coverage of sportsman racing, and you'll have a winner... Likely? I think not.
So if you want sportsman coverage on TV maybe the best thing to do is get all the sportsman racers together at the start of the season and tell them there will be an £500 charge at the start of the season to compete in your newly televised Championship. No pay, no entry.
In this day and age if you want your minority sport on anything like "mainstream" TV you're going to have to fund the production yourself and then look for enough sponsorship/advertising to pay for its slot, unless its picked up as a filler for 3am. Take Red Bull Air Race as an example. Next time its on check out the adverts throughout the program, you'll soon see how it works. MOST of the TV companies are businesses you know and schedule only on the basis of what makes them most money.
We all know that drag racing being such a visceral sport isn't really done justice too even in some of the best TV coverage. We all know the difference in spectator numbers between say the Euro Finals and a sportsman meeting like the Summer Nationals and why that is, so who and in what numbers would you be expecting to viewers to watch "MSA Sportsman Drag Racing" on Sky Sport 3 and how would these "impressions" be viewed by a prospective sponsor/marketing partner?
If as you say, sponsorship revolves around media coverage then, if you pay for your TV slot and production of the material to fill it up-front, you should have no problem recouping your costs from the prospective advertisers and sponsors who will be lining up to pay you for the mainstream exposure of your primetime TV coverage of sportsman racing, and you'll have a winner... Likely? I think not.
PhilSweeney said:
Finances are tightening up for everybody I speak to in racing, sportsman racing largely exists on racers bankrolling their own cars. There are very few who actually get financial sponsorship, how are we to continue the search for sponsorship without even having a figurehead pushing televised coverage ? Sponsors want product or brand placement in the media, a racer can only acheive so much on their own. We need representation from one of the sanctioning bodies who has the ability to sell the television rights acting on our behalf.
Have a look at the percentages in pro racing as to who bankrolls their own racing, or those who have a "deal" but have to make up their budget out of their own pocket, and you'll probably find more money is spent out of the pro-racer's personal accounts than you would like to believe. Plus... who pays for the FIA TV coverage production? The racers do.So if you want sportsman coverage on TV maybe the best thing to do is get all the sportsman racers together at the start of the season and tell them there will be an £500 charge at the start of the season to compete in your newly televised Championship. No pay, no entry.
Edited by TheMighty on Thursday 7th August 12:48
from my perspective as a racer, and a motorsports fan, the little time I do get, I'll basically watch any motorsport on the TV. My first passion is the drags but a close second is general motorsports, specifcally the engineering side, but of an evening, if I'm not forced to watch Hollyoaks or Corrie, I watch Sky Sports and Motors TV.
It's news to me that we'd have to pay our own production cost but it proves my point in that I'm just a racer, I'm not in a organisational position nor am I a governing body, we need this representation from our respective bodies and racers associations. I've no idea how many people would watch but I can hoenstly say, it's more attractive than "Danish Tractor Pulling". Take "Pinks" for example, it's handicap racing with an edge, ie "Lose the race, lose your ride", whilst the format and drama of the negotiation and loss of car can't be replicated, it proves that people will watch bracket racing if the coverage is good, ie more than just two cars running down the track. It doesn't need the dramatic edge either.
The expenditure by racers and promoters is reciprocal. Spreading the production costs across entry fees is a much more viable proposition. The patient's of sportsman racers was tested recently with the addition of mandatory power supplements on top of entry fees which although ridiculously overpriced, most people now agree are worth paying. Entry fields at big meetings are bursting, spreading the costs across 4-5 different classes would easilly be swallowed. Racers jointly investing in coverage of their events to add a medium can only benefit everybody involved. The racers get to pitch TV coverage in their sponsorship proposals, which IMO is a far more attractive proposition than any medium currently available. The tracks get further exposure for them and existing lane/ associate sponsors, and are able to broadcast advertisments for their next events. A case in point is that Shakey currently gets more TV coverage from the likes of Bulldog Bash, Scrapheap Challenge, Top Gear and Fith Gear than it does from it's own MSA race events ?.
As racers we have to join up to the MSA and a racers associations in order to race. I don't dispute these people's contributions to the sport as most are volunteers or working on just expenses. They are valid contributors to the sport and it's all the better with their involvment (ok except maybe the MSA..) but I just feel that we're missing somebody to represent us who has the desire to further sportsman drag racing by getting it televised. Maybe somebody is doing this in the background, but as a racer it's not apparent that somebody is.
It's news to me that we'd have to pay our own production cost but it proves my point in that I'm just a racer, I'm not in a organisational position nor am I a governing body, we need this representation from our respective bodies and racers associations. I've no idea how many people would watch but I can hoenstly say, it's more attractive than "Danish Tractor Pulling". Take "Pinks" for example, it's handicap racing with an edge, ie "Lose the race, lose your ride", whilst the format and drama of the negotiation and loss of car can't be replicated, it proves that people will watch bracket racing if the coverage is good, ie more than just two cars running down the track. It doesn't need the dramatic edge either.
The expenditure by racers and promoters is reciprocal. Spreading the production costs across entry fees is a much more viable proposition. The patient's of sportsman racers was tested recently with the addition of mandatory power supplements on top of entry fees which although ridiculously overpriced, most people now agree are worth paying. Entry fields at big meetings are bursting, spreading the costs across 4-5 different classes would easilly be swallowed. Racers jointly investing in coverage of their events to add a medium can only benefit everybody involved. The racers get to pitch TV coverage in their sponsorship proposals, which IMO is a far more attractive proposition than any medium currently available. The tracks get further exposure for them and existing lane/ associate sponsors, and are able to broadcast advertisments for their next events. A case in point is that Shakey currently gets more TV coverage from the likes of Bulldog Bash, Scrapheap Challenge, Top Gear and Fith Gear than it does from it's own MSA race events ?.
As racers we have to join up to the MSA and a racers associations in order to race. I don't dispute these people's contributions to the sport as most are volunteers or working on just expenses. They are valid contributors to the sport and it's all the better with their involvment (ok except maybe the MSA..) but I just feel that we're missing somebody to represent us who has the desire to further sportsman drag racing by getting it televised. Maybe somebody is doing this in the background, but as a racer it's not apparent that somebody is.
Edited by PhilSweeney on Thursday 7th August 16:15
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