Dear Tony: F1 sucks and isn't worth the investment

[Spicoli]

:tony:

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/166985/f1-generates-more-money-per-event-than-any-other-sport



Formula One Grand Prixs generate more revenue per event than any other sport in the world, according to research carried out by Formula Money, the organisation which monitors the financial health of F1 motor racing and the Deloitte Sport Business Group.



The research found that each of the motor sport’s 17 races produce an average revenue of $229 million per event – nearly ten times that of its closest competitor, the National Football League, which generates $24 million per game.



Hugs & Kisses:irked:

spicTard.

[Accipiter]

Great if the promoter is a Nation trying to create tourism dollars, but for a private track owner without government support? That money isn't landing in his pockets.

[Andrew Longman]

10 times the NFL? Good lord!


But $24 mil per NFL event seems lite. Ticket sales at 75K alone puts you in the $10 mil range. Add parking, concession, signage, etc and the split of at least $5 billion a year in TV money and it seems easily above $24 mil... but my calculator doesn't do numbers that big.

[tllips]

10 times the NFL? Good lord!


But $24 mil per NFL event seems lite. Ticket sales at 75K alone puts you in the $10 mil range. Add parking, concession, signage, etc and the split of at least $5 billion a year in TV money and it seems easily above $24 mil... but my calculator doesn't do numbers that big.

In the past, I was told that every team in the NFL would turn a profit if zero fans showed up at the park. i.e. The TV revenue alone is enough for every team to be profitable.

[Insomniac]

I don't believe those numbers at all. They don't get that many more people at the track than a typical NFL game. They must be counting a lot of other things.

[Rogue Leader]

I don't believe those numbers at all. They don't get that many more people at the track than a typical NFL game. They must be counting a lot of other things.

I believe them, the numbers are skewed however. There are only 17 races, meaning people that may have gone to various "games" all go to 1 race in their region. Meanwhile the NFL has about 15 times the games played, so while they make less per game, there are way more games played. Also no NFL stadium can hold 300,000 people, the most is probably about 40,000 or so, there was over 300,000 at Montreal last weekend. Its all relative.

[patski]

I believe them, the numbers are skewed however. There are only 17 races, meaning people that may have gone to various "games" all go to 1 race in their region. Meanwhile the NFL has about 15 times the games played, so while they make less per game, there are way more games played. Also no NFL stadium can hold 300,000 people, the most is probably about 40,000 or so, there was over 300,000 at Montreal last weekend. Its all relative.

All NFL Stadiums hold OVER 40,000. The Green Bay Packers always get over 66,000 even in a small town.

[Cam]

All NFL Stadiums hold OVER 40,000. The Green Bay Packers always get over 66,000 even in a small town.

Aren't the majority of the fans "owners"?

[patski]

Aren't the majority of the fans "owners"?

No. I believe there are over 200,000 stockholder/owners of the Packers. Not all can get tickets or want them.

[Andrew Longman]

By my calculation the NFL plays 333 games a season, including preseason (32 teams x 20 games / 2 teams per game + 13 playoff games = 333)

That's a lot more than the 17 races F1 does and so that dilutes the per event total.

NFL TV contract is $3.735 per year. Divide that by 333 games and this liberal arts major gets $11.2 million per game. Add say $10 million in tickets. More for parking, concessions and knick knack and I guess it could come to $24 million. But it seems like it could be light too if it doesn't include all the licensing fees and other NFL revenue that is not directly event related by which they would not get if there were no events

[Sean O'Gorman]

I believe them, the numbers are skewed however. There are only 17 races, meaning people that may have gone to various "games" all go to 1 race in their region. Meanwhile the NFL has about 15 times the games played, so while they make less per game, there are way more games played. Also no NFL stadium can hold 300,000 people, the most is probably about 40,000 or so, there was over 300,000 at Montreal last weekend. Its all relative.

There were not 300,000 at Montreal.

That being said, undoubtedly, the hotel/dining out/tourism aspect of F1 is significantly higher in F1 than stick and ball sports? Aside from obnoxious Red Sox fans, who really travels to most sporting events?

[pitwall3]

There were not 300,000 at Montreal.

That being said, undoubtedly, the hotel/dining out/tourism aspect of F1 is significantly higher in F1 than stick and ball sports? Aside from obnoxious Red Sox fans, who really travels to most sporting events?

They had 121,000 fans on race day, 319,000 for the 3 days. Hotels rooms downtown were going at $300 per night. I watched the practice sessions and qualifying on the Friday and Saturday on the tube and the grand stands were packed. Formula open wheel racing is alive and well in Canada.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080608.wspt-canadiangp08/GSStory/GlobeSports

[Sean O'Gorman]

Yes, but thats not 319,000 individual people. Its still a ton of fans spending money on hotels and stuff for three days, but its not that many individuals.

[pitwall3]

Yes, but thats not 319,000 individual people. Its still a ton of fans spending money on hotels and stuff for three days, but its not that many individuals.

OK, lets do a run on the revenue from tickets based on 121,000.

General admission tickets Friday - $25; Saturday - $50; Sunday - $75
3 day pass - $100
Grand Stands (2) 3 day pass - $225
Grand Stands (5) 3 day pass - $395
Grand stands (4) 3 day pass - $495

Lets say for the sake of argument that the average revenue was $200
per ticket sold.
121,000 x $200 - $24,200,000

Not a bad take for a three day race weekend. When you add on all the other stuff like food, beer, wine the sale of F1 gear it boggles the mind. :)

http://www.grandprix.ca/price.html

http://www.grandprix.ca/tickets.html

This does not include the revenue from Corporate Suites.

[Insomniac]

I believe them, the numbers are skewed however. There are only 17 races, meaning people that may have gone to various "games" all go to 1 race in their region. Meanwhile the NFL has about 15 times the games played, so while they make less per game, there are way more games played. Also no NFL stadium can hold 300,000 people, the most is probably about 40,000 or so, there was over 300,000 at Montreal last weekend. Its all relative.

Reading that article, it seems like the money the manufacturers spend play into the totals. If that's the case, toss in the costs of stadiums.

[Insomniac]

Aside from obnoxious Red Sox fans, who really travels to most sporting events?

I don't think they travel all that much. Red Sox Nation is really big. Besides, not our fault the home fans won't buy all the tickets. ;)

[Insomniac]

This does not include the revenue from Corporate Suites.

You think the NFL numbers include luxury boxes and personal seat licenses/club seats?

[Rogue Leader]

All NFL Stadiums hold OVER 40,000. The Green Bay Packers always get over 66,000 even in a small town.

Either way they don't hold 120+ thousand. Except for the races in the middle of nowhere (Bahrain) I'm sure an F1 event more than doubles the attendance of any NFL game. But as posted here, its quite skewed being theres only 17 races vs 333 games.