Indiana Open Wheel - View Single Post - 1990 winner $ vs. today

Ray3 (Offline)
#3 5/6/22 9:51 PM

Originally Posted by openwheelfan1:
I follow a page on FB called Sprintcarstats which posts interesting results from races from many speedways from years ago. In addition to the final feature results they also occasionally post the winning payout. They recently posted the results from Lawrenceburg Speedway from May 9, 1990. Bill Rose won and for winning received $800.

I looked at several different “then vs. now” dollar calculators and while they vary slightly, all indicated that $800 in 1990 would equal $1760-1775 today. The point of all this? Racers complaining that purses have not kept pace over the years would seem to be valid as per Lawrenceburg’s website, they pay $1500 to win in 2022.

In order to raise purses, we would need to raise ticket prices. Have you done the same comparison on front gate admission? Would fans be willing to pay more? There is so much more competition for the entertainment dollar today. Unfortunately, competition for that dollar has created downward pressure on ticket prices. You have to make up the difference in volume of tickets.

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