Indiana Open Wheel - View Single Post - 2023 Hoosier 100 Payout

767 (Offline)
#36 12/12/22 8:48 AM

Originally Posted by Stevensville Mike:
Let me see if I have this straight. I'll do a little MORE math:

For the sake of argument, let us say the track owner is in this event for that amount - $92K. Let us also say the ticket price will remain firm - $25.

The owner will more than likely attempt to find sponsorship of this race from somewhere. For example, Federated Auto Parts. Say they throw in enough sponsor $$$ to make it the Federated Auto Parts 100. This cuts down the track owner's amount thrown into the purse. Federated puts up signs, gives away can coolers, etc., and goes the advertisement way, maybe gets a cut of the t-shirt money for their name/logo is on the shirt, which is how I assume business advertising works - for the most part.

3680 people were required at $92K to break even. If you cut that required number of fans to 3000, you are bringing the track owner's portion of the purse down to $75K. So to make the math work, Federated Auto Parts will have to pony up $17K. That's a lot. Good luck with THAT.

Now maybe you can get Hoosier Tire or VP Fuel to throw in a few thou and chop Federated's overhead for this race down a bit. What are Hoosier and VP getting in return? Maybe a few more smaller sponsors can kick in? Any way it is sliced up, we are still targeting $17K to cover the fans count of only 3000 - down 680 from 3680.

The math IS staggering, I must say, 767.

But if you can get all of the fans to spend $5 at the concession stands, our target fan base is now down to 2500 to break even (with the $17K from the sponsors).

My head is starting to hurt thinking about this. Thanks for bringing these figures to the forefront of this topic. The numbers are definitely sobering.

I'm just guessing here, but I would think the track will need to bring in at least 25k to 30k in sponsorship. Most places have a decent amount of overhead. Also it is not cheap to advertise in Indy. We also have to be honest with ourselves, IRP is not a charity. It is here to make money. Honestly I am impressed with the SC turnaround. Car Counts are good. Equipment quality seems to be improving. Very nice mix of drivers. Over the last 2 seasons, I have went from casual observer to watching every race. Most races actually had good racing somewhere in the field the entire race.

3 Likes: BrentTFunk, PIT CART, Stevensville Mike