Strega is officially for sale!

[johnnyrace]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

With what planes?!

Is the UWRC only going to cater to the racers at the Gold level? ( I am asking that as a serious question)...If so I guess my statement regarding future fields would be incorrect...I was told that they were also concerned by the low turn out of 2013 and were looking at making changes to entice the stocker owners such as JCP , Tom Camp, and others to return for 2014...I assumed that meant a return to a larger field of entries...I love all the classes, and of course the Gold racers are a big part of it, but watching all the aircraft that raced in the Medallion, Bronze, and Silver in years past was also a highlight of the event...Maybe my contacts are mistaken.

[Airrace7]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

Like I tell people. Treat Reno like great sex; it may be the last time you get some.

Well said!

[supercub]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

I think they should up the purse to $10 million dollars, $5 million to the winner and the rest divided bbetween the others..so that even the slow guys at least cover expenses.................you ask!! Where are they going to get the money? That's Easy!

Obama.............what's $10 million when we're $3 trillion in debt anyway. Crank up the presses and print, print, print.

Brian

[johnnyrace]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

I think they should up the purse to $10 million dollars, $5 million to the winner and the rest divided bbetween the others..so that even the slow guys at least cover expenses.................you ask!! Where are they going to get the money? That's Easy!

Obama.............what's $10 million when we're $3 billion in debt anyway. Crank up the presses and print, print, print.

Brian

Thats 3 Trillion in debt...It would be great if it were only 3 billion...But your statement of upping the purse to $10 million of course at first sounds like a dream and is maybe reaching a little high, but its actually just not that big a number...I mean geez, the FIVB Which has an annual volleyball championship tournament has over 20 Million in prize money for one tournament...freakin VOLLEYBALL!!!

And then of course then there is the Nascar Sprint Cup Series...Now before someone jumps all over me about the fact that Nascar is a huge national sport with tons of exposure and it costs them so much to race a season, I know this...But it is amazing that they have total PER RACE purses of between $5 and $10 million dollars to divide between competitors that they pay out over 30 times a year and also have a huge season ending point fund payout at the years end.

So it seem kinda weird to me that an American motorsport that has lasted 50 years with a rabid (though relatively small) worldwide fan base has not been able to generate enough sponsorship interest to obtain a higher purse total for a single championship event...For there to be so much passion from those involved and with such loyal fans I really am surprised that Breitling is the only major prize money donor...You have to appreciate that Breitling does use their participation to the fullest with ads appearing everywhere with Reno as a backdrop...Even being only one time a year it seems like others would find Reno useful in ad campaigns and other exposures...I spoke with Chad from Propulsion International and he said he picked up some clients just from his sponsorship last year on SteadFast and this year on VooDoo...Thats the stuff that can be used to entice other sponsors to get involved...The marketing department, if there is one seems lacking...Tom Cruise are you out there?!?!

It would seem with the proper solicitation the event would be able to draw more than what in this day and age is a fairly paltry sum of a 1 million dollar purse...Its not that I am rich or something when I say a million dollars is paltry, but it just really is not that much money in todays sports world...I am sure I am missing many valid points as to why they have not been able to generate the interest of more large contributors for prize money and I am very grateful for Breitling and the others that do contribute...More money...More planes...Its frustrating to see such an exciting and unique event struggle year in and year out just to survive.

[Lockheed Bob]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

If they could get Tom Cruise,JohnTravolta,Harrison Ford & other Hollywood aviation types to put up a $1 million dollar prize to the Unlimited Gold winner then RARA & others could pay out all the rest with that money?

[Airrace7]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

Both Tom Cruise and John Travolta were at the races this year.

[grampi]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

Oh god not this **** again!

I hope you know I was just joking, right?

[Idaho_cowpony]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

One of the reasons why there's not a whole lot of big sponsorship..is because even the most dedicated fans cry aloud via the www.... that the sport is dying...

[grampi]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

I wonder if more TV coverage of the races would help with it's popularity? I mean we have Indy car, Nascar, drag racing, motorcycle racing, boat racing, and just about every type of vehicle racing broadcast on TV...why can't these races be broadcast? I'd much rather watch an airplane doing 500 mph than a car going 200 mph...

[Smee Again]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

One of the reasons why there's not a whole lot of big sponsorship..is because even the most dedicated fans cry aloud via the www.... that the sport is dying...

Ummm... no.

SA

[planecrazy2]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

Not that I want it to, but........here are some reasons that Unlimited racing will die;

Air racing does not "show" well on TV. Never has.

Low purse. Air racing is "crazy dangerous" and getting large pocket sponsors to identify their brands with such a dangerous endevour is really hard. Not impossible, just really hard. ROI is just not there.

Economic reality of fielding a competitive plane. Ya gotta be richer than God, like Rod Lewis, or a scrambler in love with a bitch whore airplane, like Sherm, Tiger and the late, great Mr. Shelton. Really, very few people are cut-out to field a competitive Unlimited. Millions of $ for a plane you can fly one week a year. If the wind don't blow, or ........

Small fanbase, really small. Like tiny. Again really limits the sponsors ROI.

Only one event a year, and only one venue, with a couple of unsuccesful exceptions, over the last 50 years.

Tightening FAA restrictions.

The UWRC is a new and unstable proffesional organization that is yet to really prove itself under fire.

[Idaho_cowpony]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

You are very correct sir.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

Air racing does not "show" well on TV. Never has.

One of the shows I anticipated most, back in the day, was when Wide World of Sports did their Reno show... I agree, it's a hard sport to televise well but, watching what Live Airshow TV was able to produce, LIVE... I think today's technology, small cameras, ability to receive in-plane camera footage LIVE, helicopter gyro camera platforms, on course camera's feeding live to a big control booth truck...

I truly don't think we've seen what COULD be done with a well funded TV effort to cover the races..

[Airrace7]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

One of the shows I anticipated most, back in the day, was when Wide World of Sports did their Reno show... I agree, it's a hard sport to televise well but, watching what Live Airshow TV was able to produce, LIVE... I think today's technology, small cameras, ability to receive in-plane camera footage LIVE, helicopter gyro camera platforms, on course camera's feeding live to a big control booth truck...

I truly don't think we've seen what COULD be done with a well funded TV effort to cover the races..

I totally agree with you Wayne.

[CJAM427]

Re: Strega is officially for sale!

One of the shows I anticipated most, back in the day, was when Wide World of Sports did their Reno show... I agree, it's a hard sport to televise well but, watching what Live Airshow TV was able to produce, LIVE... I think today's technology, small cameras, ability to receive in-plane camera footage LIVE, helicopter gyro camera platforms, on course camera's feeding live to a big control booth truck...

I truly don't think we've seen what COULD be done with a well funded TV effort to cover the races..

I completely agree here! I'm a Radio-TV-Film student, so yes there could be a lot more done with covering the races -it could be really good!