So....TicketCity has put their USGP prices up.
Just a taste: Free Practice 1 & 2 General Admission = $221
http://www.ticketcity.com/austin-tickets/circuit-of-the-americas-tickets.html
Just a taste: Free Practice 1 & 2 General Admission = $221
http://www.ticketcity.com/austin-tickets/circuit-of-the-americas-tickets.html
Joined May 2008
3K Posts | 79+
Southern Aridzona - Hell's doorstep.
Yee-haw!!! Bernie ........ is coming to town!
Grandstand seating on race day - $ 800 and up.
(You Texans must be proud of what your tax dollars have brought you.)
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Montreal 2012 3-day GA is $123 from the track & TicketCity is charging $221.[/font]
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USGP 3-day is $x from the track & TicketCity is charging $729.[/font]
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Who's good with math?[/font]
Montreal 2012 3-day GA is $123 from the track & TicketCity is charging $221.[/font]
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USGP 3-day is $x from the track & TicketCity is charging $729.[/font]
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Who's good with math?[/font]
Joined May 2008
3K Posts | 79+
Southern Aridzona - Hell's doorstep.
OK, that leaves a window of hope. Didn't realize that ticket vendors could speculate and gouge like that.
Sure, they're just scalpers with an office & a company name.
AutoWeek: Tickets on sale for F1 race at Circuit of the Americas--or are they?
http://www.autoweek.com/article/201...acebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
AutoWeek: Tickets on sale for F1 race at Circuit of the Americas--or are they?
http://www.autoweek.com/article/201...acebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
Yee-haw!!! Bernie ........ is coming to town!
Grandstand seating on race day - $ 800 and up.
(You Texans must be proud of what your tax dollars have brought you.)
You know that no tax dollars have been spent on this circuit and Bernie has nothing to do with promoting the event, don't you?
Joined May 2008
3K Posts | 79+
Southern Aridzona - Hell's doorstep.
It's Bernie's circus, and he's the one demanding the massive sanctioning fees.
As I understand it, Texas HAS ponied up $ to support the track. Didn't the Major Events Trust Fund already loan a wad of cash to this clusterfuck outfit? Sure, it's supposed to be payed back, but if the whole mess falls on its face....
OK, so..I haven't gotten the survey, but from what we've been able to gather, here are the survey price ranges. Who knows where the prices will actually end up?
Turn 2 Grandstand – $400 to $600
Turns 3, 4, and 5 Grandstands – $200 to $600
Turn 11 Grandstand – $150 to $600
Turn 12 Grandstand – $150 to $600
General Admission – $150 to $600
Are they saying here that there will be no GA viewing except in these areas, or including these areas?
No single-day passes? Really? I already know I'm going all 3 days but my family is only coming on Sunday, so I have to buy 4 3-day passes when I'm only using one?
Turn 2 Grandstand – $400 to $600
Turns 3, 4, and 5 Grandstands – $200 to $600
Turn 11 Grandstand – $150 to $600
Turn 12 Grandstand – $150 to $600
General Admission – $150 to $600
Are they saying here that there will be no GA viewing except in these areas, or including these areas?
No single-day passes? Really? I already know I'm going all 3 days but my family is only coming on Sunday, so I have to buy 4 3-day passes when I'm only using one?
No. They haven't.
The Comptroller pulled the advance payment of METF funding during the whole fiasco where COTA's investors withheld payment from Bernie, cut Hellmund out of the deal, and didn't pay the $4M METF funding trigger fee.
Nope, major events trust says they will give them the cash AFTER they have a successful race as an offset to tax revenues and Bernie's 'massive' sanctioning fees are the same as for anywhere else - $25M.
Now on the face of it, $25M sounds like a lot of money - it is a lot of money, but you need to look at where that money goes. Mostly it goes to the teams, to be able to travel to the venue and race. It goes to the GP emergency services, to be able to travel to the circuit and erect their comprehensive medical facilities. It goes to paying for the provision of data services, telemetry, all the other shared services that the teams require. It goes towards prize money. Most importantly for the actual race itself, it goes to stewards, race direction, scrutineering, FIA support, fuel provision and testing, etc. (the guys that Hamilton did out of a job on Saturday
Without that $25M in sanctioning fees, we would be at the mercy of the race promoter to provide all that stuff. How well do you think they would manage that? Why does F1 run so smoothly? Because they bring the whole show to town. Their tech guys have ensured that the facilities for the teams are right - from garage sizes, power hookups (all 240V), parking, data, lighting, access, safety, ambulance, helipads, the location and access to emergency services (hospitals, police, etc.) - the track builder and local promoter gets a 8-inch-thick book of specifications to ensure that they are working to put together the same facilities in every venue. That's why they used someone like Tilke - they helped write the specifications.
So arguing that it is Bernie's 'massive sanctioning fees' that is the reason for the ticket cost ignores totally the actuality of putting on a global sports event such as F1. Once the promoter has his track built and has paid his $25M, he doesn't have a whole lot else to shell out. It's not a bad deal, really.
As an example, they sold 300,000 3-day tickets at Montreal last year. They sold 245,000 4-day tickets at Melbourne. They sold 175,000 3-day tickets at Monaco. They sold 230,000 3-day tickets as Silverstone. The general admission prices in 2010 (no seat) were: $96, $195, $200, $210
So that's 100M worth of sanctioning fees for $159,875,000 in ticket sales alone.
So why can I go and see a race in Shanghai or Kuala Lumpur for under $70? Because the government in both countries puts on the race and pays the sanctioning fee. Malaysia gets back the sanctioning fee in hotel tax, food and drink alone. We tried to find a hotel for my son at the last Malaysian Grand Prix - he wasn't going to the race, just travelling through - prices were 50% higher than usual and nothing available within Sepang or the Airport - there are about 40-50 large hotels in that area. Until we looked in KL city itself, there wasn't a bed to be had.
F1 generates massive amounts of money. I don't think you would find many promoters that would agree to go 'user pays' instead of paying the sanctioning fee.
I just added 32 new COTA construction photos to the 21 my buddy added earlier today.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...7488083.118648.157330087614878&type=1&theater
Samples:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...7488083.118648.157330087614878&type=1&theater
Samples:
After weeks of delays, the Travis County Commissioners Court is set to talk about COTA roads, their Trafic and Public Safety plans, and more:
http://kutnews.org/post/am-update-r...y-travis-county-talks-f1#.T7JtD8-ZvfA.twitter
http://kutnews.org/post/am-update-r...y-travis-county-talks-f1#.T7JtD8-ZvfA.twitter
Thanks Jumkie. It's my pleasure!
[font=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Not much going on out at the track today due to the very wet weather Monday night and Tuesday. Lost most of last week and the last two days. Here's the extent of the action yesterday, as one guy on a loader attempted to direct rainwater to a pump out in the chronically wet low spot between turns 10 & 11.[/font]
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
