Silverstone Attendance

I’m sure treatment of the fans has to be a factor. I went to Assen a few years back, and I love that track more than any other. I think for folks who go with a general admission ticket and camp out, and watch from the grandstands, it’s a good experience. But I had VIP tickets, and the Dutch are so uptight and controlling, that you hardly ever got to go into the paddock and only for brief periods of time. Not like other races I have been to. So I would never go back there. I felt like the VIP tickets were a total rip off.

Re: Silverstone, some of us remember when Jumkie and the gang went to Silverstone and some of them made the mistake of eating English hamburgers from the snack bar, and got violently ill.

Yeah, it's a curious situation. Other people are blaming the promoters by referencing British Superbikes, which has a massive following in the UK, and has a cool working class vibe. MotoGP and Silverstone don't have the working class vibe, and neither have the glitz and glamour of F1, now that some of the big names are out, and the bikes are less visually (perhaps, conceptually) spectacular than prior seasons.

GPOne is also blaming the technical regulations, claiming that they are creating the artifice of close racing and competitiveness, rather than allowing the fans to experience genuine fierce rivalries of yesteryear, when only a quartet or trio of riders possessed the skill and confidence to ride a 500 at the limit. It's difficult to claim that the field can't have enough talent for 6-7 guys to front run and win, but I do agree that the introducing the specter of artificially close racing is a disaster for MotoGP in the long run.

Furiosa said:

The attendance at the British MotoGP was noticeably low, with empty grandstands seen all round the track.

https://the-race.com/motogp/how-silverstones-responding-to-plunging-motogp-crowd-figures/

They're blaming Rossi's retirement as well as Brexit.

Both will have had an impact but I hope they listen to fan feedback from previous events. Nothing I hear about Silverstone makes me want to go there for a MotoGP. It's a fantastic track and always produces great racing. I hear about everything being hugely overpriced, spread out and difficult transport links. I think this has more to do with it. Sure, when there's a cost of living crisis and the whole Brexit fallout, people here have less money to throw around.

I've a friend in the UK who is travelling to every single european round this year... except Silverstone. And he's in the UK! He says after the rip off he's had there, he'd never go back. But yet, he will fly out and travel to every other European leg.

I've no personal experience to back any of this up, but I think the poor attendance at Silverstone is to do with fan treatment at the circuit rather than brexit or even Rossi, though that is a huge factor, I'm sure.

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Agreed Brexit and the ensuing financial struggles have played a part. I'd also add ..... still lingering around and the financial impact it has had on the world is playing a part. Why spend $$$ at a race, you can watch on TV. You might need those $$$ soon for unpaid sick leave etc

mylexicon said:

Yeah, it's a curious situation. Other people are blaming the promoters by referencing British Superbikes, which has a massive following in the UK, and has a cool working class vibe. MotoGP and Silverstone don't have the working class vibe, and neither have the glitz and glamour of F1, now that some of the big names are out, and the bikes are less visually (perhaps, conceptually) spectacular than prior seasons.

GPOne is also blaming the technical regulations, claiming that they are creating the artifice of close racing and competitiveness, rather than allowing the fans to experience genuine fierce rivalries of yesteryear, when only a quartet or trio of riders possessed the skill and confidence to ride a 500 at the limit. It's difficult to claim that the field can't have enough talent for 6-7 guys to front run and win, but I do agree that the introducing the specter of artificially close racing is a disaster for MotoGP in the long run.

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I am somewhat with GPOne on the artificial/contrived close racing thing.. I am not even sure that is what the punters really want, maximum periods of popularity in motogp and many other sports seem to coincide more with dominance by sporting icons. Both Rossi and MM not being out there I am sure does decrease the interest for many including me I am sure. FQ is obviously good, probably even better than he looks given the performance of other Yamahas, but hasn't really got to Rossi or MM level yet, even though MM trying to assert himself over FQ is probably the cause of the injury which has proved so troublesome..

I am sure the absence of a British motogp contender doesn't help at Silverstone, and WSBK, which I am currently enjoying as well, is probably of more interest at the moment.

michaelm said:

I am somewhat with GPOne on the artificial/contrived close racing thing.. I am not even sure that is what the punters really want, maximum periods of popularity in motogp and many other sports seem to coincide more with dominance by sporting icons. Both Rossi and MM not being out there I am sure does decrease the interest for many including me I am sure. FQ is obviously good, probably even better than he looks given the performance of other Yamahas, but hasn't really got to Rossi or MM level yet, even though MM trying to assert himself over FQ is probably the cause of the injury which has proved so troublesome..

I am sure the absence of a British motogp contender doesn't help at Silverstone, and WSBK, which I am currently enjoying as well, is probably of more interest at the moment.

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Yeah, we have definitely entered a period of nearly unnavigable nuance. Fans are aware that expanding the implementation of technology, while also heavily restricting the types of technological systems and solutions has led to the most competitive grid ever. It's great for short-term entertainment metrics, and ensuring the competitiveness of the factories also incentivizes manufacturer participation, but I don't see the current paradigm leading anywhere in the long run. The latest developments, like aero and active ride height, are basically just exploiting performance that the rider cannot. In other words, they are capturing a considerable amount of the bike's pace for the manufacturers and engineers, which will lead to problems in the long run. Motorcycle grand prix is basically built around the gladiator concept, not the F1 factory-team worship. Trying to convert it to F1 paradigms is not going to work.

Technically speaking, the engineers cannot get 90% of the performance threshhold under their control, which means championship riders will command huge salaries and the bikes will become incredibly expensive. F1 has successfully leverages this sort of perversion by making the Giffen-good-argument. Why would you want to watch an F1 champion who gets paid $20M, when you could watch an F1 driver who gets paid $50M? In other words, they have successfully convinced millions upon millions of punters that quality and entertainment-value correspond directly to their inability to control costs. Medical professionals in the US have pulled the same stunt. Sure, it's the holy grail of commerce, but MotoGP doesn't have the talent or the revenue stream or the political connections to pull it off, imo. Their stillborn reality TV series is evidence of that.

The bikes already cost 5x more than the revenue collected by each factory. How much farther must MotoGP travel down the road to perdition before all fans ask "Should I really pay $250 per ticket to watch riders that may not even stack up against the greats of the golden era?" It seems like the sport is on the brink, but few of the manufacturers even care. Ducati seems to be demanding more cowbell. Crazy times.

No Rossi was definitely a factor this year. The crowd was massive for Silverstone last year because it was his final British GP. There were a lot of overseas fans there as well, noticeably more than usual, which was no doubt down the people taking the chance to see Rossi and because they were able to travel after lockdowns.

The cost of living crisis, Brexit and ..... will all be factors in the lower crowd this year too.

The ticket price isn’t as cheap as it could be, but it’s also cheaper than some other races and certainly a hell of a lot less than F1. My tickets for grandstands at Mugello and Misano were more expensive this year.

Silverstone, while nowhere near as bad as some claim, does itself no favours. Charging £50 for parking is an absolute disgrace. I’ve no idea how they think that is remotely ok - especially when MSV charge nothing for Donington, Brands etc.

It is a huge track and it takes a while to trek around, but it does have some great viewing spots. You can see the bikes for about 30 seconds from Becketts and then you catch them at Village and The Loop as well. Club is another spot where you get about 25 seconds of viewing too. Luffield gets plenty of time as well.

There are some average and poor places to watch there too. Abbey is ok, Village isn’t great, Copse is pretty meh and Stowe is alright.

I prefer it to Donington as a facility and for viewing spots, as beyond Craner Curves there aren’t many great spots to sit there. People love it for nostalgia reasons mostly I reckon, because it doesn’t have anything like as many grandstands, toilets or places to get a drink or food.