This topic got real hot on the old rec.boats forum....hope people have cooled off enough by now to have a reasonable and objective discussion.
Every time I see the word "show" associated with powerboat racing of any type from Stock Outboard to Unlimited and Offshore I have a little difficulty. It is my opinion that at the Stock and Modified level we race for ourselves and that it is a participation sport, not a form of entertainment that can be marketed.
I have attended Seafair in Seattle a couple of times, been to the Gold Cup in Detroit more than once, officiated at a few Offshore events in Key West, Tampa, Miami, and some others, been to De Pue a couple of times and many Stock and Modified Outboard National Championships.
Arguably right now Offshore is doing the closest thing to a marketable event in all of the powerboat racing fraternity. I have spoken with a few of Offshores Marketing Directors and been told that very few of their events make any money and the ones that do, make up for the ones they lose money at. That is, they simply shoot to break even over a year of racing. Sound familiar?
The concept that participants might make enough money to cover their expenses and make a living racing (professional racing) were not described as realistic at this time. In fact, some found that concept laughable.
All of my discussions with professionals that make a living in putting on powerboat racing events sounded very similar to my experiences at the non-profit club level. There budgets were just larger, but so were there expenses. Everything was the same, just on a larger scale.
In my opinion at every level, we race for ourselves and not to put on a "show". In my opinion, powerboat racing is a participation sport, not a show that can be packaged and marketed like NASCAR. I often see the concept of "putting on a show" as justification for many ideas and rules. Some of these ideas are not very racer friendly. The worst of them make people quit the sport.
I am concerned that so many of these ideas are at the expense of participation in this great sport. This relates directly to our membership growth. In Stock Outboard, our records show that we have a problem keeping members, not in finding members.
I believe our leadership needs to make decisions that make it easier and better for the participants, not decisions that make us have a better "show" for our non-existant fanbase.
So in summary, do we race for ourselves or to put on an event that can be marketed? Which model do we want to work towards? What are some goals that need to be identified to achieve movement toward one model or another.
Again, in my opinion, untill these (and a few other) big picture items have consensus it will be very difficult for Stock and Mod Outboard to make the significant changes needed to stop the membership decline of the last 30+ years.
Thoughtfully discuss, please,
Brad Walker
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I have attended Seafair in Seattle a couple of times, been to the Gold Cup in Detroit more than once, officiated at a few Offshore events in Key West, Tampa, Miami, and some others, been to De Pue a couple of times and many Stock and Modified Outboard National Championships.
Arguably right now Offshore is doing the closest thing to a marketable event in all of the powerboat racing fraternity. I have spoken with a few of Offshores Marketing Directors and been told that very few of their events make any money and the ones that do, make up for the ones they lose money at. That is, they simply shoot to break even over a year of racing. Sound familiar?
The concept that participants might make enough money to cover their expenses and make a living racing (professional racing) were not described as realistic at this time. In fact, some found that concept laughable.
All of my discussions with professionals that make a living in putting on powerboat racing events sounded very similar to my experiences at the non-profit club level. There budgets were just larger, but so were there expenses. Everything was the same, just on a larger scale.
In my opinion at every level, we race for ourselves and not to put on a "show". In my opinion, powerboat racing is a participation sport, not a show that can be packaged and marketed like NASCAR. I often see the concept of "putting on a show" as justification for many ideas and rules. Some of these ideas are not very racer friendly. The worst of them make people quit the sport.
I am concerned that so many of these ideas are at the expense of participation in this great sport. This relates directly to our membership growth. In Stock Outboard, our records show that we have a problem keeping members, not in finding members.
I believe our leadership needs to make decisions that make it easier and better for the participants, not decisions that make us have a better "show" for our non-existant fanbase.
So in summary, do we race for ourselves or to put on an event that can be marketed? Which model do we want to work towards? What are some goals that need to be identified to achieve movement toward one model or another.
Again, in my opinion, untill these (and a few other) big picture items have consensus it will be very difficult for Stock and Mod Outboard to make the significant changes needed to stop the membership decline of the last 30+ years.
Thoughtfully discuss, please,
Brad Walker
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