More value for money!
By TMX Archives on 16th Apr 08
JD asks if the public are really prepared to pay a small fortune to stand in a field with substandard facilities or have times and expectations changed in these hard times...
THERE'S been some lively correspondence in the T+MX letters section (Your Call) recently regarding motocross, or at least regarding the expense of attending race meetings, and it carries on this week, with Charles Ralph replying to Malcolm Palmer's letter of last week which in itself referred to Graham Johnson's letter the week before that...
It is all meaningful fodder and Charles, who regularly contributes race reports to T+MX and for which we are, as ever, most appreciative, makes the point that if you want top class sport (and the attendant big names) you have to pay for it. The point is made, as it has been before, that £25 for a day's top level sport is a good deal when compared to other sports.
Well, yes and no is my fence-sitting take on that! The problem is ‘other sports' tend to take place in stadia or purpose-built facilities and as a spectator you get the benefit of these facilities. Such as they are expected to be clean and dry with at least
rudimentary seating and sit-down catering arrangements, permanent toilets, acres of tarmac car parking, etc, etc.
You know what's coming don't you? At a motocross, Joe Public and his wife and kids may be asked to pay £25 per head (that's £100 per family) and for that, old Joe gets to park in a muddy field, that may eventually require his carefully polished pride and joy to be towed out through axle-deep mud. Joe and his wife get to stand-up all day in a field (granted, they can sit down if its dry!) the choice of food is almost certainly limited to highly-priced junk and toilet facilities will be at best adequate and at their worst should probably be burnt to the ground.
I have plenty of experience of the latter (terrible toilets, not burning them!). So has my wife, who refuses my genuine offers of such ‘days out' these days.
Older readers may recall reports of a young Barry Sheene actually setting-light to a trackside toilet block (in Finland, amazingly, if my memory is correct) because he found it disgusting. I don't recommend going that far (and Sheene was an extraordinary character who did lots of things he shouldn't have!) but do not underestimate the toilet issue. Upset the ladies and how many guys will be coming back?
None of the above affects me personally although it certainly worries me. If I get the chance to watch my off-road heroes, I pay-up with the rest and put-up with the inadequacies. Standing up in mud is second nature to me, I do it virtually every weekend. Remember, I am viewing our sport through the eyes of dear old Joe who is being asked to shell out an awful lot of wonga for what is effectively a day in a field. Except that lately he appears not to be... There are an awful lot of alternative ways for him to blow his cash these days.
As an enthusiast I accept whatever, but if you are trying to attract Mr and Mrs J Public and their 2.4-children, in the year 2008, you have a real job on your hands.
For this reason, I am extremely grateful to Gareth Hockey for his weekly ‘Blogs' in these pages, keeping us up to date on his Mallory Park MXGP weekend.
As a family man, Gareth is well aware of the public's view on motocross, however prestigious the event. His weekend camping ticket for a family of four for £100 breaks new ground and for an MXGP even, I say it represents excellent value.
Gareth has been quite amazingly transparent and up-front regarding the GP. Where others go to extraordinary lengths to hide monetary matters, he has been honest to the point of ‘madness'.
One of the main reasons for his choosing Mallory is that it is a permanent site with a whole host of permanent fixtures and fittings. And even if these facilities don't
benefit the public directly, such as the hard-standing paddock, medical centre, offices etc, the very fact that they exist allows Gareth and his team to concentrate more time, effort and funding on the important areas where he DOES have to provide
adequate services for his public.
This is the first time, certainly in my memory, where a promoter has stepped forward with his heart nailed firmly on his sleeve in full view of the public and effectively invited them to criticise his event – even before it has happened – and invited us all to TELL him what we expect him to deliver.
I take my hat off to him...