'No chance' Adelaide will bid for Grand Prix

[Brando]

'No chance' Adelaide will bid for Grand Prix

PAUL STARICK, CHIEF REPORTER
March 14, 2007 01:15am


TREASURER Kevin Foley has ruled out bidding to recapture the Australian Grand Prix, amid increasing debate over the event's future in Melbourne.

Mr Foley yesterday told The Advertiser there was "no chance of the Government bidding for the Grand Prix".

The Melbourne race is guaranteed only until 2010 and controversy over the event's rising losses have sparked speculation of a takeover bid from Sydney.

Mr Foley said hosting a Grand Prix in Adelaide again "would just cost the state too much money".

This would be in the order of "tens of millions of dollars" and, therefore, unacceptable to taxpayers.

"We've already got a commitment that we only want one car race here in the parklands (the Clipsal 500) and that's what we'll deliver," Mr Foley said.

"We are more than satisfied with the outstanding success of the Clipsal 500."

The Melbourne race lost $21 million last year and $13.6 million in 2005. This year, the V8 supercars' absence is expected to hurt the event even further.

Sydney is considering a bid for the event, having late last month appointed former football and rugby chief John O'Neill to head a major events taskforce.

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone, after a 2005 meeting in London with Premier Mike Rann, declared Adelaide "first cab off the rank" to get the Grand Prix if something went wrong with Melbourne.

At the time, Mr Rann and Mr Ecclestone both denied there was any move on Adelaide's part to take the race back from Melbourne.

However, it is believed the State Government has already considered a bid yet, as Mr Foley said, has decided hosting the event would be too costly.

Melbourne pays a licence fee to Mr Ecclestone that rises every race and reportedly is about $20 million.

Labor backbencher and former ALP state president Tom Koutsantonis last week called for Formula One racing to be returned to Adelaide each November, as Melbourne was not "embracing" the event.

He argued that when the proposed Victoria Park grandstand was built, Adelaide should seek to lure back the Grand Prix.

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Opinions????

I think it is wrong for the government to completely rule out trying to win the event back. I am aware the V8's are a huge success and a much cheaper option, but the F1 had such international exposure.
All the teams and drivers just loved coming to Adelaide. I have never heard the same kind of sentiments given to the Albert Park event.
I would love to see the streets of Adelaide come alive again to the roar of the F1's.... Bring them back, at least don't dismiss the idea.

[Pistol]

I remember the good ol days of F1 in Adelaide and I sometimes wonder whether Adelaide has 'grown up' too much to concentrate on a race like this. Back when we had the F1, that was basically all we had in the way of large festival events. Sure we had the Fringe and the Festival but it was biannual. Back in 2000, we had both the Le Mans race on New Years Eve and the Clipsal which meant that race infrastructure was left out all over the streets for a large period of time which looked awful. I know the world exposure was/would be excellent for this state but I think there is enough events to put Adelaide on the map now.

Maybe if Sydney hosts the F1 we should consider snapping up the A1 GP and make a 'super' week of motor sport with the Clipsal and A1 combined in the same weekend/week. It would be nowhere near as expensive as the F1 and would still give Adelaide 'world exposure'.

[stelaras]

my opinion on the matter is this:

I think Adelaide should bid for the GP in 2010. We hosted the best F1 event for 10 years on the best street circuit around. Whilst this didnt generate too many race profits, the economic spinoff was huge and the city was abuzz!

If melbourne can have moomba festival, the GP and the FINA 2007 world championships all within three weeks of eachother then im sure we can host the clipsal 500 and the GP and the fringe and Womadelaide in the one month!

[Ben]

I personally would love to see this event return and add some class to the Adelaide motor sport scene.

Clipsal with all the bogens with their Holden attire and V8's which I drive past every day doesn't appeal to me. I would love to see and hear the F1's around Adelaide Streets.

Internationally the Clipsal doesn't rate. I've noticed whenever they talk about international ratings they say as Clipsal will be broadcast on the Australian channel throughout Asia it has the potential to reach tens of millions of viewers. (yes potential, that's all).

Clipsal is great at bringing in regional and interstate tourists but we want the internationals who will stay longer and spend more.

Obviously there is a way to run the F1 event without incuuring a loss or reduce the loss to make the event more economical. Just because it is poorly run in Melbourne does not mean we will have the same problem here although I admit in it's later years in Adelaide it was making a considerable loss. Perhaps if it was combined with clipsal, people would stay longer to see both events one weekend after the other and minimise costs as the infrastructure would already be inplace all that would need to be done is change the signage to the new sponsors.

... Just my opinion.

[JAKJ]

Ideally there would be two races in Adelaide, 1 in March, 1 in September/October. That way both events can be assured a high attendance and high success becuase they are not in conflict with each other. (Clipsal makes a profit so there is no need to get rid of it)

As for the 20 million dollar a year liscencing fee, the state government needs to look at the bigger picture. The kind of global exposure F1 would bring to Adelaide is Invaluable (Especially from Europe, the Middle East and Asia where the sport is hugely popular), and would far outweigh 20 million dollars spent on an advertising campaign. Melbourne as an already sizable and relatively globablly know city cannot make as much use of this publicity as Adelaide.

Adelaide pioneered the Formula 1 festival, turning the race into an event with concerts, jets, skydivers etc etc, there is no reason that we cannot do it again and at the same time use the event to promote South Australia to the world. Adelaide was always renowned as the "pary race" of the season, owing to the fact that the race was at the end of the season and the CBD's proximity to the race, therefore we should build on that and we could turn it into a "spring break" - though not as tacky, carnival style event. In addition, fo example, we could advertise our vehicles, with say a one make HSV/Pontiac/Buick (whatever holdens are called around the world) race as is currently seen in baharain, and have some form of food/wine/seafood/outback festival thrown into the mix to showcase what the state has to offer. The problem with the Melbourne race is they don't capture the potential of the race, there is no x factor at albert park, and nor has there ever been, unlike Adelaide and I know we can recreate that again!

At the very least if not F1, A1 GP in November at the start of the season would also be very plausible, as that end of the year is very quiet event wise, considering the relatively good weather we have at that time!

[Ho Really]

Interesting to see who in the Labor party is 'for' and who is 'against'. My hunch is that Rann and Foley want it, but they'll keep quiet for a while and see how things go money-wise and whether the dev in Victoria Park gets off the ground or not.

Cheers

[stelaras]

I agree with you JAKJ, well said!

it is a shame to see that in Melbourne a city of 3.5million no more than 280k see the F1 event..If i remember correctly Adelaide was getting 250-280k spectators 10 years ago!

I dont think we would be paying 20 million to begin with for the licensing...That figure increments every year that one hosts a race..So if we got the race back again it would be year 1 of the Adelaide GP, not Year 11...Therefore that figure would be reduced...

Anyway it should never have left Adelaide in the first place..its the perfect spot!

[Will]

Returning the Grand Prix to its rightful home should be a high priority for both major parties.

It is a sad indication of our times, that initiatives and policies are now solely based upon the fact whether they can generate money or not. Although the Grand Prix may not generate a profit in the first few years, the government should realize how important getting the Grand Prix back would be for the psyche of the citizens of Adelaide. This would undoubtedly have the effect of making our citizens more positive about Adelaide thus making the possibility of making a life here more acceptable.

Furthermore as a major international event, the publicity generated would be worth millions of dollars.

The government should do everything in its power to get the Grand Prix back. Not making a bid is piss-weak and un-inspiring. If the libs were serious about returning to power, they could score some points in this regard.

[.::G!oRgOs::.]

I agree with you JAKJ, well said!

it is a shame to see that in Melbourne a city of 3.5million no more than 280k see the F1 event..If i remember correctly Adelaide was getting 250-280k spectators 10 years ago!

And over half a million people for the event in its final year.

[Algernon]

I'm not entirely convinced about the race being too costly to Adelaide - twice we managed to run it at an outright profit! Although a lot has changed since then - apparent rising rental costs, and the Clipsal 500 will have taken a significant slice of the motorsport sponsorship pie in Adelaide.

We should go for it though solely to see the geriatric nimby brigade protest about 2 races in the parklands. You couldn't buy better entertainment like that. Unless we raced trams around the track or something.

[Tyler_Durden]

$20M is not that much at all in the State Government's annual budget. If that's the sort of cost they are worried about then I am extremely disillusioned by this stance. Events like that are truly international. There are only a handful of sporting events around the world that compare to the size and interest generated by formula 1. You can't buy that sort of exposure for $20M eslewhere. That is very disappointing.

[rogue]

.....Internationally the Clipsal doesn't rate. I've noticed whenever they talk about international ratings they say as Clipsal will be broadcast on the Australian channel throughout Asia it has the potential to reach tens of millions of viewers. (yes potential, that's all).

Clipsal is great at bringing in regional and interstate tourists but we want the internationals who will stay longer and spend more.

Interesting statement considering that the V8 Supercars have staged rounds in countries such as New Zealand, Bahrain and China for the last few years to promote the sport.

It is the worlds best touring car series and people abroad are well aware of it.

[Ben]

Interesting statement considering that the V8 Supercars have staged rounds in countries such as New Zealand, Bahrain and China for the last few years to promote the sport.

It is the worlds best touring car series and people abroad are well aware of it.

Who and how was it detirmined to be the best touring car race in the world? Number of attendees? revenue Raised? television ratings? I would be very interested. I am not disputing the fact but I'm sure Daytona make the same claim and are just curious as to who made that assumption.

I agree with your comment about New Zealand but not other countries ask anyone from Europe or the USA and they would have no idea what the Clipsal is, nor have any intention of watching it

[rogue]

Interesting statement considering that the V8 Supercars have staged rounds in countries such as New Zealand, Bahrain and China for the last few years to promote the sport.

It is the worlds best touring car series and people abroad are well aware of it.

Who and how was it detirmined to be the best touring car race in the world? Number of attendees? revenue Raised? television ratings? I would be very interested. I am not disputing the fact but I'm sure Daytona make the same claim and are just curious as to who made that assumption.

I agree with your comment about New Zealand but not other countries ask anyone from Europe or the USA and they would have no idea what the Clipsal is, nor have any intention of watching it

I think you are getting the event (Clipsal 500) confused with the sport (V8 Supercars).

I can assure you that the series is well regarded in places like the US and UK.

After living in both countries over the last 3 years, I have seen the huge television coverage at prime time.

As to who decalres it the best series, i'm just jumping on the bandwagon mate...

[rev]

Kevin Foley can speak for him self. I want more motorsport, and if the world record attendances for a touring car event are anything to go by, so do alot of people in this state.


Crowds are down so far at the GP in Melbourne.

Maybe the so called sports capital isnt all its cracked up to be after all?