CTA's F1 Popularity Working Group

To be fair to Bernie he did a great job of building the empire that is F1 from the mess it was. The problem is that George Lucas like he is busy destroying what he built at a vast rate of knots with a servere ringing of all elements for more cash.

I'm afraid the old guard will alway have the motto 'in Bernie we trust' because they remember the mess it was before.
 
If we go back a fair few years F1 was always seen as a rich man's extravagance. Good fun but very dangerous.

It always had a very tight, (and small) band of followers and very little air space. Mentioned occasionally in the 'news', until the 80s when the airwaves were occasionally graced with more highlights.

Even now I would suggest that it is an elitist sport - in these stricken times (yes, I know the World is supposed to be coming out of recession), peeps are careful where their money goes.

SKY didn't help, nor did all the endless tweaking of rules and regulations to overcome the misguided notion that whatever you do to 'enhance' the spectacle would increase the desire to spend. Joe Public still can't afford it - even from the comfort of their living room.

I have enjoyed this season so far, if only because it is the nearest thing to the racing of my youth (without the deaths). I would have enjoyed it even more if I could have watched it on the TV without forking out squillions for the privilege.

What BE really needs to understand is that merely because the teams can (possibly) afford it, the audience can't necessarily, whether it be on track or on the sofa.

Somehow he seems to have assumed that all who like F1 are minted!
 
There was a huge global change in sport in the early 90s, in which (at least in England) every major sport became more professional in tune with television becoming much better. What we saw happen would have happened without Bernie Ecclestone, was exploited by Bernie Ecclestone and may indeed have been slowed by Bernie Ecclestone.
 
And here I quote Lotus team principle Peter Warr.

"Bernie proposed and obtained an agreement from FOCA that, in return for negotiating all the TV deals that he could, he would keep 70 percent of the revenue, and that 30 percent would be shared equally amongst the qualifying members. At a time when TV companies had to be begged to cover a race and some carried no live coverage at all, this did not seem a bad deal. The extra income required no work to be done by the teams whatsoever........

......... If the team's cheque represented one-tenth of 30 percent , then Bernie's 70 percent was worth 23 times as much."

You can almost imagine Bernie waving fivers under the noses of any objectors to that deal.

The long term development of the sport has always taken second place to the short term gains of the teams. The successful always stand at the top table until they fade away and are then dropped like hot bricks. Divide and rule through self interest.
 
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I just posted on the ranting thread, and then thought I should make a suggestion on here.

The long summer breaks are boring. Once the season is underway it should keep going. People get bored, lose interest and it feels like all the momentum is lost.
 
The breaks only became necessary when the season was expanded. The mechanics and team staff spend almost the whole year on the road. Ok, the pay isn't too bad but at the end of the day all that time away from the family does the home life no good.
 
They knew what they were signing up to. Wouldn't it be better to keep the momentum going and the fans interested, rather than have them drift away in boredom. If we all get bored enough they will have no job to go to, then they can stay home all year.
Anyway they are all mostly at home in the off season. As older Naval wives will tell you, no one asked us if we liked it, when the ship steamed off for a year or so.
We knew what we had signed up to, and didn't expect or get any sympathy.
:bangfists:
 
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Bit harsh that even just the ordinary mechanics would have to work all hours god sends just because Generation Y hasn't got the attention span to remember what happened a few weeks ago though isn't it?

I doubt they get paid a massive amount.

....and for gods sake will someone not think of the children!
 
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If F1 was as gripping as it used to be there would be no problems with waiting a few weeks, but at the moment it's on a slide into oblivion. Losing ..paying.. fans at a huge rate at the race tracks.
Of course if the teams were better managed, everyone could book their holidays for two weeks, as they wanted to take them. Most big business doesn't close down en masse anymore. Obviously those with young kids take their holidays during the holidays. But a lot of the mechanics are not that young. And not all the young ones have children, or are married.
So I really think that the plea to think of the children is a bit melodramatic. A well run team should be able to accommodate all of the needs of it's employees.
 
The children thing is a simpsons quote.

I put forward the case that Formula One is just as gripping as it has always been and the people behind the scenes are really saying "how can we make more money out of this?". Which of course leads to gimmicks. Which of course every fan can see straight through and doesn't find it exciting at all.

There seems to be a fashion for reminiscing about the good old days (sometimes before they are even over) without realising they are pretty much the same.

Formula one hasn't changed. Just the hype around it.
 

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