Suzuki cup/ccs TV Time

[ronin]

 ???Is it me or is anyone else wondering why the Suzuki Cup finals are on TV, but CCS/Formula USA owned by ClearChannel gets no TV time?

[the_weggie_man]

Can you say Suzuki looks at this as a big commercial?  Who does F-USA/Clear Channel need to advertise to?

[Eddie#200]

Can you say Suzuki looks at this as a big commercial?  Who does F-USA/Clear Channel need to advertise to?

Yeah... I have has similar thoughts about this subject.

It doesn't seem fair to the racers.. my sponsors ask me all of the time about TV coverage.  I tell tham that F/USA doesn't get TV time and most people ask why...  they think F/UAS and CCS must be small potatoes next to AMA.  They liken it to the XFL.  

I think there is a lot of un-tapped revenue from advertising that Clear Channel is missing out on.

[TiffineyIngram]

Everything you guys are saying is something those of us here have been working towards.  There is a big difference between us and the AMA--tracks pay the AMA to sanction a race there--hundreds of thousands of dollars.  At this point in time, with the exception of a small number of tracks, CCS/FUSA pays for the track rent and all expenses.  And Weggie Man is right, Suzuki can afford a two hour commerical.  They're trying to hit the consumer market, not the racer market.  TV would be wonderful, I'm not denying that at all--you guys absolutely deserve to be on a national stage.  But we are not "small potatoes", just a different type of potatoe.

[the_weggie_man]

If Suzuki sponsored their Suzuki Cup National final with CCS, then CCS would get the TV time.  However, WERA got them way back, something like 17 years ago, when CCS was still in it's infancy and they have not found any reason to leave them.

TV costs big money, and though all the racers think they are the stuff that needs to be out there,  you need to convince some company with real deep pockets that you are what the country really needs to watch on the tube. Remember every athlete in every sport feels the same way.  

We are a small pool of people in the big ocean of sports. Check the numbers of people that golf, play any other ball sport, swim, shoot pool, ride horses, etc. etc.. The number of motorcycle roadracers doesn't come close.  The TV audience just isn't there.

Oh yeah, occassionally for the Daytona 200 or something they get good ratings but not on a regular enough basis for a lot more TV time.  If you watched the Suzuki Cup event on FOX it was largely as I said, a Suzuki infommercial.

[GAMEDIC]

Just curious..but why can't we get some of this action from Clear Channel at least maybe one race or a different class each time...so we can get it out there a little http://motorsports.cc.com/tv.asp

[TiffineyIngram]

I work in the same office with most of those properties that were listed on that website--20 feet away from them.  The reason why Freestyle and Arenacross and Supercross get TV time is the money flowing into their sport.  They are not rider based like roadrace, they are spectator based.  Freestyle may have only 20-30 riders...but 50,000 spectators at $50 a pop.  Tons-O-Money.  They have national sponsors who foot the bills.  CCS at the moment isn't going after 50,000 spectators.  Yes, we will be doing more advertising, but we can't go from club racing to prime time TV overnight.  We're working towards it.  But you have to understand that just because Clearchannel owns us it doesn't mean we get free airtime or something.  For example, when CCS/FUSA had a commercial running in the Poconos (on a Clearchannel owned station) we PAID for that airtime.  Believe me, in the coming year, there will be more advertising, but we must walk before we run.

[GAMEDIC]

I know what you mean..it would just be nice to have even a 10 or 15 sec plug to come watch the race...i mean they own the air time they could afford that much time...hell someone could slip that in when they were not looking...LOL

[TiffineyIngram]

No, Clearchannel can't just give out air time.  We are given a budget for the year, and we must stick to it.  Radio time costs 5-10 times for 15 seconds what we could get 5000 posters for.  

[Gixxer124]

Are there any plans to rebroadcast this event??

[r6_philly]

How does the SCCA races, and the Grand AM cup series race (that ran with CCS at VIR this past year) get on TV then? They are not really spectotor based either.

Tiffiney, did you get my change of address email? I don't want to miss the mailer and didn't get a response from you. Please let me know, thanks

[the_weggie_man]

SCCA and Grand AM get TV time because we live in a car based society. There are a ton more people interested and involved in auto racing than bike racing in this country. Now Europe and the Orient are a different story because damn near everyone grows up riding scooters and bikes and there is a huge motorcycle base in those places.

Sorry guys, we're stuck with a bunch 'o cage minded people around us and it isn't going to change soon.

This TV subject has been going on ad nauseum forever. I started riding bikes in 1970 and came into the racing scene in '80, yes the same thing was going on then. But the big change in 30+ years has been now we get one or two big races a year and Two Wheel Tuesdays. LOL on changing anything.