COTA Fires CEO

[Marcoose]

Fool couldn't stop a hurricane!

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/circuit-of-the-americas-lets-go-of-ceo/

Dial's release comes less than a month after a rain-drenched Formula 1 race "lost millions" according to COTA chairman Bobby Epstein. Following the effects of Hurricane Patricia, Epstein told the Austin American Statesman that the US Grand Prix was "a financially devastating weekend for the company…

"We suffered from some fans having such a bad experience they won't be back, although I hope we can change their mind."

Guys, time to dust off your CVs.

 

[rsrider]

God hates Formula 1.

 

[antidote]

COTA is on brink of shuttering doors anyway. They are doing nothing but losing money.

This was just an excuse to fire a figurehead, in my opinion.

 

[Marcoose]

COTA is on brink of shuttering doors anyway. They are doing nothing but losing money.

What? For real?

 

[aminalmutha]

Went to the first MotoGP race they held there and they were already running out of souvenirs on Friday. Traffic direction sucked, but then again it uber-sucked bawlz at Laguna, too. Decent crowd, but it could have been organized a little better. Also, as some comments stated, certain areas should have been paved, tho it wasn't an issue with no rain. Cool track, I hope they can get it managed a little better.

 

[clutchslip]

Went to the first MotoGP race they held there and they were already running out of souvenirs on Friday. Traffic direction sucked, but then again it uber-sucked bawlz at Laguna, too. Decent crowd, but it could have been organized a little better. Also, as some comments stated, certain areas should have been paved, tho it wasn't an issue with no rain. Cool track, I hope they can get it managed a little better.

This just cracks me up, or is annoying as hell. Most track traffic EVERYWHERE is awful. It takes longer to get in and out of many European tracks, and YET the fans keep coming and going and having a great time. Here we just bitch and moan, it seems. It took me longer to leave COTA one year than Laguna, believe it or not. I now park in a different location in Texarass.

The unlikely good news is that maybe we will get Laguna back. I already have a plan to make the track longer within the existing grounds, without going nuts on the hills. Can we get a BARF fund for new luxury suits, since we know that will be the cherry for MotoGP coming back.

 

[Marcoose]

It takes longer to get in and out of many European tracks, and YET the fans keep coming and going and having a great time. Here we just bitch and moan

I bitched and moaned every time and I went to Monza and Paul Ricard. And don't even get me started with Silverstone. It is unbelievably backwards.

 

[aminalmutha]

This just cracks me up, or is annoying as hell. Most track traffic EVERYWHERE is awful. It takes longer to get in and out of many European tracks, and YET the fans keep coming and going and having a great time. Here we just bitch and moan, it seems. It took me longer to leave COTA one year than Laguna, believe it or not. I now park in a different location in Texarass.

The unlikely good news is that maybe we will get Laguna back. I already have a plan to make the track longer within the existing grounds, without going nuts on the hills. Can we get a BARF fund for new luxury suits, since we know that will be the cherry for MotoGP coming back.

Ok, to clarify, very early on when GP returned to Laguna, traffic direction was bad... really bad. It did get MUCH better... getting out of Laguna in later years.

The REAL problem is that the roads and highways in and around Monterey are not designed to carry large amounts of traffic, so the real nightmare started after you got out of Laguna Seca.

COTA (well, in conjunction with the local constabulary) screwed up by having mixed traffic (bikes and cars together) and not re-routing side traffic. One frickin' stop sign caused a huge back up that was totally unnecessary. If they'd had a cop directing traffic thru there, it woulda cut an hour off the time it took to get in and out.

 

[antidote]

What? For real?

I can't find the article on motorsport.com from Jan of this year anymore, but find this copy paste from another site.http://www.lonestarspeedzone.com/to...s-americas-only-formula-one-track-in-trouble/

Also just a few months ago a sale fell through. Things aren't great in COTA land. Current operations denies this because it's hard to sell a turd if you in fact acknowledge it is a turd.

There is a future there, but yikes, its not a ship id want to try and helm.

 

[clutchslip]

Ok, to clarify, very early on when GP returned to Laguna, traffic direction was bad... really bad. It did get MUCH better... getting out of Laguna in later years.

The REAL problem is that the roads and highways in and around Monterey are not designed to carry large amounts of traffic, so the real nightmare started after you got out of Laguna Seca.

COTA (well, in conjunction with the local constabulary) screwed up by having mixed traffic (bikes and cars together) and not re-routing side traffic. One frickin' stop sign caused a huge back up that was totally unnecessary. If they'd had a cop directing traffic thru there, it woulda cut an hour off the time it took to get in and out.

I am not kidding when I say that Laguna roads are better than several European tracks, where it can take 4 hours to get IN! Anyway, COTA also had the majority of traffic going out the back way, which was nuts, since the front way with or without a cop is twice as big. Craziness. And you would think with all the time and money they spent there that traffic would have been handled, considering the Tax Payer funds involved.

Pathetic if we end-up with only Indy. They don't pull any more than Laguna, and the place is boring compared to Austin or Monterey (track and everything else).

 

[aminalmutha]

I am not kidding when I say that Laguna roads are better than several European tracks, where it can take 4 hours to get IN! Anyway, COTA also had the majority of traffic going out the back way, which was nuts, since the front way with or without a cop is twice as big. Craziness. And you would think with all the time and money they spent there that traffic would have been handled, considering the Tax Payer funds involved.

Pathetic if we end-up with only Indy. They don't pull any more than Laguna, and the place is boring compared to Austin or Monterey (track and everything else).

That's cuz Europe's roads are just foot paths from Roman times, paved over. Exiting Laguna is tolerable on a moto, but I'm srs, if GP ever comes back to Laguna, no fuckin' way am I cagin' it. Made that mistake... once.

COTA... had no moto. Didn't really matter cuz they were all in the same traffic hell. No lane splitting, no special entrance. Felt bad for them dudes. Sorta.

Kept hearing from the locals how the local .gov was so invested in it, they were going to make it a big destination, etc, etc. Nice track... in BFE... with shitty access.

I thought MotoGP pulled out of Indy. Never should have been there to begin with. Lame track.

 

[Map8]

Photos of recent storm damage at COTA at this link:

http://www.circuitoftheamericas.com/storm

 

[Marcoose]

Now, if the straw that broke the camel's back to fire this guy was the hurricane, then that's the most contradictory thing ever. Post F1 Grand Prix, most commentators were claiming how F1 is great, a race that in spite of all odds still happened, there were many race leaders and it was anybody's race until about 3-4 laps to the end. Nothing needed to change in F1.

Sure, the reason for an exciting race was because it rained heavily on Friday and Saturday, nobody could set up the cars, and then the race started on semi-wets. So it took just about the biggest ever pacific ocean hurricane to blow itself all the way into central Texas to make an F1 race spectacular, but that's also the reason to fire the track CEO?

Go figure.

 

[clutchslip]

Photos of recent storm damage at COTA at this link:

Meh. Chump change. The grandstands are a little money, but it's still boopkas.

Now, if the straw that broke the camel's back to fire this guy was the hurricane, then that's the most contradictory thing ever.
......
Go figure.

EASY to figure. They borrowed too much money. And the fans are not buying enough tickets. This is NOT an easy business. There was a time when it was lucrative, but things cost more, the fans expect more, and the number of motorsport race fans in the U.S. is actually embarrassing. Little countries, like Spain, pull more people on a Saturday warm-up day than we can muster for a whole weekend. I WANT COTA to succeed, but just look at the shenanigans that Tony George had to pull to keep Indy alive. It's tough out there, even without hurricanes.

[I WILL NOT get depressed. Budman and I have a solution ......... I think it is YOUR money. ]

 

[russ69]

...EASY to figure. They borrowed too much money. And the fans are not buying enough tickets...

Lets see you spend like a bazillion dollars building a track and you can't sell enough tickets on a 3 day weekend to make a profit for the year? That is every track in F1 and MotoGP. It's not a cash positive operation, it's for countries that want a race no matter what the cost. Race tracks are money pits...

 

[Marcoose]

^^^ And Bernie's fees aren't cheap. I don't know what Dorna charges.

Does NASCAR race COTA?

 

[clutchslip]

Lets see you spend like a bazillion dollars building a track and you can't sell enough tickets on a 3 day weekend to make a profit for the year? That is every track in F1 and MotoGP. It's not a cash positive operation, it's for countries that want a race no matter what the cost. Race tracks are money pits...

I think you are agreeing with me, but the wording doesn't make it sound that way. Most tracks need several successful events to make money. There just aren't enough fans to support several big races in most places, anymore. COTA has had a decent line-up, but you still need to sell a lot of expensive tickets.

Let's just take MotoGP at Laguna. It costs SCRAMP about $9 million to put on MotoGP with the high fees. If they get 80,000 fans, they need to sell $112 tickets to each and every person, just to break even. These numbers can be tough when competing with rock concerts, movies, and other entertainment dollars.

 

[Marcoose]

Let's just take MotoGP at Laguna. It costs SCRAMP about $9 million to put on MotoGP with the high fees. If they get 80,000 fans, they need to sell $112 tickets to each and every person, just to break even. These numbers can be tough when competing with rock concerts, movies, and other entertainment dollars.

They probably make some money off concessions, merchandise and camping too, but point taken, it's becoming way too expensive for J6P to attend these events. I used to go to races, games, concerts, theatre, opera, etc, and then I looked at my entertainment budget and noticed multiple house payments were being spent on people earning multiple times my pay. That did it for me.

 

[russ69]

I think you are agreeing with me, but the wording doesn't make it sound that way. Most tracks need several successful events to make money...

Laguna Seca operates as a charity and has lots of volunteer help. Without the volunteer help and charitable contributions, they wouldn't exist at all. After watching my favorite racetracks close, it's obvious that race track business plans are not very well thought out. The old saying is that a racetrack promoter is a fellow that is betting the farm that it isn't going to rain on Sunday, one year from this weekend.

 

[MC BumSlap]

^^^ And Bernie's fees aren't cheap. I don't know what Dorna charges.

Does NASCAR race COTA?

I wish they would.