Menu
Marketing and Sponsorship

COTA President Says U.S. F1 Grand Prix Ticket Sales Affected By New Mexican Race

Ticket sales for this weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas have been affected by the return of Mexico on the F1 calendar, according to the circuit’s top exec. COTA President Jason Dial told SBD Global that the race in Mexico City, scheduled for Nov. 1, applied some “headwinds” for organizers in Austin, Texas. Despite the competition, Dial expects attendance numbers to be up slightly in comparison to last year. "Probably just single digits [in terms of percentage]," he said. “There’s hope for it to be in double digits, but it’s probably just single digits. Given the proximity of Mexico City and it’s the very next Sunday, our team has done a fantastic job.” Last year’s U.S. Grand Prix, the third since the track's debut in '12, attracted 237,406 spectators over the course of the three-day weekend, according to COTA. A total of 107,778 attended the actual race on Sunday. This year’s drop in Hispanic and Mexican fans will be compensated by continued growth in other demographics, Dial said. “We continue to see growth nationally outside of the State of Texas,” he said. “Major metros -- California, Illinois, Florida and New York -- continue to come as other races aren’t coming to fruition in the U.S. We are also seeing growth in international countries other than Mexico.” Ticket prices for Sunday’s race range from $99-$299. NBC Sports Network will show Friday's and Saturday's practice sessions including qualifying. Sunday's race will air on NBC starting at 2:30pm EDT.

Jason Dial
NEW OPTIONS: COTA, together with its hospitality partner RS3, created a new premium ticket option for this year’s grand prix. The COTA Club, which will be located in Turn 12, offers trackside hospitality for 1,000 people. The new product is already sold out, Dial said. “We didn’t build as much of the turn 12 bleacher product,” he said. “Instead of $1,000 or less for a ticket, it’s a $2,000 ticket.” Organizers also created an “ultimate sports weekend package,” which offers buyers admission to Saturday's Univ. of Texas football game vs. Kansas State and the F1 race on Sunday for one price. “Every other year it seems we have a conflict with UT home games," Dial said. "[The package] is something that we will continue to do." Race-day ticket holders will also be able to attend a two-hour Elton John concert following the conclusion of the race. The concert will take place at the racetrack’s Super Stage, which offers space for up to 75,000 people. Downtown Austin will once again be the backdrop for the COTA Fan Fest. The free event offers live music, local food and other forms of entertainment. Organizers teamed up with more than 20 different establishments -- restaurants, bars and clubs -- throughout the city. “We took more of the NFL approach of embracing more local establishments,” Dial said. “There was interest there that we just hadn’t tapped.” On the sponsorship front, COTA is seeing year-over-year growth in total revenue. Dial: “We’ll be in the low double digits.”

U.S. GROWTH: F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone recently said that he lacks enthusiasm to expand the series in the U.S. In an interview with Russian broadcaster RT, Ecclestone said, “The biggest problem with America is they believe they are the greatest power in the world. Not in reality, but in belief.” Asked about the comment, Dial stated the U.S. market is critically important from a team and business standpoint. “Obviously, he’s entitled to his opinion,” he said. “The team principals that we talk to unabashedly state how important the U.S. market is to them and their sponsors.” Organizers also see a huge upside for the sport in terms of growing its fan base. “Formula 1 is 10-15 years behind MLS in developing that fan base,” Dial said. “The whole globe knows what an incredible sport it is. The U.S. is still under development.” He believes the new Haas F1 Team, which will join the grid in ’16, will boost the sport’s U.S. fan base. COTA and Haas F1 have already been working together and collaborating on announcements and other commercial ideas. However, Dial declined to comment on whether Haas will unveil its second driver this weekend. He said, “I don’t know that they will or won’t.”

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2015/10/22/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/COTA-F1-tickets-sponsorships.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2015/10/22/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/COTA-F1-tickets-sponsorships.aspx

CLOSE