The U.S. Grand Prix has had 10 homes, more than any other grand prix, and according to Formula One’s new owners, Liberty Media, "that number is about to increase," according to Paul Weaver of the London GUARDIAN. There is talk of another race -- perhaps two, with L.A., Las Vegas and New Jersey "among the possibilities." The U.S. staged three races in '82, in Detroit, Las Vegas and Long Beach, Calif. Circuit of the Americas co-Founder & Chair Bobby Epstein is "as excited as everyone else about the changing world of Formula One but he has mixed feelings about the prospect of more races" in the U.S. He said, "If we have more races here we will be competing for a limited base of fans, and we could be weaker for a number of years. Five or 10 years down the road we would build a bigger audience overall. But there could be some pain first." Epstein, who is impressed by the way Melbourne and Montreal promote their race weekends, added, "We are competing for the entertainment dollar. Promoters have to become more creative. I would like to see more money spent on promoting the sport. I think fees should be lower so we can lower the ticket prices." He would "also like to see more cars on the grid and, most of all, an American driver" (GUARDIAN, 10/21).
ECCLESTONE DOUBT: REUTERS' Alan Baldwin reported F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone has "dampened hopes" of more races being held in the U.S., at least in the near term, after the sport's takeover by Liberty Media. Ecclestone: "I think it will be difficult to get more races. I tried in New York. The trouble with the Americans is (that) you want to do a deal with them and they want guaranteed profit before they start. I said, 'If I knew that was going to happen, I wouldn’t need you.'" Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei has spoken of Las Vegas and Miami as possible future venues "for the long term." Ecclestone, who has for months been talking to would-be promoters of a Las Vegas race, said that "there had been a lot of meetings and joked he should have secured the concession to provide the mineral water." He said, "They are professional meeting people, the Americans, aren’t they? They love meetings. Seven in the morning." Autoweek magazine reported in July that entrepreneur Farid Shidfar had an agreement in principle with Chinese investors "to fund a Las Vegas race, but Ecclestone saw little progress." Ecclestone: "They are still behind him. You want them up front. That’s the problem. They came over to see me last week and he called me back, must have been Monday, with another story" (REUTERS, 10/21).
NEW HIGH: The 2016 U.S. F1 Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas set a new weekend attendance record, organizers revealed. This year's event drew 269,889 spectators over three days. The new record stopped a downward trend, which saw attendance figures decrease year after year since the inaugural U.S. Grand Prix at the venue in '12. This year's attendance beat the previous best of 265,499, set in '12, by 4,390. COTA also said that close to 80,000 attended Taylor Swift's concert at the track on Saturday (HJ Mai, SBD Global).
