Supercars: the new owners

[chavez]

Originally Posted by Casper

I was never convinced the sums added up, the cash turnover just can't be that good with a dwindling revenue base and the very real prospect of a fall of income from TV contracts in the future. The series simply does not have the cachet it once had no matter how we wish it did. You simply have to look at this forum to see that, races do not get discussed in any substantial way at all compared to times past. Borrowing the money to pay debt has only one ending, how dumb can supposedly intelligent people be?

The lack of discussion on this forum might be more of an indication of changes on the social media landscape.

One of the points Garry was trying to make was that the drivers are no longer household names. With them only appearing in front of the broader public 12 times a year it is no surprise.

However, stick a dozen of them in ARG categories, and that exposure grows with promotional opportunities. Sadly, that might have been the plan, but politics has got in the way.

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by Tourer

Makes for some interesting reading - GR being as forthright as always.

I'm calling Garry and ARG out on this.

They are the ones that have been aggressively buying up categories, TAKING THEM OFF the Supercar card, and VERY recently sold their coverage off to Stan for $20m.

Now he wants to have a cry that Supercars don't want SVG driving one of their cars?

ARG have literally caused all the divisions in the sport. if you want people to get together, start in your own backyard.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by Alan52

So RACE borrowed the $70million and would be paying interest on that.Do the sums and that’s a lot.
Now they are already running out of money and need to borrow another $10million.
Things don’t seem to be going so swimmingly.

This is the real problem and not the politics which is always there.

[numbnuts]

since v8s cut off tv broadcast i say crash and burn . i know many ex fans like me say the same . no offence to the teams but they failed to stop it .
if they want to run at my local speedway track i might go but thats it .
flame away but im gone .

[one five five]

Originally Posted by Mixer

I'm calling Garry and ARG out on this.

They are the ones that have been aggressively buying up categories, TAKING THEM OFF the Supercar card, and VERY recently sold their coverage off to Stan for $20m.

Now he wants to have a cry that Supercars don't want SVG driving one of their cars?

ARG have literally caused all the divisions in the sport. if you want people to get together, start in your own backyard.

Isn’t the issue here that ARG are a large (shareholding) part of Supercars now?

There shouldn’t be an us and them.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by chavez

The lack of discussion on this forum might be more of an indication of changes on the social media landscape.

One of the points Garry was trying to make was that the drivers are no longer household names. With them only appearing in front of the broader public 12 times a year it is no surprise.

However, stick a dozen of them in ARG categories, and that exposure grows with promotional opportunities. Sadly, that might have been the plan, but politics has got in the way.

I am not sure about the social media issue as I don't participate though this is a social media place as well. It seems to me that things have changed, Brock, Richards etc were all household names before we had the internet and crowd attendances to race meetings far and away exceeded what you see today. There were also a lot more race meetings and we did not need the internet to know when they were on. The car club base was the reason that racing was popular but that no longer exists for all intents and purposes. No roots to the tree and the tree dies, pretty simple really.

[slugger]

Aren't the Domazet's the ones who would be the most at unease about this?

[Denosaur]

Originally Posted by Casper

The car club base was the reason that racing was popular but that no longer exists for all intents and purposes. No roots to the tree and the tree dies, pretty simple really.

I think the old "Confederation Against Motor Sport" has something to do with this....you can change the name, but can't change the attitude.

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by one five five

Isn’t the issue here that ARG are a large (shareholding) part of Supercars now?

Not that large, and notice that it's not ARG complaining, only Garry and Barry.

Originally Posted by one five five

There shouldn’t be an us and them.

ARG have always been the ones buying control of categories and carving them off for their own show, and only want Supercars when it suits them.

[Casper]

Originally Posted by Denosaur

I think the old "Confederation Against Motor Sport" has something to do with this....you can change the name, but can't change the attitude.

No, it is a generational change from when we as kids enjoyed mucking around with cars in a totally different way to our children and I think it would make a good study as to why that change happened because no one seems to have looked at it seriously. Karting was not the kindergarten of motor sport then as it is today, nearly all the talent came out of car clubs. Maybe it happened because we enjoyed driving totally unfettered by legislation that clamps down on drivers of today.

[cavvy]

Now Brian Boyd allegedly wants out - I for one have had trouble ascertaining where he sat in the whole transaction

https://www.speedcafe.com/2022/08/03...r-selling-out/


I keep looking out for the financier behind the Nettleford camp Bruin Capital.

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/...ort-interview/

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by cavvy

Now Brian Boyd allegedly wants out - I for one have had trouble ascertaining where he sat in the whole transaction

PAYCE is a property developer and that sector at the moment is in crisis with massive delays and cost increases, and a number of players going to the wall.

I'd suggest Mr Boyd just needs cash for his business. The interesting thing is who will take up this ownership.

To be honest Boyd (PAYCE) and John Mclellan (Wilson Security) were the big money behind ARG and pretty much during the pandemic the music stopped, Mclellan exited (with the Rogers taking up his shares) and the underwriting of category entries and broadcast agreements stopped totally.

So perhaps we shouldn't be that surprised about Boyd wanting out when he has other things he needs his money for.

[cavvy]

Originally Posted by Mixer

PAYCE is a property developer and that sector at the moment is in crisis with massive delays and cost increases, and a number of players going to the wall.

I'd suggest Mr Boyd just needs cash for his business. The interesting thing is who will take up this ownership.

To be honest Boyd (PAYCE) and John Mclellan (Wilson Security) were the big money behind ARG and pretty much during the pandemic the music stopped, Mclellan exited (with the Rogers taking up his shares) and the underwriting of category entries and broadcast agreements stopped totally.

So perhaps we shouldn't be that surprised about Boyd wanting out when he has other things he needs his money for.

You make a lot of sense of it.

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by cavvy

You make a lot of sense of it.

****, we can't have that kind of thing around here can we!

I'm peripherally involved in property development and anybody with exposure to that segment is shitting bricks.

It's a time where a developer would want to re-capitalise and take advantage of the weakness of competitors.

At the end of the day this sport involves big money and the people with that money often face risks. I'd expect GT racing to be significantly affected by this.

https://www.v8sleuth.com.au/supercar...uNVeb2QmDcHa8s

So despite Sleuth reporting Barry Rogers comments which were wrong:

ARG itself owns no shares in RACE
Barry and Garry Rogers and Brian Boyd held shares in RACE separately to their ARG holding.
Brian Boyd has sold his to Henslow, and it is thought to be 15% share in the RACE business.

[Mr X]

Originally Posted by Denosaur

I think the old "Confederation Against Motor Sport" has something to do with this....you can change the name, but can't change the attitude.

It was CAMS of old in WA last month, with reports the boss put considerable effort into stopping 12 amateurs enjoying their TA2 cars in a series over the last couple of weekends. Stories suggest that any mention of TA2 or TransAm would have the approved race permits for Wanneroo and Collie withdrawn at the last minute, despite them already being approved. Permits mentioned 3TA log booked cars being raced in their own West Coast series.

Series went ahead under the cone of silence.

[Denosaur]

Originally Posted by Mr X

It was CAMS of old in WA last month, with reports the boss put considerable effort into stopping 12 amateurs enjoying their TA2 cars in a series over the last couple of weekends. Stories suggest that any mention of TA2 or TransAm would have the approved race permits for Wanneroo and Collie withdrawn at the last minute, despite them already being approved. Permits mentioned 3TA log booked cars being raced in their own West Coast series.

Series went ahead under the cone of silence.

Totally not surprised by this story.
They're like those lawyers in The Simpson that close down the kids lemonade stand....

[Denosaur]

Originally Posted by Casper

No, it is a generational change from when we as kids enjoyed mucking around with cars in a totally different way to our children and I think it would make a good study as to why that change happened because no one seems to have looked at it seriously. Karting was not the kindergarten of motor sport then as it is today, nearly all the talent came out of car clubs. Maybe it happened because we enjoyed driving totally unfettered by legislation that clamps down on drivers of today.

CAMS/MA have been on a mission to stamp out anything which pretty much doesn't get covered by a FIA sticker, badge, or set of rules. You should have seen how hard it was for them to work with Champcar/Indycar back in the day at Surfers Paradise.

There's been no change, the same attitude is passed down from one generation to other and anyone who dare's question anything is shunned. And for what, to protect the brand? In the name of safety? Hell no, it's about protecting their jobs (for those employed) whilst on the volunteer side it's knives out on anyone who dare. They were pushed to consider trackside safety for everyone, whilst you could see this coming in with Supercars, it took them a long time to come around. Even still, have they improved it enough for those outside the vehicles? Hell no!! The solution is to cancel a category because a wheel came off and hit a trackside structure. I've seen my share of wheels come off, along with prop shafts and the like. But do you see those categories cancelled for it? No you don't, because they carry that FIA seal of approval.

Motorsport will always be an old boys club in this country, under anything that is run my MA/CAMS, period!

[cavvy]

Changes in the ownership clarified by Speedcafe, & I acknowledging reporting on this issue has not always been accurate (more generally), so refer to the detail in the quoted article:
https://www.speedcafe.com/2022/11/24...olding-in-arg/

'The change of shareholdings took place on October 28, the same day when James Boyd ceased his role as a Director of what is officially Australian Racing Group Holdings Pty Limited.

Rogers, McMellan, and James Warburton, the latter of whom retains a five percent share, are the three current directors.'

[cavvy]

Interesting comments from Roland Dane around the ownership, what was promised and what has been delivered:
https://www.speedcafe.com/

'There’s no question that the profile of Supercars amongst the broader population of Australia has slipped in recent years.
..... This issue cannot be laid at the door of the current Supercars owners, RACE, as being their fault but it is up to them to ensure that the problem is addressed rapidly and effectively.'
As the Supercars sale process developed, the marketing and public relations expertise of TLA and TGI (highly respected agencies), that was a component of the RACE bid, along with the involvement of key luminaries from that world, Martin Jolly and Craig Kelly, became a central reason why the team owners were keen to see the business of Supercars sold to RACE in late 2021. In fact, it was the central reason.

As the teams, me included, saw it, these people could and would lift the profile of Supercars as a major sport in Australia by promoting it hard and using cross pollination opportunities created by the large expanse of other sporting properties that both Kelly and Jolly were involved in.

The RACE presentation to the teams in 2021 was built around the participation of Jolly, Kelly and Mark Skaife under the banner “we know motorsport”. Both Martin and Craig had extensive experience of the sport through their time at IMG (a world-famous agency) and TLA respectively.

Sadly, within weeks of the sale to RACE, the only one of this trio left with any involvement in RACE was Mark, and his motorsport expertise, whilst clearly very extensive, is not in the PR and marketing world.'

'I (Dane), for one, felt misled but, as I no longer had a day to day involvement in the sport, it was up to others to voice their concerns to RACE as these were very big boots to fill.'

'Meanwhile, after a run of great attendances at big events over the last seven months, the size of the crowd at Wanneroo was reasonable but it was a long way from the early 2000s when I first went there and you couldn’t see a blade of grass in the place.'

For the sport to be truly sustainable, this type of event at a permanent circuit needs much stronger crowd numbers. And that can only be driven by awareness in my opinion.

The RACE ownership structure was intended to bring the expertise to the table that would drive that awareness and, as I said, that marketing and media background was the major push of their original pitch to the teams.

..... RACE needs to get an old fashioned PR hustler involved as a matter of urgency who doesn’t take no for an answer. Someone hungry who doesn’t stand on ceremony and is prepared to do what it takes to get Supercars back onto the mainstream sporting agenda.'

..... But someone has to have a fully co-ordinated, forceful and sometimes controversial PR and marketing strategy, mixed with a cutting edge contemporary social media plan, in play to bring Supercars back into that broader public psyche. I don’t see any of this happening at the moment, but I live in hope.'

Spot on Roland. Lets hope we hear from RACE/Barclay Nettlefold & not just in the specialist media.

Well worth reading the Speedcafe article in full.