Empty seats at Nurburgring?

[BBKing]

A sad state of affairs
Ticket sales plummeting for F1 events [21/06/02 - 00:35]




The Nurburgring 2001

ll is not well at the Nurburgring this weekend as fans opt to stay away from the racetrack and ticket sales plummet. While ticket sales for round nine were good at the beginning of the year, as is normally the case, the corporate customers who bought a huge number of grandstand seats in readiness for this weekend's event, find themselves left high and dry, unable to pass them on to fans.

150,000 seats have been sold, however don't be fooled by these figures as there will be a lot of empty seats around the new Nurburgring layout unless fans take advantage of the lowered prices. Radio and newspapers are advertising special prices as ticket agencies, who bought their usual amount of seats for resale well ahead of time, try to unload the surplus.

This is not the only race this season that has seen empty seats where normally tickets were impossible to come by. We reported after Monaco that the usually sold out event around the streets of Monte Carlo had many gaps where fans normally flocked, with entire rows in top class stands remaining empty. So what's the reason? Why aren't fans coming to see their heroes perform?

There are several reasons, the main one being that people are not prepared to pay the inflated prices for grandstand seats just to see the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher race on his own, regardless of which track it's at or how much they love him, they want to see drivers racing each other for the win instead. The state of the economy is another factor and instead of paying up to 400 Euros for a seat, fans are opting for general admission at a reduced cost of 50 Euros.

But, the good news for fans wanting to attend this weekend's race is, hang in there! Predictions are that ticket prices will plummet by 50% before race day, just to get rid of them! A sad state of affairs for all concerned….

This is coming from F1-live.

Another reason to ban Ferrari and Schumacher for at least 2 races. Don't you think?

[Adam43]

No.

[kwd]

I think people are just getting bored with the state of F1,and really can't blame them. While I am a Ferrari and Michael fan instead of seeing him/his team dominate I would rather see him in "the hunt" 12 points or whatever down to JPM and having to drive like "a demon" as someone else quoted in another thread. Living and dying on each qualifying lap,each pit stop,etc.I can remember a report from Jerez during practice for the final GP where the reporter said that every time out for the williams a ferrari would soon follow and that one of the williams had just come in with a ferrari glued to its exhaust pipes basically filling its mirrors with red.Thats what i think people are missing,the headgames,the tactics,a fight.

[f1manoz]

As stated in another article I read, the main reason(s) fans are staying way is the inflated prices that basically only the well-off can afford and also the fact the racing is uninteresting to say the least. Who would want to spend their hard earned cash on watching one car race out the front by himself all day?

Waste of money if you ask me.

[Valve Bounce]

I posted my comments in BBKings thread about Rubens saying MSch is like Mike Tyson. It's all Liz's fault.

Valve[img]http://www.**************************/smilies/bouncy.gif[/img]

I wish some of these people would give me their tickets because I would jump at the chance to go and watch a race live, there's more to watching F1 in person than the race, it's the sound and atmosphere. Ferrari won't be at the top forever.

[freud]

What?? empty seats at the nurburgring?? So now even Schumacher's hometown is fed up of him?!... What a shame!

[steve nielsen]

My seat won't be empty!! (5b, ford kurve)

[Red]

Re: Empty seats at Ring. This is accurate. But the phrasing is not! Should read "Hurry, still there are several tickets up for grabs!" Trying http://nuerburgring.de/eng/frame_05_gpve.htm (the official site, ticket-sale page) I noticed that there are still 3 stands with available seats: T11a, T12a, T18. Gold category, 320 Euro for a weekend pass. Looking at the track map I could notice that indeed those seats are good seats but not as good as the other Gold stands. Make em silver or bronze, I mean somewhere in 200 EUR range and that would be different. Also, being only available as weekend pass, a German might consider watching Germany’s football match and not paying this money for a session that he might miss.

PS: Liz says that she doesn't watch Formula 1 anymore, only real men/real cars. Every Gp. At least since 2000 since I joined.

PS2: The 400 Euro tickets (Gold 1) are long time ago sold out.

[Liz]

I quit watching F1 after Austria and will not watch it any more until that cootie is swept off the grid.

However, I am willing to make a sign that says "Perry McCarthy Could Win in the 2002 Ferrari" and give it to a deluded friend who still goes to the F1 races to put up where the cameras can see it. Perry McCarthy raced at Le Mans where TGF said it is "too dangerous". Perry McCarthy may be a prat, but apparently he is braver than TGF!

[Red]

Sure Liz. My point was that people, even deluded, DO go at races. That story about empty seats is plain bul... I mean journalism.

PS: Since that Perry McCarthy CAN win I wonder why he actually doesn't. Probably the team leaders are incompetents unable to see bravery; let's drop'em a letter and teach them a thing or two.

[freud]

Originally posted by Liz
Perry McCarthy may be a prat, but apparently he is braver than TGF!

[BBKing]

How would you feel if the Gold seats are selling for the price of Bronze? Specially if you paid for Bronze back in January?...LOL

[Liz]

The same way I felt when I reached the age of 21 the same year they lowered the voting age to 18!

[BootsOntheSide]

Perry McCarthy is not a prat, he could teach most of the current grid a thing or two about guts, charisma, humour in even the bleakest positions, and sheer self-belief.

[Sodemo]

I will not go to another GP after I went to the 2000 Brit GP, for a number of reasons: I don't want to see a one -horse race, I want to see a tight battle which we are not seeing. Second, I want to see racing, read my lips R A C I N G, that means drivers passing (overtaking) on the track, not in the pits (ie ban re-fueling- prob solved), so if they make the cars so that the drivers can overtake and we see some 'drama' ( 1 rear wing element, wide track, slicks, engine cc down to 2.5) then I may return, Oh and slash the criminal British GP ticket price, is it £95 for basic entry? Imola is £43?
Sort it out.

[Red]

Originally posted by BBKing
How would you feel if the Gold seats are selling for the price of Bronze? Specially if you paid for Bronze back in January?...LOL

Not gold, but Gold3. Nothing changed, why do you ask? Now how I'd feel if I paid for the aforementioned stands back in January... that's a different story. I'd be really p..... errm...... I'd be really. (period)

Now, looking at the map, as I said before, those stands really suck. For example, if it's not a mistake on the map, T12a doesn't even have a TV screen let alone that you have view only of some 1% of the track. T12b (bronze) which is located near it, has the view of the same straigth, sigth of Bogen and Veedol curves (same as T12a) PLUS a TV screen. But a price 180 EURO instead of 320. Get my point? What services are worth the 140Euro difference? Are the seats really made of gold or what? No wonder those seats are still available. So, going back to the article:
1. The story is bull. The stands are pretty full.
2. If there are still available tickets, the reason is not

Originally posted by BBKing
Another reason to ban Ferrari and Schumacher for at least 2 races.

And 3: Would you be so kind to further develop the thinking behind the above excerpt of your wisdom? Indeed, the fans would not be ready to pay a price just to see the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher race of his own, but that can be put in another way: the fans are not ready to pay just to see 21 cars look average of their own.

[Gt_R]

Hey..the article blamed the poor sales of ticket not because of the Austrian GP, but that people are not prepared to watch Michael drive at the front alone after paying so much, ie poor race for lead.

I personally believe as much so...if racing is good, i'd be there irregardless...but when tickets cost so high, i'd hestitate to go there to watch cars go pass in convoy. Do i blame Michael?? Hell NO! Its all the other 10 teams and 20 drivers fault for just not being good enough to challenge the front...but wait... perhaps its easier to just blame Michael/Ferrari for a job too well done!

Remember, the most tickets unsold are the expensive seats... so the main problem is not the Austrian issue, but the value of entertainment people get for their money.

[Mr V]

Empty seats at Nurburgring?

Are the Japanese in charge of selling F1 tickets aswell as world cup tickets then?.....only joking.

Most people have already said it on this topic, but overpricing of tickets and total domination by Ferrari,(only on TGF's car) are sending fans away. I'm seriously thinking about wether i want to pay hundreds of pounds to go to the British GP next year, (although, i expect i will, as i love everything about the whole weekend!)

[Liz]

The airline fares are twice what they were last year, too, and rising fast. I was in Europe 4 times last year. This year I have gone once and I'm not going again. I can go to Mid Ohio on the bus for $149.00 round trip, I get in free and I can camp for nothing too. Going to Hungary or Budapest or whatever would cost me $1,300.00 round trip and then I'd need hotel space, transportation to the circuit, and a very expensive ticket. And for what? To see Rubens forced to hand over another race to TGF?

If I wanted to see another WWF1 race I could drive to Indy and buy discount tickets from scalpers on race day.

[Rob29]

Did not see many empty seats at F1 qualifying yesterday.But the place looked half empty for the F3000 race one hour later.

[Red]

Originally posted by Rob29
Did not see many empty seats [...]

Rob, because there aren't empty seats! I mean yes, there are. A couple. But not that many to make a real problem, just enough to make a journalist story.

[Gt_R]

i don't know...but when michael did his last run and was 0.1s inside at the 2nd sector, the TV monitors captured a huge group of fans in red in the stand cheering wildly and waving the Ferrari flags...

I stress, if there is a drop in the attendance of GP, the main culprit is that fans, instead of boycotting due to the Austria affair, are actually more annoyed with the lack of close competition and excitement... and that... we can only blame the other 10 teams for not doing a good job... But Monaco, Canada, and so far Nurburgring are rather close... so what's the problem?

Notice that the EXPENSIVE seats have low demand...and the less expensive seats are actually taken... so really, the problem is the value of entertainment of the sports... spectators obviously showed that the value of attending F1 is only as much as they are willing to pay for the cheaper seats..

[EERO]

Originally posted by Gt_R

Notice that the EXPENSIVE seats have low demand...and the less expensive seats are actually taken... so really, the problem is the value of entertainment of the sports... spectators obviously showed that the value of attending F1 is only as much as they are willing to pay for the cheaper seats..

So true, so true. It is exciting as a spectacle, even if the racing is questionable. People are still interested, but can only justify the expense for so much.

[Don K]

They ended up with 350,000 seats sold.
A new record for the Nürburgring ...