Posts
585
Joined
10/29/2016
Location
don't call it cali, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
4/29/2018 2:44pm
Is it normal for tracks to charge full gate fee on a race day ? I want to get into some racing but was surprised when I found out that the race i want to enter this weekend, the track charges full gate fees on race day.. is this the usual deal?
The Shop
So to take my twins & my wife it’s $24 to use a portable potty
$12 for myself plus practice fee. The kicker is the rider gets his $12 back when they leave but all others forfeit the entry fee
Usually race day gate fee is $10 per person. If you were at Glen Helen for REM, my buddy was charged the full $30 for practice even though he was there to race REM a few months back. Another buddy was racing that same day and was only charged $10.
It's price-gouging plain and simple.
No wonder less are showing up at the races. One can hit a practice day for the same cost as driving through the gate at a race.
Motocross racing used to pass the cost/benefit analysis. Many are voting with their wallets and riding for fun instead. Just imagine local racing in 2030 when the Boomers are all gone.
How much revenue has been generated at LL over the years, including money from area and regional qualifiers?
How many running race tracks have pocketed cash from fees and not reported that revenue for tax purposes?
I don't buy the "no one getting rich" argument.
Charging $100 for a day of racing and running 30+ classes (with 8 minute motos) only pounded nails in the coffin.
Disagree if you like, but local moto is in trouble.
For our events we charge $5 per day gate fee for bike races, or $10 pit pass for drag races or $5 spectator side, and we are the least expensive in our area for those.
I'm already zoned to add a motocross track on the property, but the insurance, dirt work, and especially watering system needed in the high desert haven't given me enough confidence to actually build the mx track, I don't think I can break even.
To me its price gouging and im sure track owners and promoters wonder why there has been a sharp decline in people showing up to race. Id be willing to bet anything that promoters and track owners would see an increase in riders showing up to RACE and not just ride practice days for fun and its attributed to increased race fees and now all the tracks in California are charging $30 for a gate fee to either ride practice days or come into the teack on race days, couple the two costs together and there ya go.... a good reason to point to that IF maybe the “gate fee” was eliminated for guys signing up and paying to race that might help get more people to the track to actually race on weekends, not avoid tracks conducting races on particular weekends....
Happened to us 2 weeks ago at hangtown and i dont know who the promoter was but the turnout was PATHETIC!!! Of course i left it up to my buddy to check the track calendar since it was a game time decision call at 6:30am he wanted to ride and i asked him “Are they racing? He said no way were good” .... hes so stubborn he really doesnt believe checking the tracks calendar is important every weekend we go ride a practice day at any track. The small prarie city track is gawd awful and worse than Carnegie’s track.... was sooo excited to ride Hangtown national track and was sooo bummed to see they were racing that day.
Pit Row
So, the track gets the gate fee and the promoter gets whatever they get for entries in their races.
When the track is the promoter, they get the whole pie. Still, I don't think anyone is just killing it on their races up here.
I've heard one local track I ride charges a spectator fee on practice days...
So if you bring "little Johnny" out there to get a few laps on his PW on a summer evening, you have to pay a spectator fee if your kid wants to ride. Seems like a great way to get kids interested in baseball or football instead of moto.
From a venue/track perspective practice days are easier and more cost beneficial and a promoter isn't splitting the potential income.
Our insurance is $300 for Saturday practice and $1300 for Sunday racing. By the time we pay insurance, trophies, ambulance, workers and flaggers, fuel, and equipment maintenance, we have over $3000 invested before we drop the gate. And that's hoping you don't have a breakdown.
On top of all that just the initial investment and work involved to get a track up and running is a lot.
MX racing is not a cheap sport, but compared to other forms of racing it's not a bad deal.
Btw, LL's is an exception to all this. They make a ton of cash!
Bottom line, without reasonable gate fee's a track can't make a decent profit. I know, I pay the bills.
When track owners accept a flat fee like $1500 -$2000 instead of the usual $25 gate for property riding access, many times they are making less than a practice day. Changing or cutting the $25 to $10 on race days can have the same effect. When tracks can make $2-$4k on practice days, with less overhead of the race day electronic scoring, trophies, staff, insurance, flaggers, EMT's and marketing etc., it's easy to see why tracks these days take the easy way. More money and less headache and risk.
This is why local racing is dying, and being replaced by practice days and occasional big events. The answer is elusive, and probably lies in tracks being more inclusive, with something for all types of riders, MX, XC, HS, Slow riders, Vets, SXS and ATV's and holding events on Sat. and Sun. for more income potential.
Bikes were plentiful and cheaper then. People came to races in pickups and creeper style vans.
I also know Tim at Lincoln Trail Motorsports very well. He does a great job and it shows by the great turnouts he gets. Tim does well but he ain't getting rich.
Haha, no my other buddy doesn't work in the Industry at all. I think it depends on who is at the gate. But there is no way in hell I'd pay $30 to get in the gate and then go pay to race also. I'd turn around and tell them I'm headed to Comp Edge.
Local moto is not dead in the PNW. Maybe it's because 6 months of the year all we can do is dream of moto due to weather.
Hammer 663s
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