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Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile
I can seriously see F1 being a casualty of this global downturn in general. Eccelstone is way too short-sighted and has gotten way too greedy, and there's just not enough money out there to support the event in its current big-dollar-ticket-only incarnation.
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Agreed. BE's current terms amount to essentially a glorified government extortion scheme. There is no possibility any longer that a private, non-government funded promoter can justify the fee.
The USGP is dead. France is dead. Hockenheim said last week that can't continue to host the German GP without government assistance. The BRDC's huge deficits in hosting the British GP at Silverstone are well documented, and I am highly skeptical that the "unnamed investors" at Donnington will do any better. Even the Chinese have been floating statements saying the cost of the Chinese GP is becoming difficult to justify.
The recent demise of the Canadian GP is instructive.
The diminutive billionaire with the horrid haircut reportedly wanted a 5 year contract. Year 1 at 26M, with 5% increases each subsequent year. Thats 143M plus over the 5 years.
Guaranteed.
And as the commercial rights holder, BE also then retains all TV revenues as well as track advertising/signage revenues. Making 30M at the gate as a track owner would be a bit tough. BE has placed the blame for Canada's demise on local and provincial governments failing to recognize the economic impact and pony up public funds accordingly.
Cost cutting is essential in an era when Toyota and SF are reputed to have annual budgets exceeding 400M. Insane.
But I've yet to see a mention that perhaps the fees of the commercial rights holder may be a teensy bit high...
Tim