MotoGP’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone has as soon as once more been met with widespread acclaim from the followers in attendance, however with that variety of followers in attendance persevering with to freefall it begs the query: why can a race cherished by those that religiously attend yearly not draw in additional of the UK’s rabid motorsport fanbase?
Ignoring the reasonably convoluted four-day weekend quantity that counts those that attend a number of occasions and concentrating on the all-important Sunday quantity, solely 42,529 followers got here by way of the gate.
That’s considerably down on final 12 months’s 49,000 and a great distance away from the current excessive attendance of 73,000 that was the norm from 2011 to 2016.
And but, regardless of fewer individuals than ever in attendance on the dwelling of British motorsport, the followers who had been there appeared to (by and huge) have cherished the expertise.
That’s not a shock, with clear and plentiful amenities, first rate meals choices and all-important visitors administration to get everybody dwelling within the night now the norm on the Northampton observe.
On high of that, occasion title sponsor Monster Power placed on an ideal present all weekend lengthy in its fan park, ensuring that there was lots to look at throughout breaks within the on-track motion and a packed schedule of occasions on the principle stage headlined by free concert events from The Kooks and The Darkness.
So why, then, are followers not turning as much as watch?
Effectively, a part of it’s fairly clear from the web suggestions: British motorbike followers (raised on a food regimen of being near the motion at locations like Manufacturers Hatch, Donington Park and Cadwell Park) don’t like being as distant from the motion as they’re at Silverstone.
It’s an outstanding circuit for racing and cherished by riders because of its flowing nature and high-speed corners, but it surely’s not one the place you’re on high of the motion. You sit a great distance again, the worth of getting such quick corners and good security – and that’s not everybody’s cup of tea.
Much more importantly, although, within the midst of a value of residing disaster, Silverstone isn’t an inexpensive place to return to. With none authorities subsidy (in contrast to many races elsewhere) tickets aren’t low cost by MotoGP requirements and, with parking now not below the management of the circuit, coming by automobile means it rapidly provides up into an costly day trip.
Different races are costly too, after all. Method 1 on the similar circuit, for instance, is 4 occasions the worth and in a position to promote out a crowd of 140,000 yearly. However, clearly, bike followers don’t see worth for cash of their MotoGP day trip – and that ties into the opposite huge drawback that Silverstone faces every year.
Merely put, you possibly can placed on the most effective occasion on this planet, but when individuals don’t understand it’s taking place (or what’s taking place at it) they aren’t going to purchase tickets for it. Advertising and marketing has at all times been an issue each for the British GP and for MotoGP usually.
As somebody identified to me on social media after this 12 months’s occasion, it felt like of the 43,000 individuals in attendance this 12 months, 42,999 of them had been there final 12 months. Folks exterior of the hardcore fanbase didn’t even understand it was taking place and, for a sport that depends on informal followers to spice up attendance, that merely isn’t adequate.
There’s a lot extra that could possibly be accomplished to tempt in followers. We’ve received a sport that’s visually spectacular, one the place it doesn’t take a lot engagement to hook somebody for all times. But when individuals are unaware it exists, then they aren’t going to interact in any respect.
And therein lies the true drawback, the most important subject on the coronary heart of the dropping crowd numbers. Again within the day, even when poor advertising was nonetheless an issue, there was one distinction: races had been free to look at on TV. You can bump into MotoGP on a Sunday afternoon on BBC2.
It’s no shock that the sudden drop in spectators numbers adopted the transfer to BT Sport (now TNT) for 2014. Locking it away behind a £30-a-month paywall was by no means going to boost the profile, however whereas different nations have additionally struggled with that drawback too, they at the least had a a lot greater fanbase to lose within the first place.
So how does Silverstone repair it? Effectively, there’s received to be an aggressive advertising technique in place, one which counters pay-for-view TV by ramming the game down peoples’ throats.
They are saying that for those who construct it, they may come – however MotoGP has already constructed it; now all it has to do is inform individuals.
