28 replies to this topic

[Lotusseven]

As the title of the topic - Why isn´t it any prize money in WEC ?

I read about Dominik Kraihamer and he say he don´t have any salary from the team, and then I started to think about prize money in WEC as I guess are zero € $ ? Why ? 

 

http://www.salzburg....-weiter-128258/

[Stephane]

They're competing for the beauty of the sport.

[Lotusseven]

They're competing for the beauty of the sport.

Of course they do...but they deserve some cash for all the hard work. I felt sorry for Dominik he has one good sponsor (Eat the ball) but he study and he´s only income is 500€ from his parents. WEC, training, travel and study...I admire his strenght !! 

[LuckyStrike1]

Of course they do...but they deserve some cash for all the hard work. I felt sorry for Dominik he has one good sponsor (Eat the ball) but he study and he´s only income is 500€ from his parents. WEC, training, travel and study...I admire his strenght !! 

 

 

Welcome to the world of motorsport. This is how it looks. 

[Amphicar]

Michelin offered a prize of €1 million to the winner of this year's Le Mans 24 Hours race - subject to a few conditions:

1) also posts the fastest race lap

2) beats the existing greatest race distance

3) achieves an energy saving of at least 15% compared with the average of the LMP1 finishers in 2013

4) uses nine or fewer sets of tyres

Oh yes - and the money to be paid to an independent academic institute of the winner's choice

[Lotusseven]

Welcome to the world of motorsport. This is how it looks. 

Thanks ! ...not really they have prize money in Blancpain and maybe some other series ?

 

 

http://www.blancpain...ku/_DSC2273.jpg

Podium PRO-CUP Main Race Baku 
© Brecht Decancq Photography / de Jager

 

[Lotusseven]

Michelin offered a prize of €1 million to the winner of this year's Le Mans 24 Hours race - subject to a few conditions:

1) also posts the fastest race lap

2) beats the existing greatest race distance

3) achieves an energy saving of at least 15% compared with the average of the LMP1 finishers in 2013

4) uses nine or fewer sets of tyres

Oh yes - and the money to be paid to an independent academic institute of the winner's choice

 

Oh dear...a lot to live up to as are difficult to reach. 

[LuckyStrike1]

 

Thanks ! ...not really they have prize money in Blancpain and maybe some other series ?

 

 

http://www.blancpain...ku/_DSC2273.jpg

Podium PRO-CUP Main Race Baku 
© Brecht Decancq Photography / de Jager

 

 

 

 

Prize money is quite common in US Motorsport, especially within the NASCAR type of racing long way down the ladder. But in European motorsport prize money is almost non existent. There's none or very little prize money in Blancpain, I think there is some prize money for the teams but compared to the costs of running a car it covers very little of the running costs. 

 

Drivers raise money through sponsors to go racing and have to pay for all expenses including crashes. 

 

In rare cases it leads to paid drives or manufacturer contracts, but many manufacturer contracts is mostly you don't have to pay to go racing but you don't get paid. 

 

It's the reality of motorsport. If you want to do it, make sure you have sufficient sponsors budget to do it and don't expect to find paid drives. If you do, you're lucky and it's a bonus and you are part of a very small minority. 

[Wingcommander]

Tv broadcasters won't pay to show it and apparently the series has failed to get much sponsorship. It's not popular enough. Now ofcourse would be a good time to increase the popularity but it doesnt look like they're putting too much effort into that.

[Amphicar]

As Lucky Strike 1 says, conventional prize money has all but disappeared from race series outside the USA. It used to be different of course: In the 1960s, in the era of the 1 litre "screamer" Formula 3, it was possible for successful drivers to pay for a season's racing around Europe from their prize money. In F1 too prize money (and start money) used to be paid out by individual race organisers. Not all of them were scrupulous in sticking to the agreements and this eventually led to the constructors agreeing to Bernie Ecclestone's offer to negotiate collectively on their behalf (in return for a percentage, of course). That was the start of Bernie's transition from team owner (Brabham) to F1 overlord - aided and abetted by Max Moseley.

[Fastcake]

Tv broadcasters won't pay to show it and apparently the series has failed to get much sponsorship. It's not popular enough. Now ofcourse would be a good time to increase the popularity but it doesnt look like they're putting too much effort into that.

Yep. There's no money in the series to pay for prize money, and WEC will never be popular enough to attract it.

Motorsport is so expensive now that unless the series is pulling in hundreds of millions, any attempt to pay prize money would only cover a fraction of the costs.

[Ferrari_F1_fan_2001]

Money dilutes the glory and spectacle

[Dolph]

 

As the title of the topic - Why isn´t it any prize money in WEC ?

I read about Dominik Kraihamer and he say he don´t have any salary from the team, and then I started to think about prize money in WEC as I guess are zero € $ ? Why ? 

 

http://www.salzburg....-weiter-128258/

 

 

What? He gets nothing!? But surely Heidfeld and Prost get smth...

Edited by Dolph, 17 November 2014 - 13:33.

[Ross Stonefeld]

 

With its unique shape, Eat the Ball attracts kids, young people and trendsetters. It aims to bring the topic of bread back onto the front pages, and makes bread a cool and exciting topic for our target market.

 

What the hell

[Lotusseven]

What? He gets nothing!? But surely Heidfeld and Prost get smth...

 

Yeah...would not surprise me. 

[BRG]

I never understood where the wherewithall to pay prize money came from back in the 'old days'.  Many events, not just GPs offered start money and prize money, yet they didn't seem to have significant event sponsors, there was no TV money AFAIK and the paying spectators weren't having to pay very much so there wasn't a lot of funds from ticket sales.  So where did the cash come from?

 

Wherever it was, it has long since vanished, to the extent that spectators now have to pay through the nose even for minor meetings, and competitors - far from being paid - now have to pay a fortune to enter.  It's all a mystery - it can't have ALL gone into Bernie's bank account.

[redreni]

The organisers' costs are pretty high, they don't pull in big hosting fees and they can't get much for the television rights because, to a broadcaster, 6, 12 and 24-hour races are not easy to schedule and don't pull in the kind of feckless audiences advertisers like. So there's not much television money either. If there was a lot of commercial revenue and the FIA and/or ACO ended up with an embarassment of riches, then I'm sure the competitors would be the first to pipe up and demand a piece of the action. How much would be prize money, how much would simply be split between the entrants and how much would be paid as bribes to the big names in exchange for their entries a la F1, I don't know.

[rhukkas]

F1 is partly to blame. It's overwhelming popularity over all other forums of motorsport means they basically attract 99% of the money from motorsport interested people. Whether it's in the forum of ticket sales or advertisement revenue. Motorsport has put all its eggs into one basked with F1 and the consequences are being felt by everyone.

 

There was a time when other motorsports could compete and attract their own niche of fans that makes prize money an attainable thing. Now it's simply impossible.

[pingu666]

crowds where bigger back in the day

[Leprechau]

Tv broadcasters won't pay to show it and apparently the series has failed to get much sponsorship. It's not popular enough. Now ofcourse would be a good time to increase the popularity but it doesnt look like they're putting too much effort into that.

 

do you have a source?

 

At least for Le Mans I think Eurosport pays quite some money as there is a lot of ads during the broadcast. It also has quite a big coverage in America and I guess that can't be free either.
 

[Viceroy]

Michelin offered a prize of €1 million to the winner of this year's Le Mans 24 Hours race - subject to a few conditions:

1) also posts the fastest race lap

2) beats the existing greatest race distance

3) achieves an energy saving of at least 15% compared with the average of the LMP1 finishers in 2013

4) uses nine or fewer sets of tyres

Oh yes - and the money to be paid to an independent academic institute of the winner's choice

 

I hope they didn´t get much free advertising for that rubbish.

[rammsteinfan]

I never understood where the wherewithall to pay prize money came from back in the 'old days'.  Many events, not just GPs offered start money and prize money, yet they didn't seem to have significant event sponsors, there was no TV money AFAIK and the paying spectators weren't having to pay very much so there wasn't a lot of funds from ticket sales.  So where did the cash come from?

 

Wherever it was, it has long since vanished, to the extent that spectators now have to pay through the nose even for minor meetings, and competitors - far from being paid - now have to pay a fortune to enter.  It's all a mystery - it can't have ALL gone into Bernie's bank account.

 

Well it is a lot like the Crtiteriums in the cycling sport after the Tour de France. If you could sign the tour winner to come to your event, you would get more people attending the event, more visitors means advertising is more effective, Effective advertising means higher Ad price, means more income for the organizer.

 

Let's say in 1962 you could get someone like Graham Hill to your event for F3 or so, That would mean more people are willing to come to the track, because there would be more fans of G. Hill who wants to see there hero on track, then there would be for a regular F3 driver.

 

It doesn't work that way anymore at least not in Motorsport. With internet and tighter schedules for the top grade drivers(F1, NASCAR, Indy) you will not see a driver from one of those to enter WEC or Tuscc during the season. And with internet there is more to earn than with racing. Because more visitors means advertising is more effective, Effective advertising means higher Ad price, means more income for the organizer. That is also the reason why F1 is struggling. After the Tabco ban, the sponsor budgets has dropped a lot.

[warp]

It all reads to me that the future of motorsports, at lest at the top echelon, is reserved to those who have a vested interest to it... car/motorcycle makers, oil companies and related industries.

 

Very little other people can afford to lose millions a year supporting motorsports when we talk about the top categories. Those need millionaire investment to maintain and do R&D, etc. 

[Wingcommander]

do you have a source?

 

At least for Le Mans I think Eurosport pays quite some money as there is a lot of ads during the broadcast. It also has quite a big coverage in America and I guess that can't be free either.
 

 

You're right, but Le Mans is probably more valuable and attractive to broadcasters than the rest of the WEC put together. 

[Amphicar]

I never understood where the wherewithall to pay prize money came from back in the 'old days'.  Many events, not just GPs offered start money and prize money, yet they didn't seem to have significant event sponsors, there was no TV money AFAIK and the paying spectators weren't having to pay very much so there wasn't a lot of funds from ticket sales.  So where did the cash come from?
 
Wherever it was, it has long since vanished, to the extent that spectators now have to pay through the nose even for minor meetings, and competitors - far from being paid - now have to pay a fortune to enter.  It's all a mystery - it can't have ALL gone into Bernie's bank account.

Back in the 60s and 70s races were often sponsored by newspapers or by other companies (e.g. the Guards Trophy and the BOAC 500). The organisers also received the income from trackside advertising and although spectator entry charges were relatively low, big events got a lot of spectators - and of course the sums paid out in start and prize money were small beer by today's standards.

[SanDiegoGo]

Tv broadcasters won't pay to show it and apparently the series has failed to get much sponsorship. It's not popular enough. Now ofcourse would be a good time to increase the popularity but it doesnt look like they're putting too much effort into that.

 

 

but reading several posters comments on this very forum, i am assured that WEC is now the pinnacle of motorsport and more prestigious than F1. is that not the case, then?

[Wingcommander]

but reading several posters comments on this very forum, i am assured that WEC is now the pinnacle of motorsport and more prestigious than F1. is that not the case, then?

 

Well, thinking about the freedom in engine technology and the no gimmicks regulations, WEC for sure has its advantages. 

 

But what could be done to make WEC more popular?

 

- TV. Tv, tv, tv. Bernie knew this a long time ago, and even though the world has changed a lot since then, tv is still the best way to reach a wide audience. Especially those casual fans who might be intrested but can't bother searching internet streams or buying pay channels just to see this. HC fans will do anything to see the sport they love, but WEC should try to grow the fanbase. And that means getting the races available to a casual fan. 

 

- Free to air. Don't hide the races behind a paywall. With smart-tvs (or whatever those with internet connection are called) getting more popular maybe they could offer the tv companies a package where the races could be shown live on internet stream and then show the highlights program later on a real tv channel?

 

- Shorter races. This one is bit problematic. We're talking about an endurace championship, but if you want to show the races live to a wider audience you can't have six hour races. Maybe two hour highlights could work...or something. 

 

I dont know if any of this makes any sense. 

[FerrariV12]

In the UK Motors TV (which shows all WEC races in full) is now free to air (a fairly recent change). Not sure of the situation in other countries?

[Blundle]

I never understood where the wherewithall to pay prize money came from back in the 'old days'.  Many events, not just GPs offered start money and prize money, yet they didn't seem to have significant event sponsors, there was no TV money AFAIK and the paying spectators weren't having to pay very much so there wasn't a lot of funds from ticket sales.  So where did the cash come from?

 

Wherever it was, it has long since vanished, to the extent that spectators now have to pay through the nose even for minor meetings, and competitors - far from being paid - now have to pay a fortune to enter.  It's all a mystery - it can't have ALL gone into Bernie's bank account.

I think it was a combination of competitors entry fees, ticket sales and advertising and sponsorship. For example The Daily Express started sponsoring the international trophy in 1949. Also bear in mind that the cost of putting on meetings was infinitely cheaper - Far fewer marshals, rudimentary safety and timekeeping, hardly any stewards or police and no minimum wage either.