Bruton Smith: Defender of NASCAR Fan Base
Say what you will about SMI’s Bruton Smith, and there have been plenty of brickbats tossed his way, he knows racing NASCAR style and he knows who pays the bills.
So it isn’t surprising he has come out in favor of a reduction in ticket prices to NASCAR events (“We need to consider the fans. I’d like to see all the speedways cut the price on these tickets,”). His premise is based on having less cash via the new TV broadcasting partnerships next year.
The estimate is there will be $75-$100 million less than in 2006. 25% of that figure goes into the purse for each event with the possible expectation that tracks may seek to re-coup that loss in increased ticket prices.
Here is the most telling quote from the Scene Daily article, noting that one of the driver motorhomes is worth $1.6 million, “It doesn’t sound like we need any more in the purses.”
Bruton Smith, NASCAR, NEXTEL Cup, Sports, SMI, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle
Ah, but will he sack up and drop his own ticket prices? Hmmmm…
Top seats at Tejas are $125+ for Cup dates at face value, which is utterly ridiculous. Of course, it’s no secret that I don’t see eye to eye with Smith on many issues.
In general I don’t have too much heartburn over Smith. Having never been there since his reign started I can’t varify it, But… I have read the bottomline tics at Texas is about $25 bucks.
Not bad if true.