08-25-2005, 10:14 PM | #1 | ||
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Bruton Smith offers $40 mil to VT/UT for a game in Bristol
Motorsports CEO offers Va. Tech, Vols big bucks to meet at speedway
(registration required) By DAVE HOOKER, [email protected] August 25, 2005 Bruton Smith has never been afraid to put his money where his mouth is. The combination of the two has the University of Tennessee interested. The chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports is trying to jumpstart an old idea: a football game between UT and Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway. Why might it succeed now when it failed before? The stakes have been raised. "Twenty million to each team," Smith said. "Universities always want money so that would be $20 million for your university (UT) and $20 million for Virginia (Tech). That would be a pretty big financial day for them." UT has long resisted moving a home game to Bristol. However, that was when the speedway had offered UT approximately $3.5 million in 1999 to play a regular-season game on the infield of the .533-mile, high- banked oval track. UT athletic director Mike Hamilton said Wednesday that the university clears approximately $3.25 million in profit for a home game at Neyland Stadium. "Twenty million is a bunch of cash," said Hamilton, who will coincidentally attend a NASCAR race at Bristol for the first time Saturday. "If he's talking about $20 million, obviously, I'm listening. "You're always going to be looking for the next opportunity from a revenue perspective that has the least amount of negative impact on your fan base. If you can come up with additional revenue that doesn't have a direct hit on your fan base, that's always something you're going to have to take a look at." Smith likely sees an opportunity to rekindle serious talks of the project with Hamilton replacing Doug Dickey as UT's athletic director in July 2003. Dickey was a strong opponent of the idea before he retired. Providing UT with a substantial profit is not the only issue that must be overcome to finalize a deal among the three parties. Hamilton is quick to point out that the financial impact on the city of Knoxville is a key factor if UT is willing to move a home game to Bristol. "We don't want to give up a home game, but if something ever happened where the money was significant enough that it was equivalent to or better than a home game, we'd have to at leastconsider it," Hamilton said. "The other factor in the whole deal is that you have some obligation to the community of Knoxville. It's a huge economic impact for our city. That has to be considered." Hamilton said some of that impact on Knoxville would still be felt if a home game was moved to Bristol because many fans would likely book hotels in the Knoxville area and drive to the speedway. Bristol is about a two-hour drive from Knoxville and Blacksburg, Va., the home of Virginia Tech. Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam said after learning about the offer from Bruton that he wouldn't stand in the way if UT decides to play in Bristol. "Obviously we hate to lose a football game," Haslam said "but what is good for the University of Tennessee is good for the city of Knoxville." Scheduling is another concern. UT's schedule is booked solid until 2008. In 2002, Virginia Tech was reportedly willing to offer a three- game series with one game each to be played in Blacksburg, Knoxville and at BMS. Smith said Virginia Tech still supports the concept. Representatives from the school could not be reached for comment. Recent renovations would provide a new challenge for Smith. Bristol recently added a new building in turns three and four. "I'll scrap them," Smith said. "I'll take them all down. We'll level the whole place. We'll put in the Astroturf, and we'll do it all." Smith has never been afraid to think big, as evidenced by the towering, bowl-shaped architecture at Bristol. Smith bought the track in January 1996 and has since added nearly 100,000 seats, turning the track into one of the favorites among NASCAR fans. Smith owns six motorsports facilities that host NASCAR events. Bristol had 71,000 seats in 1996. The facility can now seat 160,000 for a race. Smith said 10,000 seats could be added for a football game. Neyland Stadium seats 106,000. "He's an out-of-the-box thinker and always looking for the next best thing to do for his tracks, and I think that's great," Hamiltonsaid. Bristol's NASCAR date in August could put a red flag on the concept. The necessary football renovations would have to be complete in order to play the game within three months. The weekend would also have to coincide with an open date for UT. "I've always said that for us to do that thing at Bristol, the starshave to be aligned," Hamilton said. Hamilton said the potential publicity of the game is appealing, especially given the dollar figures that Smith promised. It's hard to imagine a football game at BMS being a financial windfall for Speedway Motorsports with a $40 million overhead just to secure the two participants. Smith is confident that it would still be profitable, if, UT decides to take the green flag at BMS. "They hold the keys to the whole thing," Smith said. "If they decide that they want to do it, Virginia (Tech) will be aboard. I can commit now. Bristol Motor Speedway is aboard. It will be a big day for the state of Tennessee." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's an old idea...I heard rumors of a possible game with them at BMS when I was a student, but at the time it was more fantasy than factual. $20 million per team and a estimated attendance of 170,000? I don't know how either team could refuse. |
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08-25-2005, 10:24 PM | #2 |
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I remember hearing of this idea when i lived in Bristol a long time ago. Math wise, this game makes no sense at all. To get 40 million, tickets would have to be absolutely insane, he'd have to secure some sort of sponsorship and a TV deal for the game. Maybe if the game becomes a series, it would be worthwhile for him in the long term.
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08-25-2005, 10:27 PM | #3 |
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That what I don't get, the financial mindset.
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08-25-2005, 10:31 PM | #4 |
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I think that would be pretty freakin sweet.
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08-25-2005, 10:35 PM | #5 |
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If a game in Knoxville clears $3mil, how will BMS make $40mil back???
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08-25-2005, 10:39 PM | #6 |
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Isn't Knoxville around 100,000 seats?
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08-25-2005, 10:47 PM | #7 |
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I don't know ... to make a profit based on 170,000 fans you'd have to average about what -- $125 a head? You can take care of some of that by selling some of the luxury box seats at a ridiculous price, make it an even $100 a head for the riffraff like us. Average ticket price of $50, $15 for parking, $6 sodas, $8 beers and you're almost there. I'm guessing that if BMS buys the game for $20 million from UT, they'll probably get to keep the profits from the "I went to the UT/VT game at BMS and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" t-shirt sales.
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08-25-2005, 10:53 PM | #8 | |
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Around $235 a ticket to break even. |
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08-25-2005, 10:57 PM | #9 | |
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If that's the case, where does the $3.25mil figure in Knoxville come from?
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08-25-2005, 11:06 PM | #10 | |
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There are a lot more ways to make money than ticket sales - special seats (luxury areas, etc) - selling in third-party sponsors to advertise on-site, distribute their product, etc - concessions - parking - memorabilia Not to mention that the owner of the grounds is thinking more long-term. Who cares if the event itself breaks even or loses a little money? Do you have any idea how much publicity this thing will generate? How much more attention his location will get, and in essence how much "free" advertisement he'll be getting for the investment on this game? If he's willing to spend this much money, I'm sure he's already done the math. |
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08-25-2005, 11:09 PM | #11 | |
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Oh yeah, I agree. I though the question was how much per ticket would you need. I misread the statement. Sorry about that. My question is, how much of the fans at Knoxville and around the country in other college stadiums are students? |
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08-25-2005, 11:11 PM | #12 | |
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I think we can safely say that current students of the school make up a very small minority of those in attendance at any college football game. |
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08-25-2005, 11:14 PM | #13 | |
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Thanks, coming from a non-football college, I do not know much about this. |
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08-25-2005, 11:58 PM | #14 | |
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08-26-2005, 12:44 AM | #15 | |
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Which really doesn't sound hard to get for even the worst seats at a game like this. That's less than what some scalpers/ticket services are getting for the UT season opener against UAB (which has some bad seats available for $35). Considering the donation levels now required to even have a shot at buying season tickets at Neyland, $125 each sounds like a pretty good bargain to me. If I could work out the timing, I'd gladly pay $125 for 3 seats (or probably up to about $250 per for decent seats) to be a part what promises to be an incredible atmosphere. Anybody who thinks there'd be any problem selling those tickets is underestimating how much money is already being spent on UT football tickets.
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08-26-2005, 12:47 AM | #16 | |
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Couldn't do that, since a massive reconfiguration to handle football would be required. That may turn out to be the hardest part of pulling off the whole plan, trying to go from racing to football and back to racing in too narrow a time frame (depending on the football & racing schedules, you're looking at just a few weeks to get the turnaround completed).
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08-26-2005, 12:59 AM | #17 |
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Why? This seems like a really stupid waste of $40 million to me. What, has this fool already donated enough money to cure cancer?
I think the universities will do the smart thing and take this egotistical bastard's money, but the whole thing just seems ridiculous. And I'm sure it's going to just add fuel to the old "NCAA athletes should be paid because they bring so much money to the schools" argument. |
08-26-2005, 06:38 AM | #18 | |
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No, he means having a Busch event AT THE SAME TIME. Football in the infield while thre's Racing around the track. It would be a spectacle unseen in our lifetime! Imagine Marcus Vick leading another Hokie march down the field against the hapless, overmatched Voulunteers as a 15-car pileup develops in turn 2 late in the race with Tony Stewart leading by a car length over Kurt Busch! Oh, the humanity! Last edited by Toddzilla : 08-26-2005 at 06:39 AM. |
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08-26-2005, 09:26 AM | #19 | |
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About five years ago, I believe there were 15,000 student tickets distributed for each game.
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08-26-2005, 09:43 AM | #20 | |
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To you miss the whole point that the guy is in this to make money? |
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