Empty grandstands at Hockenheim?

[timbo]

So I'm watching FP3 and there are very little visitors. Yesterday was the same.
What's that?
Of course I'm sure some folks here would say it's new formula, sh***y sound etc etc, BUT on previous races the attendance was not so bad.
Did Bernie&co bumped the prices much? Did most people go to Austria already?
Or was it always like that?

[Waywardism]

I noticed that too. Didn't the organisers say they would give 11 euros discount for every goal Germany scored against Brazil? I would have thought the stadiums would be packed if that's true!

[Kingshark]

The ticket prices are simply too high these days, beyond reason. You can, I guess, blame this on Bernie for creating such ridiculously high fees for venues to hold a race. If the fees were lower, circuit venues wouldn't have to compensate so much by rising to ticket prices to such absurd amount.

[iotar__]

"F1 should move to countries with bigger motorsport traditions" every time there was 95% attendance in India or Korea. Double standards? Seriously: what else in new? It's been like that for a while - and no, it's not because of engine noise etc.

BTW how else can you give maximum profits for Nestle bloke, Ecclestone, hedge-funds or other modern world villains that own F1 if not by fleecing everyone completely? How else can your favourite driver earn tens of millions, while at the same time lamenting loss of classics. How about that - one more classic race and you all drive for 1 million? Still good money, any takers? What I'm trying to say - stop pretending that the world is different than it is.

[JimClarkFan]

The people at the top running F1 are so out of touch with the ordinary man that they are slowly killing the sport. Be that complex regulations, be that silly over taking and points gimmicks, be that fees required to enter circuits, be that the ability to watch f1 on your TV.

[Phil]

I'll be honest, i considered going to a grand prix this year, but when i heard how much quieter these engines are, i pretty much scrapped the idea. the sound to me was one of the things that made attending a race a spectacle. Take that away, and with what are you left with? The race itself is difficult to follow due to only seeing a very small amount of track and the tv screens are only fairly visible. It's true, f1 has more issues at hand, but sound is also one of them. Perhaps if i earned 10 times my salary, i could simply go for paddock tickets but with the costs of driving the distance, accomondation, food and tickets - i rather watch it on television where the atmosphere at the track is less of an issue. Pitty really.

[krisfx]

At Spa last year, I noticed a similar thing. Those who are fortunate enough to be able to afford the grandstands don't generally tip up until qualifying/the race. This was solved at Silverstone with roaming grandstand tickets for Fridays (Saturday if you pay a bit more). Remember that the amount of grandstands at hockenheim is quite high, so it exacerbates the problem.

[xpensive]

So I'm watching FP3 and there are very little visitors. Yesterday was the same.
What's that?
Of course I'm sure some folks here would say it's new formula, sh***y sound etc etc, BUT on previous races the attendance was not so bad.
Did Bernie&co bumped the prices much? Did most people go to Austria already?
Or was it always like that?

Have you noticed the grandstands in China?

[timbo]

So I'm watching FP3 and there are very little visitors. Yesterday was the same.
What's that?
Of course I'm sure some folks here would say it's new formula, sh***y sound etc etc, BUT on previous races the attendance was not so bad.
Did Bernie&co bumped the prices much? Did most people go to Austria already?
Or was it always like that?

Have you noticed the grandstands in China?

Oh, China and Germany. Compares well as far as F1 traditions go. Who was the last Chinese champion?

[timbo]

At Spa last year, I noticed a similar thing. Those who are fortunate enough to be able to afford the grandstands don't generally tip up until qualifying/the race. This was solved at Silverstone with roaming grandstand tickets for Fridays (Saturday if you pay a bit more). Remember that the amount of grandstands at hockenheim is quite high, so it exacerbates the problem.

I think you may be onto something.

[MOWOG]

He absolutely is on to something. Us older types remember when grandstands were far less evident and fans were free to walk around the circumference of the track (or most of it). That gave us ordinary types a chance to see the action from many different perspectives, which makes the whole thing HUGELY more interesting.

Indianapolis did this and it was fantastic for the fans, even if the city is a "cow town". Montreal and Monaco restrict fan movements to a few square centimeters of aluminum grandstand seating, the concession stands and the rest rooms. Your every movement is rigorously scrutinized by people who couldn't cut it as TSA workers.

I'm not sure what will happen when the organizers can't make enough from the shrinking crowds to survive. But I think in the not too distant future we will find out....

[Cam]

It will go full circle, then repeat again. What ever they do to 'fix' the audience numbers, will be exploited, which will turn the fans off. This will occur again and again until they realise what "fans" want, they give them that, then leave it alone.

if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

Leave something alone; avoid attempting to correct, fix, or improve what is already sufficient. (Often with an implication that the attempted improvement is risky and might backfire.)

[Gaz.]

So I'm watching FP3 and there are very little visitors. Yesterday was the same.
What's that?
Of course I'm sure some folks here would say it's new formula, sh***y sound etc etc, BUT on previous races the attendance was not so bad.
Did Bernie&co bumped the prices much? Did most people go to Austria already?
Or was it always like that?

The 2012 race has a Sunday attendance of 55,000. Capacity iirc is 120,000. FP1 yesterday looked as popular as a Friday afternoon in Sakhir. I can't remember who asked but the Silverstone Sunday attendance figure was 122,000. Hockenheim are expecting a sub 50k attendance for tomorrow.

[timbo]

Qualifying attendance looks much better. It really does seem that people who can afford the tickets do not have time to get to track for practices...

[xpensive]

So I'm watching FP3 and there are very little visitors. Yesterday was the same.
What's that?
Of course I'm sure some folks here would say it's new formula, sh***y sound etc etc, BUT on previous races the attendance was not so bad.
Did Bernie&co bumped the prices much? Did most people go to Austria already?
Or was it always like that?

Have you noticed the grandstands in China?

Oh, China and Germany. Compares well as far as F1 traditions go. Who was the last Chinese champion?

So why is there a race in China as nobody xpects much of a crowd anyway?