Is Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Limiting Itself? (Part 3 of 3)
This is already part three into a look at how Unlimited Hydroplane Racing may be actually limiting itself from current and future successes, or be on the cusp of substantial and thrilling growth and success. After almost 1800 words (and counting) we’ve only scratched the surface of a topic that will take considerable effort to address.
If there was a magic bullet (not the one that could kill Eeyore,) it should be considered as a logical approach to managing the sport. The future of the sport depends on it and it is up to each of us to do what we can to help.
The Viability of Unlimited Hydroplane Racing
This series started with a one-word look at the current condition of the sport, but Part 2 calls for a clarification.
In talking about schedule transparency, I may have inadvertently suggested that owners don’t have much say in the schedule planning. “Transparency” actually does exist, to the extent that H1 is able to publish dates. The process of securing a date on the H1 schedule is really a matter of meeting prescribed deadlines for contracts, obligations and financial participation. Believe me, with that last one especially, owners and teams are fully engaged.
The overall point to be made concerning the schedule is that owners are always aware of any potential race dates, and it is up to those owners and the Board of Directors to ultimately “green light” a race. There’s things like boat counts, owner counts and payout formulae that have to be ironed out, but the owners are integral to those decisions.
To continue the approach taken in Part 1, for describing in one word the extent to which Unlimited Hydroplane Racing is today a viable sport – and positioned for the future, I would say:
Huge
Consider for a moment that speeds on a NASCAR race track can be just south of 190 miles per hour. Speeds on the water – ON THE WATER – by an Unlimited Hydroplane can be north of 200!
How can this NOT be the formula for one of the best and most lucrative sports on the planet?
Just this observation alone should tell us we have an opportunity to transform Unlimited Hydroplane Racing into a juggernaut of not just a sport, but an entire industry.
Consider the financial impact alone of domestic and multinational sponsors in the areas of:
- Engine oil and lubricants
- Marine and automotive instrumentation
- Boat manufacturers in all shapes and sizes
- A nearly unlimited range of consumer products
Just like NASCAR, there will of course be those who attend or watch the races on television just for the crashes. OK, we’ll take them – they are viewers, and valuable to the sport, but unfortunately for the wrong reasons. They are however, part of a potentially (here’s the word again:) HUGE audience over which television networks salivate.
That’s right, television.
Why is it we are currently relegated to taped replays of various races, weeks after the event? In the height of the NASCAR season, would car race fans stand for seeing their favorite drivers, cars and teams WEEKS after the event? I dare to say, without profanity, NO!
Sure, that’s easy for me to say, but the unfortunate reality is that the answer is very, very difficult.
Tape-delayed broadcasts are the reality, based on trying to make Unlimited Hydroplane Racing events, due to the nature of the competition, fit into a national broadcast format.
Football, basketball, baseball, soccer games and NASCAR races last for 2+ hours non-stop, providing ample, convenient, and lucrative opportunities to sell nice buckets of advertising. Unlimited Hydroplane Races last for a maximum of 30 minutes at a time (assuming you run 3 heat sections each time,) with a 1+ hour break in between heats. The final heat that ultimately determines the winner, lasts at the most, 15 minutes. You can see the challenge for the networks to plan programming, promotion, advertising, etc. It just doesn’t fit.
(Consider some of the intelligence-insulting reality series that mar the TV landscape these days. One might argue that Unlimited Hydroplane Racing would not only be a bright spot in the TV Guide, but could raise visibility of the sport in ways individual races aren’t capable.)
As a topic for an entirely different discussion, we could also talk about H1’s current model of paying for the cost of producing the video coverage as part of the Air National Guard budget. Although a couple of race venues (Tri-Cities and Seattle) have local TV stations who are believed to pay for exclusive coverage, we could also talk about the somewhat minor revenue sharing that comes from any commercials sold during the national tape-delay programming.
The point?
There is substantial untapped potential in this description of lackluster and disjointed revenue models. However, the very first requirement to get Unlimited Hydroplane Racing back on national television’s radar is to have strong audience figures and the sport doesn’t have that right now.
This is the perfect example of the potential we have in front of us. However, we have considerable work to do to position Unlimited Hydroplane Racing as a viable sport, permanently entrenched for the future.
We have:
- schedules to figure out
- technical monitoring to standardize
- rules application to expedite
- venues to explore
- financial models to solidify
- a fan base to coalesce
…before we can even think about a television presence that 1) we deserve, and 2) we need for financial longevity.
Don’t misunderstand. It is not a plumb television contract that should be the way we define our success. It is the steps that need to be taken – and taken solidly and successfully – toward this end that will solidify our position as a viable sport for the future.
We need capable leadership that doesn’t leave fans with question marks floating above their heads.
We need more people like Frantz in Arkansas that is pushing ahead in the face of many obstacles to bring a race to his area for one reason only – he loves the sport.
We need to stop acting like snippy siblings on the race forum web sites and arguing about who’s driving, who’s investing, who’s creating a stadium, and where should a race be held.
Think about the value to the sport if even a small percentage of that snippy, sibling energy was devoted to developing new international and domestic race sites, exploring new rules oversight and generally improving our lot in life for the betterment of the sport.
We have the ability to make this sport an unbelievably impressive industry. Let’s stop limiting ourselves and begin to really race in an unlimited fashion.
Agree or disagree – that is not the issue. What is needed now is constructive discourse.
Are you up to the challenge?
Dave