How Businesses Could Benefit
Running this campaign is one thing but why should a company get involved in such an elitist sport (at least at the MotoGP level)? For no more reason than those involved in F1 we suppose, yet there are a number of businesses that enjoy that association. However, in order to improve the chances of getting more rides for British riders, we need greater awareness and support. Naturally, no business will do this without there being some reward that the shareholders can see.
So what rewards might be offered? Firstly, there's TV coverage. In 2006, ITV1 took the excellent decision to show every round live. This was very good news for fans who do not own a satellite dish and offered ideal promotional opportunities for prospective sponsors. ITV1 continued to cover the 2007 season but lost the franchise to Eurosport in 2008. Whilst the series is now only open to satellite dish owners, the coverage is far more in-depth. Highlights are still available in Channel 4 midweek transmissions.
According to Motorcycle News, ITV1 audiences were in excess of 1.5m viewers, while 45,600 headed to Brands Hatch in September for the final round. Figures from audited viewing statistics show an average TV audience of 962,000 per round, which works out to 11,552,000 over the season.
Spectator attendance figures for each BSB round are also very high. Even at the Mondello round, which had to be cancelled on race day due to torrential rain, fans still came to watch.
The "motorcycle racing" brand has a loyal following, from grass roots club racing through BSB and World Superbike up to MotoGP. There are hoards of fans willing to follow their heroes all round the country and indeed the world for some riders. The marketing opportunities are there for the taking. All we at GP Future want to see is British companies seeing those opportunities and taking the plunge.
For the price of a Premiership football player's weekly wage, a team could run a bike and crew in a BSB support class race for a whole season. Surely this would give that sponsor far more publicity than a footballer can do in 90 minutes?
We at GP Future know that we're not alone in believing that there is something in it for businesses. In Australia, for example, where sport seems to be taken far more seriously by Government and Commerce, there is far more recognition of the benefits. So much so that a report compiled by Southern Cross University was commissioned and can be found on the Australian Government's Sports department website. We have been given permission to reproduce the article, excerpts of which can be found here.