Rally Mexico 09, an example of good thinking, well done promotion

I saw the dollar sign and didn't realize it was used for their currency. Lot better entry fee, same as most of ours.

Who knows where money comes and goes in Mexico....isn't Brazil sponsoring the Indycar series?

From a business standpoint we have not much to sell. Even Billy Mays would have had a tough time selling rally in the states.

john vanlandingham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How could a bunch of Mexicans do such a great job ...

Government support and not much competition from other sporting events. This, in turn, leads to more corporate sponsorship. Plus, income from spectator, who are more likely to attend because not much competition from other sporting events and the prestige of international competitors.

> The Rally of Nations is set to become one of
> Mexico’s rallying highlights for the years to
> come.

Or, it could collapse under an unsustainable business model. Can't really tell how they are doing it without seeing their books. There could be a change in government and the whole things goes away.

alan

tipo158 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> john vanlandingham Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > How could a bunch of Mexicans do such a great
> job ...
>
> Government support and not much competition from
> other sporting events. This, in turn, leads to
> more corporate sponsorship. Plus, income from
> spectator, who are more likely to attend because
> not much competition from other sporting events



Are you saying that as in "It is because....." or "Maybe it's not much competition from other sporting events...."

I ask because I see Gringos always saying that about why rally is so popular in Northern Europe.
So which do you mean?

> and the prestige of international competitors.
>
> > The Rally of Nations is set to become one
> of
> > Mexico’s rallying highlights for the years
> to
> > come.
>
> Or, it could collapse under an unsustainable
> business model. Can't really tell how they are
> doing it without seeing their books. There could
> be a change in government and the whole things
> goes away.

Could be but following Mexican politics unlikely.
>
> alan
>

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

I expect that the WRC event showed a significant and 'measurable' economic impact to the region, one that the government could 'dip into' on the off years to support the 'rally of nations' as an event that would keep the 'excitement' going.

This is the same thinking that sees local governments dumping money into sports venues. The economic impact of jobs, and cash flowing through the teams outweighs the money spent.

---

First Rally: 2001
Driver (7), Co-Driver (44)
Drivers (16)
Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4)
Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0)
Last Updated, January 4, 2015

Quote
john vanlandingham
Blame is for idiots. losers.

Yeah Matthew! Finally a USA driver has a decent result at an international event. Hopefully some of the right people will be impressed and we can see these guys at additional events in the future.
Also great job to Brian Moody and Steve Bis from Salta Motorsports for keeping Kenny and Matthew's cars in there and busting ass to get the cars there in the first place.

---

Grant Hughes

NoCoast Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>Finally a USA driver has a decent result at an international event.

With all due respect to Matthew, who I like and respect as a great driver, can we define 'decent result?'

(although this thread is actually about the event and promotions)

---

First Rally: 2001
Driver (7), Co-Driver (44)
Drivers (16)
Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4)
Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0)
Last Updated, January 4, 2015

Quote
john vanlandingham
Blame is for idiots. losers.

In the top 20 or so and not wrecking out spectacularily against a healthy field of competition.
Maybe my recollections are incorrect, but I don't think Travis or Ken have had a result this good. Ken always seems to wreck and Travis just doesn't seem to do well. Like I said, maybe I'm recalling things wrong and am biased towards being stoked for Matthew since he's a good friend. If he'd asked me a few days earlier I'd have been down in Mexico helping him out instead of going to Idaho.

---

Grant Hughes

I think the Rally of Nations drew a very impressive field of competitors. And they had 3 hours worth of stages. All as it should be they plan to host WRC again next year.

And, I think Matt and Chrissie did a great job finishing 9th, if I read right.

Makes me wish I lived near Mexico. Thank God, I live close to Canada!

---

Ted Mendham
www.rensport.net

john vanlandingham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tipo158 Wrote:
> -------------------------------------------------------
> > john vanlandingham Wrote:
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------
> > > How could a bunch of Mexicans do such a great
> > job ...
> >
> > Government support and not much competition from
> > other sporting events. This, in turn, leads to
> > more corporate sponsorship. Plus, income from
> > spectator, who are more likely to attend because
> > not much competition from other sporting events
>
> Are you saying that as in "It is because....." or
> "Maybe it's not much competition from other sporting events...."
>
> I ask because I see Gringos always saying that
> about why rally is so popular in Northern Europe.
> So which do you mean?

I mean that the government probably decided to promote the state/region by trying to get a major sporting event and spent a lot of money trying to achieve that goal. Then corporate money followed the government money.

The former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, was governor of Guanajuato before he was president and the state is a significant sponsor of the rally.

Back before I was involved in rally and I was covering CART/ChampCar for motorsport.com, my editor asked if I wanted to cover the rally, noting that the event would pick up my travel and accomodations. The state and Corona were involved then as well.

From the point of the locals in the region, the only other major sporting event is football (soccer). There isn't a lot of choice for spectator sports there.

I don't get the sense that there are a lot of amateur rally competitors like there are in places like Finland.

> > and the prestige of international competitors.
> >
> > > The Rally of Nations is set to become one of
> > > Mexico’s rallying highlights for the years to
> > > come.
> >
> > Or, it could collapse under an unsustainable
> > business model. Can't really tell how they are
> > doing it without seeing their books. There could
> > be a change in government and the whole things
> > goes away.
>
> Could be but following Mexican politics unlikely.

I could be wrong, but the Rally of Nations seems to me to be an attempt to save the money invested in their international sporting event.

I would like to be proven wrong.

alan

NoCoast Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In the top 20 or so and not wrecking out
> spectacularily against a healthy field of
> competition.
> Maybe my recollections are incorrect, but I don't
> think Travis or Ken have had a result this good.
> Ken always seems to wreck and Travis just doesn't
> seem to do well. Like I said, maybe I'm recalling
> things wrong and am biased towards being stoked
> for Matthew since he's a good friend. If he'd
> asked me a few days earlier I'd have been down in
> Mexico helping him out instead of going to Idaho.
>
> Grant Hughes
> www.nocoastmotorsports.net
> Denver, CO


I'm thinking that Travis finished 15th overall one of the years he ran Mexico (as a WRC event) and 22nd overall on another WRC event he ran. Not great, no, but not what I'd call bad either.

Ok, here are some things to contemplate...

This is one event, not a national series.

A sanctioning body is generally not the organizer. Organizers drum up event sponsors, not sanctioning bodies as a rule.

RA and NRS are sanctioning bodies, they provide our insurance, a rule set and some support.

RA actually has one event they organize and it has a payout, huge exposure, television, fans, international competitors and success. Care to guess what event that is??

Rally in the US has nothing to offer a big dollar sponsor. If we were to say get 1 million dollars from Michelin for the series then you would expect everyone to run on Michelin tires. So the guy with a local Pirelli deal would lose that. Everyone would bitch about being forced to run one brand. The first snowfall of the year will sell more tires. We have nothing to offer Chevy or Ford. Laundry soap, motor oil, tampons, fishing lures and so on, no return on their investment.

No one will spend big bucks on a sport that is a collection of some new and lot of old cars. People don't spend massive dollars on minor league baseball games.

This needs to be looked at from a business standpoint. Advertising is an investment for a company. They need to see a return considerably larger than the original investment. That return has to be real and documentable. When someone figures out what we can offer a sponsor , how we can prove a return then maybe there is some hope. A corporate sponsor would get more return from giving money to Habitats for Humanity, womens shelters, orphanages and so on than rally.