Ratepayers scoop up Grand Prix tickets
Giving free tickets to ratepayers to attend the New Zealand Grand Prix is paying dividends, with more than 2000 people redeeming the deal so far.
Promoters Speedworks offered a free ticket to Palmerston North and Manawatu¯ District homeowners with their November rates bill in a bid to increase attendance at the annual event.
About 45,000 three-day passes to the February 9 race at Manfeild in Feilding were offered at a potential value of $3.15 million. But promoter Geoff Short hoped to convert only 5000 free tickets into people through the gate.
That number alone would be a significant improvement on the past couple of years. Estimates for the 2017 event were about 6000 while, in 2016, just 2500 people attended. Some homeowners would have partners or friends that bought additional tickets, Short said.
A three-year hosting rights deal announced earlier this year involved Manfeild hiring the facility to Speedworks, which runs the event and collects all ticketing revenue.
The current track viewing area at Manfeild holds 7000 people. ‘‘There is other space. If 10,000 people redeemed their tickets, it would be a good problem to have,’’ Short said.
Issuing free tickets was part of Short’s three-year plan to rebuild what is meant to be the most prestigious motorsport event in New Zealand. While Speedworks would potentially lose ticketing revenue from the deal, it would help future investment by bringing crowds back to live motorsport.
‘‘I want to build this into an iconic event we can be proud of. With the region’s support, I thought ‘why not push this thing?’ If this is what we have to do to get people back to motorsport, then that’s a good thing.’’
Short said motorsport in New Zealand was a hard sell and targeting fans in Wellington and Hawke’s Bay wasn’t easy. ‘‘To me, it’s all an investment to get people back to the event. We’ll lose money on paid tickets, for sure, but if I can get 10,000 people along, then I can go to sponsors for support.’’
The 2018 New Zealand Grand Prix will be the final race of the Toyota Racing Series.