Confirmed "still on" or "not canceled yet as far as we know"?

-td

 

They are hiring their own corner workers. There's an ad on their website.
I'm not really surprised this is happening but I think it will be short lived. The facility was built on the basis that it would benefit locals. Shunning local car clubs will draw some serious negative feedback and I don't think the investors are ready for the negative press.

 

Is Texas dealing with water shortage problems?

 

Well I am still paying off my trip to the F1 race but no worries I have plenty of time now cause that will be the last F1 race or any other event I will attend at COTA and drop my money. In this still partial capitalist society that I believe in I have the final say with my buying patterns. I talked to a number of people at the event and a very large amount of them were not only F1 enthusiasts but grassroots racers or fans, here is hoping I am not the only paying customer who will adopt this position.
Thanks for nothing COTA!
Rich

 

Can ya smell the bull****?

Circuit of The Americas’ statement on track rental program

Circuit of The Americas™ today set the record straight on the venue’s track rental program and responded to questions raised in social media forums about the program’s future direction. “Circuit of The Americas currently offers a track rental program for organizations and clubs and private individuals that provides automotive enthusiasts with a world-class experience at the United States’ only purpose-built Formula 1™ facility,” Circuit spokesperson Julie Loignon said. “We have had inquiries and discussions with a number of organizations that are interested in renting our facility, and we’ve determined that we will not be able to work with all of them in the coming year. We have contacted organizations that did not have fully executed rental agreements to inform them of our decision. We regret not being able to assist them with a track rental in 2013 and hope there are other ways we can accommodate their interest in Circuit of The Americas in the future.”

 

File your complaint here:

http://circuitoftheamericas.com/contact

 

you mean through their "potential customer database capturing system"?

no thanks.

 

I can't see how they could possibly maintain a facility like that with only a few weekends of "pro" events could cover a years worth of expenses.....

F1-ALMS-NASCAR-INDY-What else is there?

 

That's your assumption, so what? If you receive COTA marketing email set your "Outlook" to spam it if you're that worried or give a fake name and email address. That said, by sending an email you've vented your opinion and somoeone is probably going to read it.

Or send a letter,

Circuit of The Americas
P.O. Box 849
Austin, Texas 78767

or call,

512-301-6600

 

I've said my piece via twitter and on their facebook page (where others, not just COTA staff, gets to see it); from now on I'm just going to vote with my feet.

 

exactly.

as mentioned here other "marquee" tracks (Daytona, Sebring, Laguna Seca, Silverstone, Spa, etc etc) make their money on schools/track days/DEs/club racing.

I doubt COTA makes much if anything off F1, they've overpaid for the WEC contract, so it's going to be really hard for them to be a sustainable business off of a few loss leader major events.

the only scenario that I find plausible in the situation is that a school wants ALL of their non-pro race dates/weekends and it was enough business to screw over existing contract holders. and even then, it's in poor form.

 

Pull up a chair. This one isn't over yet. The PR Lady screwed the pooch. Wait till the management bigs have had a chance to digest the social media rampage over the holiday break...and they start trying to explain themselves to mainstream media. This could have been made to "go away" with a carefully crafted response. Instead, Circuit spokesperson Julie Loignon botched it.

Circuit spokesperson Julie Loignon will be the first victim of what I believe will become a Netflix moment. Watch and learn.

Update the resume, Julie. You're about to be thrown to the wolves.

 

You said it--check out WGI's (and Mid-Ohio's when it becomes available) online yearly schedule....they only have a half-dozen or so big, paid, spectator events. Virtually everything else (and the Glen is booked just about EVERY DAY during the season) consists of trackdays and racing/DEs, be it private or car-club-related.

Gary

 

Maybe the next owners will be a bit more hospitable.

 

December 12, Autoweek

Less than a month after the inaugural United States Grand Prix Formula One race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Texas comptroller Susan Combs has issued a payment of $29.3 million from the State of Texas' Major Events Trust Fund (METF), according to KXAN News and the Austin American Statesman. The comptroller's office made the payment to the Circuit Events Local Organizing Committee (CELOC). Included in the payment was a reimbursement for $22,012,236.48 of the approximately $25,000,000 F1 sanctioning fees requested by the Circuit of the Americas. The remainder of the reimbursement was for items such as transportation management services, temporary seating and structures, traffic engineering services and portable restroom facilities.

But that may not be the end of the story.

The reimbursement payment was based on increased sales-tax revenue estimates submitted to the comptroller's office this past August, and not on the actual revenues themselves. The comptroller's office said it will conduct and complete a post-race study within the next 18 months in order to comply with the Texas METF statute.

However, Smith Travel Research issued an initial report approximately 10 days ago showing that while Austin received a significant boost in hotel revenues during F1 week (up $22.3 million over the same week in 2011), the actual increase was well below what was forecast in an economic impact projection estimate prepared by Don Hoyte of Texas Economic Impact, and submitted as part of the CELOC application in August of this year. The Hoyte estimate was paid for by CELOC. According to his company website,
TexasEconomicImpact.com, Hoyte received a PhD in 1982 from SUNY, Buffalo, in economic geography. He worked for the Texas comptroller's office for 20 years serving under five comptrollers, including Combs.

The amount of incremental tax revenue realized over the previous year is a critical number in the reimbursement calculation because the incremental revenue increase is the basis for reimbursement from the METF. If the actual numbers fall short of the estimated increased sales-tax revenue, the reimbursement number is supposed to reflect the lower amount. In this case the payment has already been made upon the projections—and this could spell trouble down the line. CELOC may have to repay some of that money. In addition, future revenue reimbursement may be at risk, especially since 2013's F1 race may fall on the same weekend as a University of Texas home football game if there is no change to either F1's or UT's schedules.

Hoyte projected the gain in hotel revenue to be $39.5 million in his economic impact estimate. That estimate was used as the basis for Combs' commitment of $29.3 million of the METF funds. Formula Money said that Austin's estimates were "ambitious in every category including hotels, food and beverage, rental cars and related enterprises,” according to KXAN News.

One thing is for sure: The METF money, as COTA chairman Bobby Epstein once said, was critical in his decision to move forward with the construction of Circuit of the Americas—a project that has exceeded $400 million.