Well, the point I was trying to make is that "Friends and Family" is not working anymore. Just look at the boat counts.
On any given weekend, I'll have a list of 30+ things that my family can do. All of which promise "Friends, Family and Fun". As a family, we have to choose which activity will be the best value.
And even though they are 3rd generation of a boat racing family, my kids never pick "boat racing" as the activity they want to participate. When they go to a race, they don't see much that really tickles their fancy. I tried to introduce them to friends ----their first 'buddies' were Dustin Hoffman, Cody Foster, Dylan Anderson......now none of those kids come to the races anymore.
Kids these days have all kinds of weekend events: Baseball, Boy Scouts, Soccer lessons, Frisbee golf, Steam engine excursions, Zoos, Science Museums, playlands, Chuck-E-Cheese, Public pool, Travelling soccer teams, Scout-O-Rama's, summer camp, trips to grandma's house, etc.
You don't have to promise fame and fortune to attract new people. You just have to promise them "something" that they can't get anywhere else.
The most successful boat racing I've ever seen was in Valleyfield Quebec. They were successful in all aspects - but one. They allowed one boat to dominate for too long and that killed their premier class. (Gran Prix Hydro).
Even the lady at the hotel desk knew the story of this one boat and how he was killing the sport (Reminded me a LOT of the Miss Bud story).
Racers want a chance to win.
But all the other needs were satisfied: Excellent fast-paced program, quality officiating, PRESTIGE, giant trophies, real money awards, Grandstands that went down an entire straightaway, vendors that sold everything from leather purses and shoes to fortune tellers.
There was a kids area with about 10 different moon walks, where you paid $10 for an arm band, and the kids could play as long as they wanted.
The fans paid a pretty good clip, but they PACKED those grandstands and they were never forgotten -- if there was any downtime at all, a MasterCraft ski boat with a man shooting wadded up T-shirts through a bazooka gun, aimed it at the fans that made the most noise!
At one point, the PA system played "YMCA" and had thousands of people standing in the bleachers, singing while making the "Y" "M" "C" "A" with their arms. (The sst-120's were launching right at that moment and thought the crowd was going wild over them! LOL).
I was in the grandstands, and we were shoulder-to-shoulder with the people who all had their own favorite driver. They had so much pre-race publicity that everyone already knew who was going to be racing. There was not a single place left to sit. It reminded me of the prestigous days of the Havasu World Outboard Championships when the prize money drew all kinds of celebrities and racers from across the globe.
They even had a local TV soap celebrity sky-dive into the water. The fans went ballistic!
This was not a "boat race", it was a magical event.
I'm afraid that if those same Valleyfield fans came to one of our boat races, I'm quite sure they'd be bored to tears. We need to get creative like they have.
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