Competition vs. Exhibition

[TEX]

There's been a lot of discussion about exhibition type events maybe being the future of competition rock crawling, as opposed to the current competition format. Any thoughts? At what point does the sport cross the line from legitimate sport to "junk sport"? Example, Monster Truck racing being replaced with staged shows where the entire event is choreographed (including decisions on what truck will win, which will crash, etc.). Even the "scoring" for the freestyle portion of the event is biased so that a perfect score can ONLY be awarded if you crash. To maintain this control, the promoter actually owns most of the trucks in the "competition", though they do hire in some small-time guys for fill-in & they're all too happy to do whatever they're told in order to make a name for themselves.

So, has Monster Truck racing degenerated into a "junk sport", or simply made the necessary steps to maintain appeal to the casual fan?

Now take my sport, mud racing. Essentially, there are two kinds of mud racing - drags & bogs. The drags are in a precarious position these days. Some say the sport has been too sanitized. In other words, not enough mud. The result has been greater speeds, which some like, more safety (which we all like), but it's lost some of the visual appeal to the folks who remember the bog events that once were the ONLY type of mud racing. In this case, safety & the integrity of the sport got the highest priority. But, some fans still demand more mud (a handful of us still promote bog events - me being about the only one left doing BOTH types of mud racing).

Has minimizing carnage hurt mud racing?

And what about rock crawling? Will a TV audience tune in to see Tiny putt-putting its way to a perfect score? Or, would they rather see Durham flop on his lid & finish out of the money? Do you sacrafice the integrity of the sport for the sake of ratings? Can you have your cake & eat it too?


TEX

[Big Rich]

For the biggest money, but for the fewest involved, exhibation style (like monster trucks) will be the future


But there can be a future in the sport of rock crawling, if everyone is willing to let it grow naturally. To Fast of growth will turn the sport into an exhibation only affair.

The only way to keep the intergity of the sport is to educate the spectators of the "art" of the sport. Action (rolls) will always be there, but they do not have to be intentional or catastrophic in nature to be exciting.

We can attract true spectators (not just the beer swilling ambulance chasers) by offering more than just crashes and death defying obstacles. Yes it will be a longer path to the same end, but it would keep Rock Crawling a sport..........

We are looking at doing a few exhibations this year as part of a "bigger" show that would travel from location to location. We'd set up rock piles inside of the other shows infield and create some action during their breaks. This would be done to attract a cross-over spectator group, one that we'd not normally get to come out to the "wilds".

Of course this is only my .02

Rich

[TEX]

So, what about the competition format is a hassle? Do you find the duration of the event to be a hindrance? I'm finding that as long as the action is good & the weather cooperates, I can get a crowd to sit through about 5-6 hours of mud racing before we start to see folks heading home. Ideally, the event needs to be about 3 hours max per day IMO. Here's where the benefit of the exhibition type event kicks in. Oddly enough though, it's much more expensive to run a shorter, smaller show. If you're going to limit the # of entries, you don't have entry $ to help boost the purse. And if you're going to have a short show, you want the very best folks there, so the purse needs to be HIGHER than normal, despite the fact that you have less revenue from which to generate that purse. Of course, this is where a TV contract could solve a lot of problems for ya, but that's a whole 'nuther issue (especially if you're working as "filler" for someone else's event).

TEX

[Big Rich]

In ROC'n 4 the KID's it's more about what we're doing for the community (CalROCS and the Competitors) The crowd is their to see something different.

The exhibations I'm talking about in the above statement is for promotional value only..... (as far as we're concerned) We are just trying to get infront as of many people as possible, The event we are hopefully going to be part of, recieves TV coverage and draws crowds over 20,000 plus. It is real racing for real money not an exhibation event.

I'll have more info after SEMA

Rich

[pepdaddy]

Rockcrawling already has the mass appeal needed to grow into a large motorsport. Variety is the key to keeping people interested, as long as the rules keep the rigs from all turning into hightech go carts people will watch. I think the hardest part is getting the action close to where fans live, people are lazy, you need to bring the show to them. We do not need to follow Monster trucks anywhere, personally I'd rather stay the size we're now than turn into that junk!
4wheeling is growing huge because people like getting outdoors and Americans love their cars. Competition is the natural result of this growth, keeping comps as legitmate sporting events. not exhibations will help with land use problems. It's easier to present sports before public officals, than a show. Companies are starting to see the potential for advertising in rockcrawling, this means money! The bigger we get ( dollar impact) the more pull we'll have. I agree with Rich, the sport is growing fast enough, promoters, competitors are already having trouble keeping up.

Lets just make our sport better and stay away from turning into a side show.

PepDaddy

[LandCroozer]

There's a lot to be said for how the fans can relate to the competitors. Who has a Monster Truck in their garage? I guess it's neat to cruch cars with big tires, but that gets a little old after a while.

Flame on, but I don't get that fired up about Nascar. It's a little too far away from what I can do. 180mph average speed for 3 hours? I once drove my Firebird at 136 for 6 miles. Plus, it's just round and round. You have to pay attention and watch subtle differences to see what's going on.

Rock crawling is hugely different because the vehicles are drastically different from each other, not formulaic and identicle like Nascar or Monster Trucks. Watching one obstacle with a dozen different drivers go through is twelve different shows. You can see the drivers personalities come through as they each pick their own line, tackling each obstacle differently.

-tom

[tubehead]

I think that if we look at other types of motorsports and how there ran or scheduled we could get some ideas. Look at many types of racing, most have a single day of events. I would like to see events that are one day competitions. Have about 4 obsticles that are close so the spectators could watch them all from one place and be able to keep up with who's doing what. The way it is now, if your a spectator you really don't know who is winning or losing unless your standing by the score board. How cool would it be to be able to watch a weekly event at a local venue, instead of going to the local dirt track. I know this wouldn't take the place of national events but it's just an idea and something to think about.