As the current year takes the\ncheckered flag, and the new year approached the starting grid, the sports\nindustry moves ahead with positive outlook. This month we will reflect on the\nchallenges of the past and highlight the future changes ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the pandemic, each\nsports sector tackled the situation uniquely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most forward-looking\norganizations considered a broad range of potential solutions, including monetization of data pertaining to spectators,\ndriver and team performance, and sports betting; novel real estate plays; and\nunique partnerships with technology companies to help elevate the fan\nexperience<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Racing along with other sports\npivoted and figured out how the address the challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was no different for\nracing. Schedules were adjusted, races were moved, at\u2013track weekends shortened,\nand online sim racing filled a void. Changes were bold but well received and\nhad the view of many is they had to be made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Financial liquidity was critical\n\u2013 the major sources of revenue (ticketing, sponsorship, and concessions) were\nalmost non-existent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sponsors continued to back the\nsport reflecting positively on its future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Media contracts were honored\nbroadcasters with adjustments made by both sides. Ratings and attendance were\nrelatively consistent and will serve as a solid basis for the next set of\nnegotiations. This will probably include both traditional providers and\nstreaming platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government assistance programs\nthru loans provided relief for racing businesses and payroll assistance keep\nchecks flowing to employees. Race teams and tracks adjusted workforce size and\ntried to keep essential personnel around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was the ancillary impact\nto communities that typically host races \u2013 tourism revenue and related taxes\ndid not materialize affecting the livelihood of hospitality businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The importance of social\njustice went mainstream uniting most aspects of the racing community. This\nissue is complex \u2013 the current moment is really a movement the develops leaders\nand bond spectators with select brands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tracks and teams expanded\ntechnology and the use of digital to increase fan engagement. Streaming of\nlocal races went mainstream as fans could not attend some races in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They invested in digital\ninfrastructure, people, and processes pertaining to data. Entities built broader\nbusiness acumen across their various departments, along with considering\nnontraditional partnerships that bring outside perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Advertising had a larger online\npresence and content creation by drivers was center stage on social media\nplatforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mobile sports betting developed\ninto a meaningful revenue stream and new partnerships took hold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has the potential to\ntransform the at track experience. As it rolled out, entities would continue to\nassess how it connected with fans. The key component was data, and racing is\nall about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most successful were bold. Like\nthe race track, they used a challenging business environment as an opportunity\nto try new things.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the current year takes the checkered flag, and the new year approached the starting grid, the sports industry moves ahead with positive outlook. This month we will reflect on the challenges of the past and highlight the future changes ahead. During the pandemic, each sports sector tackled the situation uniquely. The most forward-looking organizations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=880"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":882,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880\/revisions\/882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businessofspeed.speedwaysonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}