The Baltimore Grand Prix: No Buzz, No Bait
A recent article in the Baltimore Sun reports that the Baltimore Grand Prix will likely lose money in its second year of operations in Charm City. New race organizer, Race On LLC, insists that all vendors and taxpayers will be paid – unlike last year; however, the motorsports event may not turn a profit until 2013.
Race On, a Maryland company led by J.P Grant of Grant Capital Management and Greg O'Neill, Vice President of BMW Construction Specialists, has contracted with Andretti Sports Marketing to run all commercial and operational aspects of the Baltimore Grand Prix. Andretti Sports Marketing is an agency formed and led by racing legend Michael Andretti.
Andretti has his work cut out for him, taking over the event with only 100 days to coordinate all of the tasks associated with a race of this magnitude. In May, the Baltimore Business Journal highlighted a few key areas of concern that should be addressed immediately, including: lack of communication to the public from race organizers, lack of sponsorships, and lack of community outreach to local businesses directly impacted by the racing event.
Tickets are on sale for the Labor Day weekend event. Organizers are not publicly stating how many tickets have been sold to date, but stated they would be happy to see the same numbers as last year, close to 160,000 attendees.
Attracting 160,000 people to any event is no small feat. But this is a Grand Prix event, so perhaps there will be some anticipation and momentum carried over from last year’s inaugural event. Looking at the Baltimore Grand Prix’s website, organizers still have not addressed the first key concern identified in the Baltimore Business Journal article – communicating with the people.
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