And I understand some of the common reasons off the top of my head:
- Not enough interest from the American fan base.
- In the height of the NFL season, not a lot of stadiums willing to rent out their buildings.
- Limited where you can hold the event due to cold weather.
Have the event be a two-night event on the second Friday and Saturday in December.
This way it is not against NFL games and the second Friday and Saturday are dead weekends for college football. The only major college football game was Army-Navy and there were college football playoff games for the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). There is the Heisman Trophy presentation but that is over by 9pm.
This way it is not against NFL games and the second Friday and Saturday are dead weekends for college football. The only major college football game was Army-Navy and there were college football playoff games for the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). There is the Heisman Trophy presentation but that is over by 9pm.
What venues can be used? Once again, they have to be in warm cities or domes. I have thought up a list of possible places.
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
December Weather: Average High- 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Average Low- 49 degrees Fahrenheit.
Current Use: USC Trojans Football.
Past Uses: 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympic games, Los Angeles Dodgers (1959-196, including the 1959 World Series and All-Star Game), hosted AMA Motocross, 1982 Speedway World Championship, 2003 and 2010 X Games.
Positives of the Stadium: Once December begins the stadium will not be used until August. It has hosted motorsport events in the past. It is a legendary stadium with great history.
Negatives: If 30,000 people show up, it will look empty as the stadium holds about 92,000. Heck even 50,000 would look empty.
Lucas Oil Stadium
December Weather: Domed Stadium.
Current Uses: Indianapolis Colts, Big Ten Football Championship game, AMA Supercross.
Past Uses: Super Bowl XLVI, 2010 NCAA Men's Final Four.
Positives: It's in a racing town and could entice a lot fans to show up as well as American racers. In past events in Paris, London and Düsseldorf, the host has had two teams, the USA very well could have two, three or four teams. IndyCar could use the event as a great promotional tool. Maybe include the Dallara IR07 or even the DW12 in the event as rally cars have been used in the past and currently a stock car is used.
Negatives: Floor space is limited and it may be tough to have a good track. The Colts may have to play back-to-back games on the road and they may not be for that in the middle of December.
Cowboys Stadium
December Weather: Domed Stadium.
Current Uses: Dallas Cowboys, Cotton Bowl Classic, Cowboys Classic, AMA Supercross.
Past Uses: 2010 NBA All-Star Game, Super Bowl XLV.
Positives: Big, modern stadium.
Negatives: Ticket prices would be through the roof and, as with Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 50,000 people would still make the place look empty. The odds are next to none that the Cowboys would give up their stadium for close to two weeks in December.
SunLife Stadium (Miami)
December Weather: Average High- 77 degrees Fahrenheit, Average Low- 62 degrees Fahrenheit.
Current Uses: Miami Dolphins, Miami Hurricanes, Orange Bowl, 2013 BCS National Championship game.
Past Uses: Florida Marlins (including two World Series), five Super Bowls (most recently Super Bowl XLIV), 2009 World Baseball Classic, 2009 BCS National Championship Game.
Positives: Not many places with better weather in December than Miami.
Negatives: Miami isn't known for drawing great attendance to events. The Orange Bowl has been struggling, the Marlins problems are well known. Plus it would be a rush time period from December to January with Dolphins games and the Orange Bowl.
Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte)
December Weather: Average High- 53 degrees Fahrenheit, Average Low- 33 degrees Fahrenheit.
Current Uses: Carolina Panthers, Belk Bowl, ACC Championship Game.
Past Use: 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Positives: As with Indianapolis, it is a racing town. There is no reason why they could get two or three NASCAR drivers to do the event. While the weather is not in the Miami/LA ballpark, it is in the ballpark with past hosts Paris (Average High- 46, Low- 38) and London (Average High- 47, Low- 37).
Negatives: As with Indianapolis, Dallas and Miami, it's an NFL stadium, with a bowl game. December would be a rushed month.
Sam Boyd Stadium
December Weather: Average High- 57 degrees Fahrenheit, Average Low- 35 degrees Fahrenheit.
Current Uses: UNLV Rebels, Las Vegas Bowl, Two AMA Supercross events, US Rugby Sevens Tournament, Monster Jam World Finals.
Past Uses: Las Vegas Quicksilver of the North American Soccer League, Las Vegas Posse of the Canadian Football League, Las Vegas Outlaws of the XFL.
Positives: It is Las Vegas. Plenty of people should be interested. Sam Boyd Stadium does a great job drawing for the AMA events and they could have a cool track design that goes out and reenters the stadium. Decent size stadium at about 40,000 seats.
Negatives: A little rushed as the Las Vegas Bowl is normally one of the first bowl games of the year.
If the event is going to be in the United States, it might as well be the largest Race of Champions to date. The event could be split as a USA/Americas vs. The World format.
For the Nations Cup, you could have four American teams with other nations such as Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, France, England, Scotland, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Australia and New Zealand. You could do four groups of four, with an American team in each group. The top two from each group advance to the knockout round. Each round is a best-of-three format.
For the Race of Champions, take the 8 American drivers, 2 Canadian, Brazilian and Mexican drivers and two drivers based in the United States but not from the Americas (Example: Will Power, Scott Dixon, Justin Wilson) and put them on one half of the bracket, and put the remaining 16 drivers on the other half. Head-to-head, one race for each round until the finals which is a best-of-three to decide the Race of Champions champion.
It seems far-fetched but it would be fun to see. Once again, a man can always dream.
