Mr. Igdalsky, I Disagree

The second IndyCar race at Pocono Raceway in my lifetime might be the last for some time.

Track president Brandon Igdalsky admitted to Dan Gleston of the Associated Press ticket sales for this year's race were "kind of scary" compared to last year. This has caused Igdalsky to reconsider whether or not to honor the third and final year of Pocono Raceway's contract with the Verizon IndyCar Series.

Last year's race reportedly drew between 30,000 and 35,000 spectators.

The downturn in attendance has led Igdalsky to blame the fans for the decrease in ticket sales. In Gleston's article, Igdalsky is quoted saying, "The big thing is the fans. The fans begged us to bring [IndyCar] back. Every study and report we did, they all said they'd come. But they're not coming in the numbers we need them to come in. Are these fans really here?"

Mr. Igdalsky, I disagree.

As a ticket holder to this year's race and a long time Pocono Raceway attendee, I am very hurt by Mr. Igdalsky's claim it's the fans fault that you have failed to draw a sufficient amount of people to your event to break even financially.

Let me break it down this way: As a 20-year old college student, I am working nearly 40 hours a week at a local retail store this summer. The store could be packed with people, trying on shoes, shorts and shirts one day but if my manager comes to me and says shoe sales are extremely low that day and if I say to her it's the customer's fault that shoes aren't being sold, she would look me dead in the eyes, scold me and tell me to do better and if I catch her on the wrong day, I might be fired on the spot.

Your in the same boat Mr. Igdalsky. If you aren't happy with the amount of tickets you have sold for an event, then do better.

Your track is a lot like my store. You are always going to have the people (i.e. Me) who are going to purchase a ticket no matter what. They know what they want and know where they can get it. Then you will have those who know what you have to offer and stop in but aren't sure if they really need to make a purchase. It's my job to make a sale and leave them with a reason to come again for their future needs, just as it is your job to give the attendees a positive experiences that will get them to return in the future. Finally there are those just browsing. They see what you have but really aren't interested. They are much more difficult to turn into a sale and every now and then you help them into a decision for their best interest but most of the time you come up snake-eyes.

You have plenty of eyeballs to try and draw from. On your track's own website, Mr. Igdalsky, you have a map showing how close major metropolitan areas are to your track. New York City and Philadelphia are both two hours away, Richmond, Va. is three, Boston and Pittsburgh are five. Take those five markets and you have a pool of 11,037,999 people. At my store, we want our conversion rate (amount of transactions compared to total people to enter the store) to be around 33% each day. Converting 10% of 11,037,999, let alone 33% into ticket buyers isn't realistic (otherwise you'd have 1,103,800 people at your race) but half a percent of that pool (55,190 people) should be doable.

The problem IndyCar has faced on ovals is the expectation that every IndyCar fan that wants a race to happen has to show up and that's going to be enough. That is neither realistic nor fair. There is no sane human being that could expect another average human beings to shill out thousands of dollars each year to follow a motorsports series. I love IndyCar and I would love for them to return to Phoenix, Michigan, Richmond, Loudon and so on but at some point common sense has to kick in. There is no practical way I could go to each one of those events as well as Pocono. Let's add up the costs. Hypothetically let's say $80 for a ticket and paddock pass for each race, about $900 in total for flights, $200 for gas if driving to a race, another $100 for food over the a three-day weekend and say $300 for three nights in a hotels for the four race above. Add that up and you got $2,800.

At some point, a track owner has to realize most people (let alone IndyCar fans) can't afford to go to nearly half a dozen races a year and it is on the track owners to provide an event to their respective markets that will draw in people, whether they are die hard IndyCar/motorsports fan, those who have a causal interest or those who are just going to get hammered in the infield.

Nothing is stopping you Mr. Igdalsky from turning it around next year but you are looking for a way out. You even said so yourself. Instead of trying to turn the ship around in the final year of this deal toward a brighter future for both the track and the series, you are willing to quit just like that. The tide got a little rough and now you are turning around and heading back to port with out looking for an alternative plan. That's the lesson we should teach our kids.

That last sentence was a little harsh but for years I have heard complaints that the lack of attendance for IndyCar oval races is on the fans and if the fans want a race to happen then every fan has to go buy a ticket. That's a fair point to a certain extent but eventually a track has to stop relying on a slim minority of fish stocked in the pond and drop their net into the vast ocean hoping for a bigger catch.

I wonder what value I am to Mr. Igdalsky. Does he really care if I enjoy the race this weekend? Part of me thinks all he wants is for me to fill his coffer. That's not fair to him though. I've don't know Mr. Igdalsky from Adam. I am hurt and angry by his comments. After everything went so well last year, it has all started to crumble without warning. Before this article was posted by Dan Gleston, were there any signs Pocono was in trouble? We all felt IndyCar had found a new partner with common interests going forward. Maybe they still do.

Let's work this out. Not point fingers. Not cut ties because things have gotten rough. I'll be at Pocono this weekend and plan on being there each 4th of July for as long as possible. Let's just hope those in charge can keep the event alive.