Sport around Australia has undergone plenty of upheavals over the last
twelve months. Rugby League has been hijacked and it remains to be seen if the
new rival Super League will deliver the goods as the promoters of that association
have promised.
There was a similar raid on Rugby Union (the game they reckon they play
in heaven) but everyone connected to that game closed ranks and fended off the
marauders. There has also been speculation that a similar rival competition
could happen in Aussie Rules but there has been nothing forthcoming yet.
The fact of the matter is that sport is big business. I mean BIG business
and the sorts of companies and individuals it attracts play for keeps, so huge
are the amounts of dollars involved.
We've also witnessed the end of cigarettes in sport and despite state
and federal governments still continuing to reap massive tax dollars on the
sale of gaspers the manufacturers can no longer advertise or promote their
brands. Much has been said on this issue over the years and there is no point
reiterating on that topic, what's done is done and it is important to look
ahead.
Motor sport and drag racing in particular has really felt the loss of
the Winfield money. Rothmans of Pall Mall have been staunch supporters of drag
racing for a quarter of a century and they will be sorely missed.
The timing of the loss of cigarette money couldn't have come at a worse
time. With the Sydney 2000 Olympics just four and a half years away the corporate
world will be falling over themselves for naming rights and sponsorship opportunities
to everything from the egg and spoon race to the decathlon.
What this means is that the money box is firmly locked with little or
no cash being made available for peripheral or low priority national sports
and sporting associations.
The big players, those who may have been able to be enticed into a three
or five year deal in drag racing are hanging onto every last dollar. The Olympics
rivals the Holy Grail in promotional terms and they all want to share in the
limelight. A good case in point is the Australian Rugby League being knocked
back by Toyota for a lousy six million dollars a year to sponsor league -- this
is just one third of what Winfield were tipping in!
And so it is that Drag Racing Australia Pty. Ltd., a new enterprise
formed earlier this year, will be up against it in their efforts to find a new
major sponsor for drag racing.
That D.R.A. is made up of ANDRA boss Tony Thornton and various promoters
from around Australia puts them in good stead to convince corporate Australia
that drag racing is a sport they should put their money in to.
It will be better for drag racing that there is a single enterprise
focussing on the corporate dollar than having various groups trotting along
to the same potential sponsor within days of each other trying to secure funds.
That would do nothing for the professional face of the sport.
It should be said that RPS Promotions have done an absolutely first class
job in promoting drag racing over the last few years. The money that RPS have
channelled back into the sport and into television would have been the stuff
of dreams five years ago.
But it would appear that the formation of Drag Racing Australia Pty.
Ltd. (made up of Tony Thornton, Ravenswood's Gary Miocevich, Willowbank's Dennis
Syrmis, Calder Park's Steve Bettes and Eastern Creek's Kevin Prendergast) has
created a certain amount of acrimony between the directors of D.R.A. Pty.
Ltd., and RPS with the latter choosing not to direct any ongoing sponsorship
through Drag Racing Australia Pty. Ltd.
Instead it has been reported that RPS Promotions will concentrate on
television coverage and international events in the coming year.
Cynics amongst us could also be skeptical about D.R.A. Pty. Ltd.'s
motives, the "old boys club" is back in action again. On the face of it that
was my immediate reaction but after talking to both Tony Thornton and Gary
Miocevich I have concluded that what DRA represents is an assembly of five
very sharp men who collectively possess enough negotiating skill and business
aplomb to overcome the most cynical corporate bean counter and/or marketing
director.
Drag Racing Australia Pty. Ltd. represents drag racing nationally and
it is in everyone's interests that they deliver the goods. If they don't, please
spare a thought for the competition they are facing.
