BrianCunningham

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/an...-us-gp-678929/

Jason Staley

Good marketing ... She's not my favorite singer, but a few of here songs are enjoyable. If it saved the race from a financial stand point then its all good.

redvetracr

If F-1 needs Taylor Swift to survive in the USA then F-1 in the USA is doomed.

folsomlarry

63Corvette

LIFE is about racing.........not watching racing. If no one wnats to watch, that's fine with me.......I've got the best seat in the house

Zoxxo

F1 is probably "doomed" in the US regardless. The sports that Americans hold in highest regard are those that require precious little mental exertion to understand. F1 has basically eliminated any chance of a novice tuning in to watch and having it make much sense. F1 is an acquired taste and it requires a certain commitment of time and effort to understand it well enough to really appreciate it. But "commitment of time and effort" is not something that the general public is usually up for.

F1 races have been "chess games" for a long time now but then any racing series that has pit stops as a component has made it necessary for the fans to grok a certain amount of "it's not exactly what it looks like at the moment." But in recent years F1 has elevated this aspect of things to a ridiculous level. DRS ("if the car behind is within one second of the car ahead when they cross that white line then the guy behind can hit a button...") and the mandatory use of two tire types ("the leader is ahead by 20 seconds with 2 laps to go but he HAS to stop and change to the other tires even though the ones he has now are just fine so he won't win") are just two examples that have to make newcomers shake their mystified heads (at the least.)

COTA can't control this nonsense, of course. They are just a business trying to stay afloat in spite of the amazingly effective ongoing efforts by the FIA, the teams, and CVC, to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. COTA just wants to get people through THEIR gate where, hopefully, the Taylor Swift fans will ALSO decide they like the racing (if that's the word) and (a) will come back and (b) will tell their friends. And Swift will (in theory) bring YOUNG folks to the game - a potential new generation of fans. It's actually a smart move on their part. I have my doubts about the effectiveness for the above-stated reasons but you can't really fault their marketing logic.

Z//

GFaulk

The Mexico City F1 race the week after the USGP in Austin is great for the F1 teams, but a disaster for Austin. The first three races at COTA had a large number of F1 fans from Mexico, Central America, and South America. With the Mexican GP now on the schedule, Austin lost a lot of potential ticket buyers.

Zoxxo

Indeed. And as much as I want to like Tavo Hellmund for bringing a real F1 track to the US, I can't help but be more than a little suspicious that he took the poor treatment that he got from the COTA folks and developed the Mexican GP at least in part as revenge. I have nothing to base that on except years of "enjoying" my fellow humans but it certainly seems to me that the COTA folks would have been wise to keep him happy and on a short leash instead of screwing him out of his own project and giving him reason to screw them back. It's certainly easy to sympathize with the idea.

If COTA *and* Mexico were smart they would offer package deals to the Mexican fans that gave them BOTH races for just X dollars/pesos more. The important thing is for both races to create and maintain a happy fan base that will come back over and over. Of course, with Bernie's insane cost structure the ticket prices HAVE to rise each year which (of course) kills the fan base off.

Z//

Nowanker

It's a win-win. USGP gets a new lease on life, and Taylor Swift will find at least one or two F1 drivers to 'hook up' with.

BrianCunningham

Article on the "Illegal Fan Base" showing it's a lot bigger than they think

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/an...anbase-679439/

I just watch it for FREE on the Spanish Channel

NemesisC5

I attended the first event at COTA before the facility was even 100% complete. The venue is huge and impressive. What caught my attention was the huge contingent of Italians present along with a majority of fans that came from all over the world. It seemed the crowd was 65-70% non American which was great that it attracted so many but like Zoxxo said above I believe the only Americans attending were F1 purists and very few just looking to attend a "race". Austin is a city rich in music and food culture with a broad base of party seekers so the Taylor Swift angle works out perfect for this venue. There was a well known band playing when I attended but I was too cooked from the sun and TX heat to hang out for the evenings events. Downtown Austin is also hopping with activities based around the arrival of the F1 circus and they exploit the hell out of it then the fans head to the track the next day. Austin was a great choice for the event and I hope it continues for years to come. I'll travel to Mexico City for their event as well, just not yet.

Supercharged111

Can't believe nobody pointed out the obvious. If this is her only scheduled gig all year, how much help will she really be?

Zoxxo

You're not thinking this through. It means that all of the (many, many) fans who want to see her this year have no other choice BUT to come to Austin. That's a PLUS, not a negative.

Z//

BrianCunningham

More than one concert

http://www.circuitoftheamericas.com/events

Zoxxo

You misunderstand.

The topic is that Taylor Swift has only ONE concert scheduled this year - the one at the USGP. That means that all of her fans in the US have to go to COTA - on race weekend - if they want to see Swift this year.

The rest of the concerts that take place at COTA do not expose their fans to F1 racing.

Z//

BrianCunningham

thought you were referring to saving the track