Quote:
Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith
Indeed, there F1 fans all over the world but its biggest fan base and TV audience is in Europe. Liberty are aiming to grow that fan base in the US, with three Grand Prix and with Vegas being a showcase event. Having the race at a time that will make it difficult for fans in Europe and the US to watch, seems counter intuitive.
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ANY time on this Saturday or next would be IMPOSSIBLE for them to air. Well maybe on ESPN32 but sorry Saturdays from noon Eastern to 3ish am are booked up on ESPN. Fitting this race in before midnight wasn't likely, even the worst college game on Saturday will outdraw the race and ESPN has 30 college games on Saturday in their lineup. Saw they removed a couple late games to afternoon west coast to make it the race work on ESPN.
No, none of that matters in the grand scheme of world wide TV but if the purpose is to grow US audience Saturday afternoon on ABC/ESPN ain't happening late in the season and Sunday outside of pre-1300 is tough for a second weekend even though ESPN has the day free in their lineup but the NFL lurks huge. And LV is Pacific time so 3 hours behind EST, 8 hours from UK. And Vegas may function 24 hours but it's a 10am to 3 am city.
And yes, desert temps make it TOUGH to schedule a good time for the race, but at least they have avoided the desert rains. Seen pictures from my cousin with a foot of FLOWING MOVING water on The Strip, doesn't often but when it does it comes down in buckets. But days in the 30s to nights in the teens isn't uncommon this time of year, I'll bet that pavement will be pretty hot still even with the late start, high sun gets hot even in winter.
That said, the spiderpig track is a DUMB idea and a straight cash grab. Got an update today from AMEX trying to sell ticket packages, they were just a BIT cheaper than the first prelaunch pricing. Went from about 5k per for hotel and ticket to 1500 for decent hotel packages. TMobile had a deal earlier too but was fancy hotels and full package of 5-12k and that was supposed to be a deal?? I'll be interested to get my cousin's take from his buddies after the weekend, he used to work at a few casinos out there and has friends who were ready to go on strike tomorrow before they settled, would have been a MESS without housekeeping, bar tenders and a few other groups all week.