One of the stories that has been floating around the Rally community in the US over the past six months or so has been that ESPN2 had signed on to broadcast the newly formed RallyCross series taking place this fall over three weekends at the New Jersey Motorsports Park. This was to be the launch of Rally in general and RallyCross in particular into the mainstream. Heck, RallyCross (in the form of Super Rally) was even added to the '10 XGames.
So what happened?
It's now almost November, no broadcast has ever been made of either of the first two RallyCross events and no news is forthcoming from Rally America, I mean, RallyCar about the situation which has left fans, competitors and sponsors wondering.
So lets recap the situation using Rally America, I mean, RallyCar's, own "News" page and then I'll throw in a little tidbit at the end...
8/9/10--Quoting directly from the news release entitled America's First RallyCross to Make History, it reads that the new RallyCross series "...will be televised on ESPN2. Details about format and broadcast dates to follow." This seems pretty cut and dry. RallyCross has a TV deal in place and is only finalizing details...
8/27/10--Quoting directly from the news release penned by Rally America, I mean RallyCar's, media partner World Rally Sport and entitled 10 Things to Know About RallyCar's US Rallycross, reads "RallyCar is working on finalizing the TV deal for US Rallycross events." Uh-oh...no mention of ESPN2 here, but Rally America, I mean, RallyCar would make up a story to one of its media partners, would it??
9/28/10--Then, just prior to the second RallyCross event at NJMP we get RallyCar's own press release, Top Drivers Coming to RallyCross #2, in which there is now no mention of ESPN2 and no mention of TV of any kind. But the saving grace here is that a full, nationwide championship with three West Coast events and three East Coast events is mentioned being in place for 2011. Yeah!! Maybe they just didn't bother to mention TV this time AND we've got this thing going NATIONWIDE now!!
10/2/10--In the Tanner Foust Takes the Win release from Rally Ameri...I mean RallyCar, we now have no mention of ESPN2, no mention of TV and no mention of any nationwide series....Uhhh....
10/12/10--RallyCar announces its Stage Rally schedule for 2011 but contains not a word of RallyCross...
10/13/10--Under the release entitled US Rallycross Exploding on International Stage, we have no mention of ESPN2, TV or the 2011 season and we have an announced reduction in ticket prices to $20 a car load, down from $13 a person on Saturday and $22 a person on Sunday...
Now let me be clear. I am in no way saying that there is not going to be a 2011 RallyCross season, nor am I saying that it won't be a Nationwide series. What I am saying is that there is NOT going to be any TV coverage on ESPN2 of any kind, and unless Rally Am...I mean RallyCar forks over a ton of coin to pay for the footage obtained by ESPN2 at the first event, I wouldn't anticipate ever seeing it anywhere.
I spoke today to a highly placed PR employee at ESPN today who has first hand knowledge of what actually occured and it was relayed to me as follows:
"...this was something that was talked about with RallyCar, but was never confirmed and definitely not announced. It was decided to not air the series..."
The source did/would not disclose the reasoning behind the decision but given the low car counts and shockingly uncompetitive distances between finishers I think we can safely assume that it did not make for compelling television...
Maybe this will change in the future but with ESPN getting burned by a roundly panned introduction of Super Rally at the XGames followed by a decision not to continue involvement in the series by ESPN2 after viewing the initial NJMP event, I find it unlikely that any major TV package will be forthcoming for 2011and many questions remain.
Is splitting your already low car count between East and West events a good idea at this point?
Most importantly--How much does the obvious failure of RallyCar (there, I said it the first time) to present reasonable and dependable expectations for its fans, racers and sponsors damage faith in their current announcements?
RallyCar flat out LIED to its public when it announced it had a TV deal in place with ESPN2 and has shown a decided lack of business acumen ever since. I've said it before when observing the downfall of another American motorsports series that I heavily criticized but PERCEPTION IS REALITY.
If sponsors, racers and fans begin questioning the truth of what you are announcing (and at this point they certainly should with RallyCar) then your series is on its way to a rapid fold whether you are NOW telling the truth or not. Being up front, honest and forthright is the ONLY way for a series, especially a small one, to succeed.
It's past time RallyCar (PLEASE go back to the Rally America name!! RallyCar is just plain dumb...someone should swallow their pride, admit their mistake and correct it) starts moving in this direction.
5 comments:
This was an annoying post to read, and does nothing constructive.
Please read up: http://forums.specialstage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42073
Of course its annoying to you...the truth always irritates the mislead...
I am aware of their now announced NBC broadcasts...doesn't change the fact that they originally announced they had a deal in place with ESPN2 and then neglected to tell their public (fans, racers, etc.) that the deal never actually existed and that they were just blowing smoke...
That being said, I am VERY glad they will be having TV coverage, network at that...I hope Aura can put lipstick on a pig though--low car counts and uncompetitive racing does not make for great video...
The inclusion of facts in this article will only make those who disagree, disagree more strongly. When confronted with facts that go against what people believe, people in general do no change their minds, but rather retreat even further, according to a U of Mich study:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/
RA/RC has been been stringing it's racers along with this line (tv coverage is coming) for years now.
Since this article has come out, it has been shown to have many mis-informations and plain old holes. Proper research was not done and both sides were not contacted. This is an opinion piece at best. One that would never see the light of day on a PROPER news website, paper or broadcast.
Furthermore, Mr. Spalinger makes no apologies for his comments and has little regard to the the people and organizations that he is either attacking or apparently supporting. I have high doubts that ESPN would endorse this piece of work, nor would they see any positives from posting this information (assuming it was right in the first place). ESPN has an ongoing relationship with RallyCar (aka. Rally-America) as sanctioning body for the Rally portions of Xgames. I'm sure neither side have any interest in rocking the boat. But that would be my opinion and not fact. (see how that works Mr. Spalinger?)
The initial goal of the letter was to rant about a lack of TV coverage and supposed public scandal associated with it. This, after an NBC (kinda a big network) deal was announced. The "ESPN" producer, (a private production company, TV2GO) has release a statement further punching holes in Spalinger's statement. They stated that the bills have been paid, and that ESPN did not pay for the production but was paid for by RallyCar. It was also announced that the footage, although not aired on ESPN will be aired on NBC. (a further hole in Mr. Spalinger's argument)
Sadly, I believe this is a case of the internet giving voice to those who don't deserve, nor have earned the right to be heard. Plainly said, Mr. Spalinger was more interested in rocking the boat than getting it right!
Mr. Spalinger, I hope you learned your lesson sir.
Jiminy Crickets...Why would I apologize or retract anything when it has all been demonstrated to be true?
I NEVER stated that the article was endorsed by ESPN nor did I state that ESPN had ceased its relationship with RallyCar in terms of the XGames.
What I stated was that RallyCar announced a TV deal with ESPN to broadcast RallyCross events when no such deal existed and then when ESPN told them they would not be broadcasting RallyCross events, they did not acknowlege this fact publicly.
What I did not know at the time was that RallyCar was working to get a deal in place with NBC by shipping the footage collected of the RallyCross events off to Aura 360 for production work--but since I did not mention this part of the story I can hardly be called wrong on that account.
While my detractors say I'm wrong none can actually point out a fact where I actually AM wrong and just call me unprofessional and full of mis-information though, again, no one actually corrects me on any points, they just state that I was wrong and leave it at that.
I will continue to state the facts ad nauseum until those on the RallyCar payroll or fanboy list get it...
RallyCar announced a TV deal with ESPN
No deal existed
RallyCar did not acknowlege the lack of a deal until late October
RallyCar knowlingly misled its public by hiding said info.
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