Smith Wants State Aid To Help Rebuild Bristol

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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This could delay things.....



Smith Wants State Aid To Help Rebuild Bristol


Bruton Smith confirmed last week that he will reconfigure Bristol Motor Speedway, addressing fan complaints about lackluster racing in recent events.

Now, Smith wants the state of Tennessee to help pay for it.

The Tennessean newspaper reports the Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Chairman met with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam late last week to discuss how the state might help foot the bill for refurbishing the half-mile concrete oval.

Haslam called the talks, “very, very preliminary,” saying no specific proposals were discussed, and no commitments made. “They’re an important part of the state,” he said, “so I sat down and talked with them today. Bristol is a huge part of our state revenue-wise. They didn’t have any specific proposals for us, nor did we have any for them, but it’s important for us to be in conversation with them about how they can get their attendance back to where they want it to be and where we want it to be, too.”
The 160,000-seat facility drew only 102,000 fans for last month’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series “Food City 500;” empty seats Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey told The Tennessean amounted to approximately $500,000 in lost state revenue.
After weighing fan feedback, Smith announced last week that changes will be made. He declined to reveal specific plans for reworking the track, saying details would be released within two weeks. The track was reconfigured in 2007, and fans have expressed unhappiness with the loss of Bristol’s historic “bump and run” style of racing.
Smith said he can return the track to its prior configuration for approximately $1 million, and in time for the track’s next NASCAR weekend in August.
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From here.
 
Do you remember a few years back when he threatened to pull out of Concord with Charlotte Motor Speedway over the dragstrip flap? Eventually the locals cave and he knows it.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
Damn, Bruton has enough money to do the job himself. Leave the taxpayer out of it.
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Perhaps the state should ask Bruton to compensate them for the lost revenue caused by his changing it in the first place.

Bruton likes money. The state should tell him to do what he wants....by himself.
 
wonder if bruton got state aid in 2007 to change it to as it is now? be ironic if the state paid twice to go back to it's original configuration.
 
$1million to someone with a billion dollars is the same as $1 to someone with $1000. From what I've read, Bruton has more than $1 billion. Getting the taxpayers involved is stupid IMO.
 
Matthew2470 said:
$1million to someone with a billion dollars is the same as $1 to someone with $1000. From what I've read, Bruton has more than $1 billion. Getting the taxpayers involved is stupid IMO.
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If he can get tax payers to foot the bill, I'd call that genius on his part.
 
I can't understand why a big city gives up money to allow a team to have access to that market. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

The world is upside down.
 
getadietdew said:
lol,track redo may help,if the hotle owners wernt a bunch of greedy bazzards,it'd help more.
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Exactly. If he wants help from the state or community, they should start by telling the hotels to stop jacking up prices by 200% on race weekends.
 
He's made plenty of millions off of hard working race fans already. It is his track, not the city's. If this works, even temporally he will make his money back. Whats he gonna do with that money? He ain't gonna give it back. Heres a guy that spent millions on a track like North Wilksboro so he could have the date and the track just sits and rots.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
If he can get tax payers to foot the bill, I'd call that genius on his part.
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Genius? I don't think out takes a genius to bully the tax payers. I just think he's being greedy. But it's his right to pursue whichever avenue he chooses.
 
FenderBumper said:
I can't understand why a big city gives up money to allow a team to have access to that market. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

The world is upside down.
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Former Gov here was willing to give Kraft a big wet one right on the lips if the Pats moved to Prov from Foxboro. Then the CT Gov got in the act. Kraft played them like a giant blue fin tuna with each deal getting sweeter and sweeter. Then the Mass Gov grabbed his ankles and kraft got exactly what he wanted from day 1.
Free land, tax breaks and they cry poor mouth. Just one more reason I'm not a Pats fan and dammm proud of it.
 
I don't see the problem local goverments and state goverments work with business all the time tax breaks, loans, cheap land to build/expand on. Hell just look at the NFL I beleive All the stadiums they play in where built with Tax Payers dollars. Why would a racetrack that brings revenue into the area be any different?

Green Bay may be the exception to that because the team is owned by the city/taxpayers?


( In case your wondering, I'm devils advocate because I doubt anyone else on the forum would take Bruton's side )
 
FenderBumper said:
Perhaps the state should ask Bruton to compensate them for the lost revenue caused by his changing it in the first place.

Bruton likes money. The state should tell him to do what he wants....by himself.
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MoMike said:
Well then the state should sue the crusty old prick for f***ing it up in the first place, and destroying revenue.
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We agree!
 
FlFlash said:
I don't see the problem local goverments and state goverments work with business all the time tax breaks, loans, cheap land to build/expand on. Hell just look at the NFL I beleive All the stadiums they play in where built with Tax Payers dollars. Why would a racetrack that brings revenue into the area be any different?

Green Bay may be the exception to that because the team is owned by the city/taxpayers?


( In case your wondering, I'm devils advocate because I doubt anyone else on the forum would take Bruton's side )
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And at the same time, the states are cutting teacher pay, cutting police officers, cutting services, cutting education funding and etc.

The states are crunched as it is because the assholes in the House keep cutting federal funding to the states. The states are passing a ton of costs to local governments. Nobody's debt is being reduced. The costs, no matter how it happens, get sent down to the taxpayer.

This is just like the billionaires who complain about their taxes being too high and not being able to afford their seventh house, demand services be cut or taxes be raised on the poor (who can't afford their one home) so they can get another billion dollars.

It's greed, plain and simple.

Then, the same people who demand the governments give THEM money and build their stuff for them demand government stop spending money. Assholes.
 
If we have a business major on the forum , I would like to know . Is Capitalism still Capitalism ,when it is subsidized by the state ?
 
ted@economy said:
If we have a business major on the forum , I would like to know . Is Capitalism still Capitalism ,when it is subsidized by the state ?
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I'm sure it depends on the personal viewpoint of the business major. Many believe that capitalism is a failure while some think its the only system that works.
 
Texas is paying Bernie Ecclestone 25,000,000 to bring one F1 race to Austin texas per year for several years.
 
Wasn't Bruton saying it only cost a million to fix?
 
MOEJOE said:
Yeah. Texas paying Bernie, 25 million per year for like 10 or 15 years. I can't remember.
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Texas taxpayers are putting up the first $25 million in a deal aimed at luring Formula One racing to Austin.

Typically, local organizers must come up with a sanctioning fee, said to be between $25 million and $50 million each year, to pay Formula One.

Starting in the second year of the contract, proceeds from extra tax revenue attributable to the previous year's event would cover the fee. In theory, in the final year of the 10-year contract with Formula One, the state would be repaid the initial $25 million seed money.

State officials stressed that the money is an investment that will be more than returned to taxpayers in the millions of dollars that would flow back to Texas when several hundred thousand race fans flock to Austin for three days to watch the event.
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While a little dated here's the full article on this.
 
Maybe Bruton has second thoughts?

So complicate matters, get P.O'd and just say the heck with making the changes.
"I tried but they just wouldn't work with me, and BTW I do have a track that wants a second date.


Moving one of the two events may have been the grand plan.
 
Greg said:
Maybe Bruton has second thoughts?

So complicate matters, get P.O'd and just say the heck with making the changes.
"I tried but they just wouldn't work with me, and BTW I do have a track that wants a second date.


Moving one of the two events may have been the grand plan.
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Interesting, but I can't see him ever pulling one of the two races from Bristol. He still had over 100,000 fans there. And, it's not just the butts in the seats, it's also people like me out in his campgrounds. Outside of Talladega, Bristol probably has the largest camping crowd of any other track out there. He has to be making a lot of money there too.
 
Does Tenn have extra money lying around for this? If so fine. If not take him to Daytona, show him the beach and tell him to start pounding sand.

In the midst of the debacle about moving the Pats to Providence from Foxboro it was proven the figures presented by kraft and the NFL about revenue coming to the state were grossly exaggerated. It would have cost the states taxpayers several million a year.
 
FlFlash said:
I don't see the problem local goverments and state goverments work with business all the time tax breaks, loans, cheap land to build/expand on. Hell just look at the NFL I beleive All the stadiums they play in where built with Tax Payers dollars. Why would a racetrack that brings revenue into the area be any different?

Green Bay may be the exception to that because the team is owned by the city/taxpayers?


( In case your wondering, I'm devils advocate because I doubt anyone else on the forum would take Bruton's side )
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Not here in Charlotte, the Panthers stadium was built with private money through the sales of PSLs.

Also, the deal with the drag strip, i agreed with Bruton up until the point he held the city of Concord hostage. I lived about a mile from the speedway right by Concord Mills before all of this happened. All the people that were complaining about the drag strip were people that moved next to the race track after it was built. IMO the city of Concord had no right to tell him he couldn't build the drag strip. Once Bruton threatened to move the track and the city finally backed down, thats where he should have stopped. The city of Concord bent over and let Bruton take them. Shouldnt have happened that way.

The comparison between the NFL and Nascar arent there. These NFL owners have to make payroll, large payrolls, (not saying I agree with tax payer funded stadiums), but these Nascar track owners do nothing but own the track. The money the NFL takes in from the ticket sales go to making payroll for the team. From what it sounds like in Bristol, Bruton is taking the money from the gates and putting in his pocket while asking the state for financial help. Sure he gives the stars a purse to show up at his track, but they aren't on his payroll. He's got plenty of money, he should pay to fix HIS track. He shouldn't get a dime of taxpayer money.
 
Greg said:
Maybe Bruton has second thoughts?

So complicate matters, get P.O'd and just say the heck with making the changes.
"I tried but they just wouldn't work with me, and BTW I do have a track that wants a second date.


Moving one of the two events may have been the grand plan.
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That's a great observation. He jumped right in with some very dramatic statements, and now he feels trapped by those fan votes for changing it back. But after seeing the drama on the last 1 groove ST on the circuit, you would think he'll rip Bristol up and pay for it himself if he has to.
 
I don't know where he thinks the State of Tennessee will come up with the money to help him. They might give him a tax break or two-although I thought they already were; but they don't have a lot of extra money lying around. They already have a huge sales tax and no state income tax so revenue is tight. I'm of the opinion, if he didn't need their help to change it to the current configuration, he should need their help to change it back.
 
mike honcho said:
And he will probably RAISE ticket prices after it's over to help pay for FIXING the track.
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Speaking of ticket prices, I got a response for my input on the surface and it included an offer to buy my tickets now. I responded saying after I know the changes. Who the hell trusts Bruton Smith these days
 
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