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Jamie McMurray cost Atlanta Motor Speedway a boatload of cash
By Jay Busbee
Jamie McMurray won the Daytona 500, and everybody's very happy for him -- though some may be more happy than others.
Count 2,000 Atlanta race fans in the "more happy" category. Thanks to McMurray's win, they cashed in on an Atlanta Motor Speedway promotion to buy tickets to the March Kobalt Tools 500 for exactly $1. The tickets were scheduled to be sold for the cost of the winning driver's number, up to $50. (And yes, they apparently were cool with giving away tickets for free had #00 David Reutimann won.)
The tickets they gave away weren't cheap; these were regularly $59, and so the 2,000 seats "cost" AMS over $100,000. In addition, the speedway offered a buy-one-get-one-for-a-buck promotion through Wednesday morning for $85 tickets.
According to local news reports, Atlanta race fans began lining up shortly after Daytona ended and hung around until the ticket office opened at 7:30 the next morning. Bear in mind that it was cold, raining and nasty at the time, and you're talking about some seriously dedicated race fans.
It's a nice promotion, and Atlanta Motor Speedway deserves praise, though I've got to wonder if they'll make up the lost revenue by tacking an extra buck onto beer. (Probably not.) If it was me, though, I'd have low prices to get in and charge people double to leave.
By Jay Busbee
Jamie McMurray won the Daytona 500, and everybody's very happy for him -- though some may be more happy than others.
Count 2,000 Atlanta race fans in the "more happy" category. Thanks to McMurray's win, they cashed in on an Atlanta Motor Speedway promotion to buy tickets to the March Kobalt Tools 500 for exactly $1. The tickets were scheduled to be sold for the cost of the winning driver's number, up to $50. (And yes, they apparently were cool with giving away tickets for free had #00 David Reutimann won.)
The tickets they gave away weren't cheap; these were regularly $59, and so the 2,000 seats "cost" AMS over $100,000. In addition, the speedway offered a buy-one-get-one-for-a-buck promotion through Wednesday morning for $85 tickets.
According to local news reports, Atlanta race fans began lining up shortly after Daytona ended and hung around until the ticket office opened at 7:30 the next morning. Bear in mind that it was cold, raining and nasty at the time, and you're talking about some seriously dedicated race fans.
It's a nice promotion, and Atlanta Motor Speedway deserves praise, though I've got to wonder if they'll make up the lost revenue by tacking an extra buck onto beer. (Probably not.) If it was me, though, I'd have low prices to get in and charge people double to leave.