Originally Posted by
gsteinb
I think part of the problem is we want to look at race promoters as business people with social skills and a vested interest in customer service. In actuality they're doing the racers a favor, and usually get a ration of **** in the process. There's little to no money to be be made. The things they could do to promote the sport in general won't give them any sort of even nearby payback and would simply add to their work load and take them from their paying jobs and families. To give to one group of racers always means taking away from another, whether it's prize money, laps, or race fields. I can't think of a more thankless thing to do, and it's the reason why most northeast promoters have moved on. @
DieterDrake always had great insight into the life and aggravations of a promoter.
Thanks, Gary. Great discussion and thoughts, above.We moved on from sanctioned road racing in 2015-16 or so because of the diminishing returns on that style of racing that were/are obvious. There's just no (financial, liability) upside to it anymore, except in some rare cases. That said, I'd organize sanctioned races again if I thought there were a long term opportunity. I'm not optimistic about that, though.
I'm not sure anyone here has mentioned the demographic shifts in cycling since 2011 or so. That is, there's really no lasting recruitment into the road side of the sport that occurred in the 2000s among the 15-23 year olds (this is not true for CX, however, where it's doing quite well). This is the main reason road racing is not doing well in its traditional form. There are separate reasons as to why kids aren't racing bicycles on the road, but the demographic changes are worth noting in any case. We can point fingers and assign blame for this, but it's something that probably would have happened regardless. The "Lance Years" were quite obviously a bubble for racing from which many promoters (including me) benefitted.
While all the above has and is happening, non-sanctioned mass-start riding and racing is thriving everywhere. Everywhere. To the average cycling consumer (sanctioned road racers don't even register on this scale) - but more importantly the general public (sponsors, spectators, municipalities) - there's no difference between the two. Mass-start is the future of road racing...