…the France Family Annex, aka the NASCAR Hall of Fame, ain’t doing so hot.
Erik Spanberg has the latest attendance numbers and they can only be described as dismal. Recall that we were told that some 800,000 people would visit the Hall in its first year. Then that was quietly scaled back to 575,000 given the projected revenues the Hall assumed when it went live back in May. Now with the end of its first summer in sight, the Hall will in fact struggle to hit 400,000 visitors for the year.
Admission revenue is supposed to be $11.5m. or almost three-quarters of the $16.1m. in the Hall expected to take in during its first year of operation. That $16m. number is important as the Hall assumed $15.3m. in operating expenses. The important thing, then, is not the overall attendance number, but the monthly revenue figure.
Using some of the data Spanberg provides, things get scary. The month of June, which should have done killer business, booked only $685,000 in total revenue. That is an annual rate of just $8.2m., half of expectations and some $7m. short of expenses. And that assumes that off-season months do anything like that kind of business, which they will not. Put another way, each visitor in June generated just $24.80 each in total revenue.
If we generously assume 30,000 visitors each and every month, that is just 360,000 for the year. And at $25 each in revenue you are looking at $9m. in total revenue, or $6m. short of expected expenses. Say they somehow manage to hit 400K visitors, that is still $5m. short of expenses.
You tell me where they make that up except from the city of Charlotte and local taxpayers.
Update: Here’s the NYT noting NASCAR’s money woes. Fans are just not spending like they once did.
