Planning for next uears series have already started for many.
What changes will we see for 2022 with rallyes, car classes and new promotor?
Who will we see in what cars next season?
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Planning for next uears series have already started for many.
What changes will we see for 2022 with rallyes, car classes and new promotor?
Who will we see in what cars next season?
Opel set to return:
https://dirtfish.com/rally/erc/opel-...-factory-team/
Poland, Liepāja, Rome, Zlín, Azores, Fafe, Hungary, Canarias
https://dirtfish.com/rally/erc/erc-t...aming-in-2022/
A mistake; needs free to air streaming...... they'll never learn.
ERC this year has free streaming on some stages and the overall quality is really bad. (guess a lot of that is due to budget)
Better some payment for hopefully a much better product. If it will be like current allive in WRC that indeed is a much better product, even with the "allblack" periods.
I'd also say that paying to watch has become much more common these days with "everyone" paying for at least some streaming service (Netflix+++++).
Ideal will be a boundle with WRC and ERC.
Hopefully we will get a discount if we want both!!:D
Feeling optimistic !!!
What they offering sounds genuinely good. The big question is pricing of course, and how that might interact with WRC All-Live.
One other issue this raises is WRC2.. if ERC is going to be All-Live, unless something changes with WRC2 promotion/coverage then ERC is going to be a superior product for sponsors/manufacturers running Rally2 cars.
I don't think I'll pay extra for ERC All Live with copy/paste format. All Live doesn't work for 'dipping in' for me, it either gets my full attention watching racing action or it's not on. Then it also either consumes most of my weekend or it's wasted money. I can watch too much rally. I'll probably stick to ERC highlights packages if they are made.
Let's stay realistic now. WRC is niche and ERC is even more. The smaller it gets, the smaller the potential audience.
On top of everything, it seems like everyone is trying to establish their own platform. There won't be enough subscribers to make all of them financially viable as at one point people will need to decide what they follow and what not. They'll need to bundle it with their other series.
This is true, but it also depends what else they do. They could for example stream ERC powerstage (if it happens) also on Youtube.. maybe they will make a highlights programme that is distributed further afield than just Eurosport? All-live is for the hardcore fans but as long as the freely available stuff is decent it doesn’t have to be negative that All-Live is behind a paywall.
Just pray that the Youtube output is better than what they provide for WRC2.
Yes, exactly. How many people actually watch it? Looking at the live broadcast from Azores no more than 6000 viewers. And how many of them watch it really live? 300 - 400 viewers? That's not many, to put it mildly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kdMjBLlv3g
Surely ERC will have to be bundled in with WRC All Live, at least. 'All live' gets more content, ERC gets on a level platform with the WRC (whether that's good enough is another question). I've got to say, it would make it more likely that I'd subscribe to 'All Live'. I got stung for the full price in 2020 and this year only used the few free months I got as recompense for that, first year I haven't paid for it. Only seeing half the rallies live has really affected my interest, particularly towards the end of the season. If it stays around the same price, it makes All live better value. That said, I wonder if it wouldn't be better to have ERC 'All Live' on You Tube, where it could be an advert for ERC and WRC All Live. Though that'd presumably rely on each ERC having a national tourist authority to pay for it...
A few off the top of my head, just in motorsport; Nurburgring (VLN) series, Blancpain GT series, the European Le Mans series all on YouTube, IMSA Weathertech on the series website, the last rounds of the Hard Enduro series on RedBull TV; all free to view. And there are others.
They obviously think rallying is a bigger sport than it actually is - and a paywall is the way to go. I've news for them - it isn't.
Let's look at it the other way. Current free ERC coverage is simply bad and there is little reason for it to continue like that.
If you want better coverage you need more money from somewhere. They chose to get it from paid subscription. The long term thinking about that is subscription -> better coverage -> sell coverage to more customers/tv channels etc.
Where do you suggest the money should come from, especially if rally is a tiny sport?
Some big sponsors suddenly appearing out of the sky?
...or do you think that crap coverage for little funds (and for free) should stay?
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Well the number of spectators at the rally is limited and will likely stay limited or even become more limited in the next few years (COVID, travel costs etc...). The number of "possible" online spectators is unlimited in comparison.
So for long term the sport needs to aim for online spectators.
The really big discussion is if it should aim for online "live" spectators or "watch cool vids later" spectators.
Subscription doesn't give you more money, it makes the product more exclusive and nothing more.
At the very least, don't the Azores and Canaries only get on the calendar because they're willing to pay a reasonable amount for the honour/publicity of being on the calendar? While it might not fit with Ypres' model while being said to be included on the calendar, if you can get the likes of Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, ect to pay an increased amount for their All Live coverage, maybe conditionally on being rotated in and out the WRC, maybe you can fund it across a season. We were always told Ypres weren't in the ERC because they wouldn't pay the fee asked, so everyone else included must being paying a reasonable fee to be included already.
I'd love to know what the price would be for two days of NEP/All live coverage. Rough estimate, €150k? Surely someone can tell us or provide a better guess.
You could maybe subsidise that with a small rise, or reallocation of funds, of Championship entry fees.
But then face the prospect of reduced entries. Not every driver/car sponsor is in it for promotion, some is just creative accounting which allows privateers to race. Why burden them with costs and promotion obligations they don't particularly want?
Another question could also be how much of AllLive is an added cost? I believe much of the personnel and equipment are there anyway for Rally HQ and WRC TV. Does AllLive subscriptions subsidise that not the other way round, and would Rally HQ and FIA cope without the plane, tracking, safety monitoring etc?
FIA doesn't use the plane for anything I believe. IMO it's used solely as an antena for transmitting the video feed. The helicopter used for taking the video is also used only for the video stream. Both of that alone adds hugely to the cost. After that you need technical equipment and a crew to process the live video broadcasting which is definitely much more complex than an ex-post processing.
I'll add TCR Europe to that list.
All races of Blancpain GT - now called GT World Challenge - continental series (Europe, America, Asia, Australia and an Intercontinental championship) are streamed for free on YouTube, including free practice and qualifying for each race. European events in particular, especially Spa 24h, have a very nice following.
Also the Nurburgring 24h, which is a one off race, has the chat full of invested people during the YouTube stream.
If ERC+ uses all the crew and equipment from WRC+ then it will mostly make use of existing expertise and resources. Some extra onboard cameras should be the only extra material outlay. This makes financial sense rather than having two seperate set-ups.
I see a small subscription increase for a bundle as fair for what we'll get compared to the odd live stage like we had. This would also draw in the rally audience from WRC who dont normally follow the ERC.
Live sport being behind a paywall is a fact of life now. I just hope one of the main sport tv networks still show the WRC/ERC stream, or at least show a live 'tv stage' and the power stage to catch and convert the non-rally fan.
Since 2012 Netflix has had annual free cash flow positive only twice. 2013 and 2020. (https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/will...ine-2021-04-12)
Do you think the promotor has the money to burn like Netflix has been doing to establish itself?
Even if there would be 1000 ERC subscribers paying 100 Euros per year, then that 100k is still peanuts compared to TV rights.
Do you think the costs for the privateers will ramp up just to compete in 1 or 2 events?
Cuz the promoter say "Oh, with more exposure, more drivers will find sponsors to compete"... But normally the reality for the privateers is: "oh, the fee is up by $10k this year. Im out. Just doing my country's championship now"
Which TV is currently paying for TV rights and showing ERC? I am not aware of any TV I can watch it on in the coutries I stay for longer periods.
If some is, that money is clearly not enough to give good and accessible coverage. ( The current free coverage is pretty bad).
How do you suggest they get more money for better coverage then?
Subscription might not give massive ammounts at first, but the potential is quite big.
The promoter has a ready concept and equipment from WRC, so their starting expenses are not as big.
mknight, I have one simple question for you based on your first question. Is there a market for ERC All Live, if there's little interest from TV channels?
Keep in mind, it's far cheaper to improve the highlights than to produce 12-17 live stages.
I don’t know about nowadays, but at one stage the WRC rights holder was actually paying tv some channels to show their programmes.
It’s a shame because I think if live rallying (especially the power stage format) was on FTA tv it could prove very popular but these days rallying is probably not politically correct enough to gain the interest of any major tv channel, in the UK at least. Perhaps if they go all electric or ban men from driving they might stand a chance.
I am guessing that Dirtfish reads forums to keep on top of what is important for the blood-fans of rally.
Maybe they will ask the right people?
Lol. I know subscribers who think rally begins and ends with WRC and wouldn't know what ewrc is if I showed them. The WRC Factbook claims 78million TV viewers per event in 2020. I wouldn't like to guess but it's undoubtedly, significantly higher than your estimate.
Even with 78 million there's the question. Is it unique viewers or cumulative as you can add together all the stage broadcast and highlights viewers?