I have read this thread with some degree of horror. Some of the posters here are stalwarts of the TT so for them to have such a bad take on this year's event is very worrying. The centenary was always going to be popular so this is the first year the new organization structure can be judged and it seems to be falling short in my opinion.

Firstly, let's get a couple of things straight. If you get 50,000 visitors going to the TT each spending on average GBP800 for travel, accommodation, food, drink and a program that is GBP40million going into the Manx economy. Add to that the increased spend of the locals traveling to see the races, buying a program, eating and drinking (say 35,000 (perhaps optimistic these days) spending on average GBP100 each) which adds another GBP3.5million. So overall say GBP45-50million each year. The positive impact is actually higher than this. With that kind of return why are TT nickel and diming the fans? Surely additional funding should come from the government? This is an easy business case to build (most of it is set out above), either feed the asset or it disappears.

Fair play to Paul Phillips for getting a shiny new logo and cars, franchising everything and increasing the advertising revenues. But the policy of charging for everything is certain to backfire. How many people across the world would like to listen to radioTT but probably won't now? Perhaps they don't know what the TT is yet, or are just occasional fans. Very few of these occasional fans will be willing to pay the GBP15-20 to tune in. So there is one of the biggest sells of the TT to the world gone. The grandstand charges are well documented and for them to be introduced in a year when fans were lied to about the extent of prohibited area restrictions beggars belief in my opinion. Just compare the cost of the TT to any other motorcycle racing event. It is miles off the scale and that is crucial in Jonny Nobody deciding to sack it off in favor of something else.

Easy to criticize I know but some the decisions made this year make it very, very easy. Here would be my quick wins to get the wagon back on the road. Note that my overriding principal is that if you put on a good show the fans will come see it and everything else (manufacturers, riders, advertisers etc.) will fall into place.

1. Prohibited Areas
Being blatantly lied to about the extent of the changes was unacceptable. An apology is in order. It may be that some of the areas we have all watched at in the past were in fact prohibited according to a dusty old book but some knowledge of the real world would have been desirable here. If the show is to go on the current restrictions cannot remain. There needs to be a better solution for fans to waive (or understand that they have no) liability insurance. I for one go to races knowing that in very extreme circumstances I could get hurt but I don't for one minute think that I will then be able to sue. I urge the organizers to look into disclaimers as a way out of this mess. Another thought is to color code viewing areas into more dangerous and less dangerous areas, rather like ski runs. The more dangerous areas may well have less public liability provisions. I can tell you now it would be the 'more dangerous' areas that are packed (provided there are fans left).

2. Entries
38 mile lap with less than 60 bikes? You are having a laugh. Many people would rather see paint dry. More time should have been spent on getting more riders to practice. A goal of a minimum of 110 entries should be set with people designated as reserves if needs be (up to them if they travel - many probably will). Here is a list of riders I compiled just from a very quick review of the Macau GP and Northwest 200 entry list. Now some of these riders perhaps will never do it, some might with encouragement, others might just want to but have never been asked. This is just scratching the surface without looking at the World and British championships and other European road races such as Horrice, Frohburg, Rijeka, Chimay, Mettet, Hengelo to name a few. Many criticize the old guard of rider recruitment, sure they screwed up a few times but they did get hold of some quality foreign riders and never had a field as scarce as this year.

Michael Rutter
Steve Brogan
John Walsh
Jeremy Toye
Thomas Hinterreiter
Paul Cranston
Declan Swanton
Martin Jessop
Christian Elkin
James Redpath
Dave Woolams
Paul Gartland
Rob I'Anson
Patrick Van Gils
Michael Weynand
Steve Allan
Callum Ramsey
John Haner
Adrian McFarland
Barry Davidson
Donald MacFadyen
Matt Layt

If less money was spent on launch events and more on getting new names, there would be a much bigger bang for the buck. I don't care who turns up to the Villa in Feb. I want to see riders in June!

3. Marketing
Why advertise the TT in Bikesport news or Irish Racer (publications only really read by UK bike fans) less than a month before the start of the event? HELLO? People book their holidays in January! Also, how far is the net cast? Spain, Germany, USA, Croatia, far east? I live in the US and the UK, I have never seen it advertised in the mainstream media in either country. Who would come to the TT? Two sets of fans, young 20-30 somethings, 50+ born again bikers. That’s where the campaigns should be targeted. The young guns advertisements looked good but many new fans who might have come to the TT had no idea who was on those posters. John McGuinness wheeling in front of the crowd at Rhen Cullen would have a better impact but I guess you would get done by trading standards for that now.

Also, you have to spend to accumulate, i.e., provide free radioTT, Grandstands etc.

4. Safety
No more hay bales. If you believe that airbags/recticel is the right way to go now then it should be done now, not phased in. That is a issue to sell to the government. Also, no more exposed walls. If as much energy was put into placing portable safety defenses as there was cones and signage before every session the place would be much safer, create better headlines and be much more attractive.

5. Cost
Not easy. But the TT cannot remain uncompetitive from a cost perspective and attract any fans. The Big Weekender package was a decent start. It is important that the event is sold to the Government, not just the fans. Fan's can see a rip-off from a mile away and reputation is virtually impossible to recover. The Government can just see a fat asset getting smaller by the year. What is the problem here?

There should be publicly stated targets on all of these so the public can judge what kind of job the DTL is doing. Even the FA have these now!

No fans, no advertisers, no marshalls, no manufacturers, no teams, no riders, no TT, no jobs! Now that really IS dead simple.

Regards,

Alan