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All I can say is "Wow, what a difference!" Last night my sons and I, along with 65,000 happy fans, packed the sold-out Citrus Bowl for "Monster Jam". I'll be the first to tell you that monster trucks are not my thing, BUT I really appreciate the seamless and professional production that they put on.
There are a few things they do that we can apply to our local tracks too. Yes, I know, trucks and racing are not very similar events, and its tougher for our local tracks to put on 30 shows a year that tend to be similar each week. After all, if they did Monster Jam over and over in the Citrus Bowl, I guarantee they wouldn't sell out every week.
The MJ producers did two things very well: they kept the pace up and ran a 3 hour show with very little down time, and of course they gave the fans what they wanted to see. For example, the point of their "freestyle" competition was to go wild and tear things up. They certainly delivered, in fact very few of the trucks finished that event in one piece, and they ran over everything on the field.
They have the advantage on us in that they didn't have to worry about what competitors are going to show up. They advertise 16 trucks and can list them by name, so they must be bound by a contract to appear. The MJ organization was running 4 other shows last night, all across the country, so instead of dealing with hobbyists like us, the shows are filled by multi-truck, professional teams. They don't come right out and tell the fans that there are 5 "Grave Diggers" in competition at once, it would spoil the illusion.
It was also clear that many of the drivers had media training. If they flipped or broke down, there would be a mic waiting for them as they climbed out so they could ham it up with the fans. Can you imagine the disaster that would be with our drivers?
Anyway, they had a pick-up truck full of pretty girls and a guy with an air cannon standing by. As soon as a truck would break down (and delay the show), the truck would pull out and take a slow lap around the stadium. The girls would get the fans on their feet and the guy would blast t-shirts from the cannon up into the stands. About the time the pick-up went a lap, the mess would be cleaned up and it would be back to business.
Here is a good one that costs NOTHING. Several times during the event, the announcer would urge fans to post pictures from their smart phone to the MJ facebook page. Why? Because all the "friends" of that poster will see them at an event and having a good time. If that happened week after week, don't you think the facebook friends would get curious and want to buy a ticket and see for themselves? Every track in Florida should be doing this one!
There are a few things they do that we can apply to our local tracks too. Yes, I know, trucks and racing are not very similar events, and its tougher for our local tracks to put on 30 shows a year that tend to be similar each week. After all, if they did Monster Jam over and over in the Citrus Bowl, I guarantee they wouldn't sell out every week.
The MJ producers did two things very well: they kept the pace up and ran a 3 hour show with very little down time, and of course they gave the fans what they wanted to see. For example, the point of their "freestyle" competition was to go wild and tear things up. They certainly delivered, in fact very few of the trucks finished that event in one piece, and they ran over everything on the field.
They have the advantage on us in that they didn't have to worry about what competitors are going to show up. They advertise 16 trucks and can list them by name, so they must be bound by a contract to appear. The MJ organization was running 4 other shows last night, all across the country, so instead of dealing with hobbyists like us, the shows are filled by multi-truck, professional teams. They don't come right out and tell the fans that there are 5 "Grave Diggers" in competition at once, it would spoil the illusion.
It was also clear that many of the drivers had media training. If they flipped or broke down, there would be a mic waiting for them as they climbed out so they could ham it up with the fans. Can you imagine the disaster that would be with our drivers?
Anyway, they had a pick-up truck full of pretty girls and a guy with an air cannon standing by. As soon as a truck would break down (and delay the show), the truck would pull out and take a slow lap around the stadium. The girls would get the fans on their feet and the guy would blast t-shirts from the cannon up into the stands. About the time the pick-up went a lap, the mess would be cleaned up and it would be back to business.
Here is a good one that costs NOTHING. Several times during the event, the announcer would urge fans to post pictures from their smart phone to the MJ facebook page. Why? Because all the "friends" of that poster will see them at an event and having a good time. If that happened week after week, don't you think the facebook friends would get curious and want to buy a ticket and see for themselves? Every track in Florida should be doing this one!
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