AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CEO MICHAEL LOCK: PART 1
P90
Interview
And are the promoters happy? Are you get-
ting people to physically turn up to go through
the gate and earn them some money?
Yes, but the hardest part of the business is
getting people to get out of the house, to travel
to an event and sit and enjoy that event for four to
six hours, it's the single hardest thing to do. If you
look in the grandstand at any race, you see the
majority of the people are Baby Boomers who've
done this for 30 to 40 years and love it. We're try-
ing to persuade younger generations to physically
attend the events, but they look at you quizzically
while they hold their eight-inch screen in front of
themselves, and watch it from their own couch or
their own bedroom and say, "Why would I want
to go to the event?" This is a cultural thing, which
many other outdoor sports are also challenged
by. Nevertheless, our crowds are increasing, and
that's bucking the trend of many such sports, but
we're aware we come from a low base. I'm not
complacent about it, we're always renovating the
show, and we now offer a lot of off-track entertain-
ment and family friendly entertainment, too. Plus,
we've re-engineered the events to be much more
"We're trying to persuade younger generations to
physically attend the events, but they look at you quizzically
while they hold their eight-inch screen in front of themselves,
and watch it from their own couch or their own bedroom and
say, 'Why would I want to go to the event?'"
Lock wants to see more young racers coming up through the ranks such as Dalton Gauthier.
