APRIL 8, 2004

Funding the French Grand Prix

Jaqcues Regis gave French press details of the budget for the French Grand Prix, explaining how hard it is for a race to survive without government backing. Regis said that his budget for the French Grand Prix is between $19-20m, of which $11.9m will go to pay the fees for holding the race.

Jaqcues Regis gave French press details of the budget for the French Grand Prix, explaining how hard it is for a race to survive without government backing.

Regis said that his budget for the French Grand Prix is between $19-20m, of which $11.9m will go to pay the fees for holding the race.

"We will get between $11-12m from the spectators," Regis said, "$5m from the regional and local governments and $3m from partners, although this money will be largely in the form of tickets sales for their staff and customers. Last year there were only 48,000 paying spectators at the event and this year we hope to increase that to between 50,000 and 55,000. A lot of tickets were free."

The FFSA President said that his organisation will save money because in previous years hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on building temporary grandstands when some of the permanent stands had only 13% occupancy and hopes to attract a bigger crowd by lowering ticket prices and putting in a better show.

Regis said he is worried about the exchange rate between the Euro and the dollar because the deal between the FFSA and Formula One Management calls for a 10% increase in fees each year, rising to $19m a year by 2009. Regis said that the FFSA had received considerable support from Formula One Management and was in the process of negotiating with Allsport Management over rights.