Chris Pook making the rounds to promote Formula One racing in Long Beach

Pook making case to bring F1 back to Long Beach

More than 40 years ago, Chris Pook made his case to the city to hold a major auto race in the streets of Long Beach, an idea that spawned the Long Beach Grand Prix and changed the look and stature of the city.

Forty years later, the entrepreneur is making his case for a major change in that race.

Pook wants to bring the venerable Formula One (F1) racing back to the streets. He is working with F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone and F1’s parent company, Delta Topco, to bring a race to Southern California.

The contract for the current Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which is operated by the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach in association with IndyCar racing, is up for renewal – the current deal is through 2015 – and the city is expected to decide within the next month whether to issue a request for proposal to consider the F1 bid.

Pook, who sold his interests in the Grand Prix in 2002 when he briefly took over CART racing, then the race itself was sold in 2005, spoke at Tuesday’s Long Beach Century Club meeting to present the F1 proposal, which was made public two weeks ago, and again in an interview Wednesday.

“We just want the opportunity to state our case, to be considered," Pook said. “We just want them to take a look at what we bring to the table. That’s all we’re asking."

Pook detailed some financial facets of a deal that runs counter to assumptions made about F1:

• He said that it would cost $9.2 million to improve the current circuit to make it meet F1 standards, and those costs would be paid by the promoter.

“People have been saying it would cost $100 million," Pook said, “and that number has just stuck in people’s minds. It’s not even close to that." F1 circuits must be 2.254 miles long and his proposed plan meets that by extending the course at two points.

• The promoters won’t charge the city a fee to conduct the race, and will reimburse the city for all expenses and pay it an administrative fee to cover indirect expenses. Pook said reports of a $25 million fee are in error.

He added that a two-story building would be built along Shoreline Drive adjacent to the garage and pit area that would house F1 operations as well as luxury suites, and it would be donated to the city for use by other events, like the Long Beach Marathon.

• He cited financials for the F1 race held in Austin, Texas, to indicate the anticipated revenue for the city.

“The net tax gain for Austin in 2013 was $4.9 million, and the net gain for Texas was $17.2 million," he said.

“The value of F1 is that it provides new money," Pook said. “F1 racing draws a worldwide audience. You would be tapping into new consumers."

• He estimated that 98 percent of race day crowds would come from outside Long Beach and that 25 percent would come from outside the United States.

Pook added that ticket prices would be comparable to those for other major sports events, like the Masters and U.S. Open, and range from $75 to $475 for a three-day pass.

He also said the value of TV revenue would spike in comparison to the current IndyCar television deals; that a Long Beach F1 race would return to live network television on NBC; and that upwards of 16 hours of race coverage would air during the week on NBC’s sports cable network (NBCSN).

As far a contract is concerned, Pook said F1 would agree to terms like the current Grand Prix/IndyCar deal – a five-year contract with a renewal option for an additional five years.

He said concerns about the capricious nature of the 84-year-old Ecclestone are mitigated by Ecclestone’s decision to step down as F1 CEO by the end of the year.

Pook said F1 wants to have three races in America by 2016 – the current race in Austin and one on each coast – to go with a current race in Montreal and a proposed race in Mexico City. That would give it a toehold in North America and mitigate travel costs for race teams.

“The parent company knows that America is the largest automotive market in the world and they want to expand here. Long Beach was a big part of F1 then and they want to be back here," he said.

“The market value here is huge. Delta Topco is a $9 billion company that wants to push the F1 brand, and it’s important to the companies that are part of F1 sponsorship. The series runs in Europe and Australia and is now in Singapore and Dubai, and it wants more exposure in the United States."

Pook and his promoter’s group have had talks with officials in L.A. County and Orange County about staging an F1 race there. “F1 wants to be in Southern California by 2016," he said. “I’m conflicted, because I want to see it here. It’s where we started and it’s a big piece of history."

The Grand Prix’s initial relationship was with F1, with Formula 5000 cars running in 1975 and then the high-end F1 cars through 1983. Costs and city requests for a change in the circuit led the Grand Prix to switch to Championship Auto Race Teams (CART, as IndyCar was once known).

The IndyCar circuit began to fray in the mid-’90s when Indianapolis Motor Speedway chief Tony George launched his own Indy Racing League to take the power in the sport away from the race teams. That war led to CART declaring bankruptcy in 2002.

The sport remained splintered until a unification agreement in 2008, but IndyCar continues to struggle with changes in management, financial support and media awareness. OC Register