The South Australian Government’s decision to cancel the Adelaide 500 Supercars race has sparked calls for new events to replace it, as recriminations begin about its decline.
Key points:
- The Adelaide 500 has been held on city streets since 1999
- It will no longer be held from next year
- There are calls for new events to replace it
The South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) announced last night it would not renew a contract with the Supercars Championship to host the event in 2021.
It blamed the coronavirus pandemic as well as a “long-term decline in the core motorsport fan”.
The event had its lowest attendance in 17 years in February, when the pandemic was already on the horizon.
Former Supercar driver and five-time championship winner Mark Skaife said he was “absolutely gobsmacked” by the decision.
Premier Steven Marshall said the State Government accepted the recommendation of the SATC to cancel the event.
He said attendance and corporate sponsorship were down and costs were up.
All the money the Government contributed to the event would go towards other drawcards, he said.
“The budget for the Supercars race has been well north of $10 million for an extended period of time,” he said.
He said crowd numbers would have been even further down in 2021.
“As we learnt more about COVID-19 and the way we can manage COVID-19 events, we realised very quickly this would be unviable in 2021 and, quite frankly, unviable going forward,” he said.
Hope for replacement events
Business SA chief executive and former Adelaide lord mayor Martin Haese said the city would need a new event to maintain economic growth.
“Like many South Australians, it’s always disappointing to hear that a major event is no longer going to feature on the calendar,” Mr Haese said.
Australian Hotels Association SA chief executive Ian Horne, who also sits on the SATC board, said the cancellation would have a “multi-million-dollar impact” on the accommodation sector but its importance had been declining since it was first run in 1999.
He hoped for more funding for other events to be announced in next month’s State Budget.
“We expect every single dollar of savings to be put into new major events and we have a high expectation that they will be significant contributions in terms of bid funds,” he said.
Decision ‘makes no sense’, Skaife says
Mark Skaife, who is still involved with the competition, said the State Government had asked to move the event to the end of the year and organisers had agreed, so it was a surprise to hear it was being cancelled altogether.
“It’s actually the biggest event for us. We love it,” the five-time champion said.
“I’d love him [Premier Steven Marshall] to reconsider the future of the event because it’s so important for the Australian sporting landscape.”
He said the decision “makes no sense”.
“I am absolutely gobsmacked,” he said.
Supercars driver — and 2016 Adelaide race winner — Nick Percat said the Premier’s reasons for scrapping the event did not stack up.
Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas said “cultural elitism” was behind the decision.
“COVID is an absolute rubbish excuse from Steven Marshall,” Mr Malinauskas said.
“We had a race in SA recently in Tailem Bend, Bathurst happened only weeks ago, the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix — an international event — is going ahead next year.
“This is a direct decision of Steven Marshall — of cultural elitism — to cut an event that thousands of South Australians enjoy.”
He said that, according to the Government’s own figures, the race created 435 full-time jobs and filled 90,000 “accommodation nights”.
“It is still the biggest source of revenue for our accommodation providers as an event in comparison to everything else we do in South Australia,” he said.
The Premier’s electorate is in the eastern suburbs, the area where residents are affected the most because of road closures caused by the race.
He denied snobbery had anything to do with the cancellation.
“This is not about what the Premier of South Australia or the Minister for Tourism likes,” he said.
He said there was no reason for Supercars to be surprised since the Government had raised the issue of viability since it was elected in 2018.
Expensive set-up and ‘major risk’
SATC chief executive Rodney Harrex said events like the rugby league State of Origin, to be held at Adelaide Oval next Wednesday, provided a better return on investment than Supercars.
“What we’re going to do is look to these events that we can replace this with,” he said.
“The funding that we put into the Adelaide 500 will be put into a range of events that can drive a range of benefits.”
He said the Bend Motorsport Park, at Tailem Bend, about 100 kilometres south-east of Adelaide, was “an amazing piece of infrastructure” that would continue to host Supercars races for local fans.
“We’ve put a lot of effort in to really build this event — build it for the motorsport fans — but what I would say is we have the Bend and that really is South Australia’s home of motorsport racing going forward,” he said.
He said the cost of building grandstands in the Adelaide Parklands was a “major risk” during the coronavirus pandemic.
It takes months for the structures to be put up and then taken down.
“The building of a street circuit is not viable nor sustainable,” Mr Harrex said.
