Edmonton Indy’s apparent demise is a mess…But who made it?
It’s been a few days since Edmonton race fans were jolted with the news that the Edmonton Indy — one of two yearly Canadian stops for the IZOD IndyCar Series — would be cancelled for 2011. Since the announcement, I’ve been closely monitoring the news and opinions on the matter so I could learn as much as I can before I chimed in.
This much we know: Octane Racing Group, the Indy’s new promoters, and the City of Edmonton were unable to come to an agreement over additional costs that would emerge if the race course was moved from City Center Airport’s Runway 12-30 to Runway 16-34 (which was closed down following this year’s race). The City wanted Octane to shift the course to 16-34 in order to keep the CCA open during the event.
Much has been said since then, with both Octane and the City of Edmonton trying to cast themselves as the wronged party. Meanwhile, IndyCar’s now scrambling to fill a month-long gap in their schedule and local Edmonton businesses are trying to rally to save the event (and all the dinero it brings to their coffers).
A quick look through the comments on the Edmonton Journal and Edmonton Sun‘s coverage reveal plenty of opinions, ranging from ones that have the City setting up the deal to fail in order to grab the CCA’s land to ones that are glad the City has put a stop to a money-losing venture that, in their eyes, has brought little benefit.
Suffice to say, people are talking about how this all went down. One could argue that it’s the most buzz that the event has ever had since it went on the IRL/IndyCar docket in 2008. But whether you liked the race or not, it’s still a shame for the fans that did support the event.
They got their hearts ripped out over a $2-3 million paving bill, and considering that Edmonton is gunning for a 2017 Expo that’s estimated to cost over $2 billion, you can probably figure out why some of them may be a bit annoyed at their City Council right now.
On the other hand, money talks. What’s something we hear a lot about these days? Government spending — or, to be specific, too much spending.
You can argue that the race’s previous promoters, Northlands, made a dog’s dinner out of their job and that the $12 million loss incurred in their three-year tenureship falls on them. And you can argue that Octane, the promoters behind Formula One’s Canadian Grand Prix, would do the job properly for a change. But $12 million is still $12 million and if Octane was unable to stop the bleeding, taxpayers may have been crying foul even more.
After all, Northlands’ losses have been backstopped by the City.
So who’s in the right? I’m not so sure, honestly. As strange as it is to know that Edmonton’s chief financial officer Lorna Rosen apparently didn’t have to warn the City Council or local businessmen about the situation, it’s just as strange that Octane would apparently be blindsided by having to modify the race course — especially when plans were in place to shut down 16-34 in 2009.
As I was perusing the blogosphere for people’s insights, I noticed a comment by ‘JagTechOhio’ on one of Tony Johns’ pieces about the Edmonton Indy. He poses a serious question: Did the City Council dupe Octane into thinking the existing course would still be usable? Or did Octane go ahead with plans in the summer hoping it’d figure something out later on?
Another question: Where was IndyCar in all of this? From what I’ve read over the last couple of days, it sounds like they never saw it coming and never got a warning, either. If that’s true, then this saga is even more bizarre.
Altogether, it’s turned into a real mess that’s making Edmonton and IndyCar look bad. Alberta has lost one of its major events and IndyCar now has to rush together a 17th race or wind up eating a major amount of down time on their 2011 schedule between the Toronto (July 10) and Mid-Ohio (Aug. 7) rounds.
Considering the bit of momentum that IndyCar has created for itself in the last year (increased TV ratings, additional sponsors), this is something the sport does not need right now.
The sooner this mess is cleaned up, the better. But the question remains: Who made it?
