… Motorsport UK moves up another gear …
While the
public applauds the fantastic achievements of Lewis Hamilton in securing a
sixth FIA Formula One World Drivers’ Championship title, there are issues to be
addressed at the grass roots level. Throughout 2019 Motorsport UK has been
evaluating the best strategic options for the future of motorsport in this
country; and today the governing body has released details of a new investment
strategy to safeguard the sport.
Motorsport UK has been looking closely at the fundamental challenges to the
future of the sport, that together have contributed to a gradual decline in
participation numbers over the past decade. These include the diminished
visibility of the sport at all levels and particularly at the grass roots,
which in turn creates challenges to bring new recruits into the clubs and
events. A lack of younger people in the sport, a need for greater diversity,
and a lack of a clearly defined competitor and officials’ education pathways.
As with all forms of entertainment, there is now stiff competition for a share
of people’s leisure time; and also larger threats on the horizon in the form of
environmental issues and the changing role of the car in society.
Motorsport UK has consulted with its members and clubs, responding to feedback,
to develop a new investment strategy designed to build a fairer, stronger more
sustainable future for the sport. From its strategic review, four main areas
that require investment have been identified:
- Sport Promotion
- Member and Club development
- Education and Training
- Sport Development and Innovation
At the core
of this is the need for a new economic model that will see licence and permit
fees bolstered by other sources of commercial income in order to invest more
back into the sport. These will unlock hidden value for the members and provide
new commercial partnership opportunities.
The review showed that the permit and licence architecture had become overly
complicated and confusing, and in the new streamlined categories, club permits
will match the new licence types and as a result licence pricing has been
altered for 2020 onwards.
For example, to make it easier for people to get into the sport at club level, a new free of charge entry-level licence is being introduced, called an RS Clubman licence.
The licence
changes are intended both to introduce a fairer system and to encourage
participation at grass roots level by removing a barrier to entry, and placing
more emphasis on pay-as-you-play. For other licence types, there will be some
price increase, which will vary across licence types. Motorsport UK members
will be advised individually by letter on these specific changes on 18 November
when applications open for 2020.
Importantly, the creation of a comprehensive Member Benefits scheme, offering
savings on branded products and services, makes it simple to recover the cost
of licence fees through the scheme. This is available to Competitors, Marshals
and Officials.
Alongside the new investment strategy, Motorsport UK has made a number of
changes to benefit its members, which reduce hidden costs and increase
accessibility for competitors. These include:
- No more expensive medicals for those competitors aged between the ages of 45 and 60
- Removing licence fees for all Officials who volunteer their time to keep the sport fair and safe
- Track day personal accident insurance now included with Motorsport UK competition licence (up to five times p.a.)
- No more charges for the novice Starter Pack, now it is just the cost of the licence
- Improvements to members’ personal accident insurance, in addition to significantly increased public liability insurance of over £100m
Motorsport UK’s move to a new economic model, and the resulting plans for investment, are designed to ensure motorsport can flourish in the UK; and so that the grass roots of the sport can also reflect some of the recent successes at the elite level.
Hugh Chambers, Motorsport UK CEO said: “We studied the challenges very carefully, and concluded that we need a fresh approach and a five-year plan to reinvest in the sport. This will involve a rebalancing of the economics, and in time, the diversification of revenues away from our current reliance on the competitors. In the short term we have new initiatives that will bring money into the sport and ease that burden right away. We have a fantastic and committed community, and based on the feedback we have to these changes, I am sure that we can all work together to build a stronger future for the sport. I would like to thank everyone for the part they play and the contribution that they make”.
To view Motorsport UK’s Investment Strategy in full see this link:
https://www.motorsportuk.org/assets/motorsportukinvestmentstrategy.pdf