Published by Free Malaysia Today, image from Free Malaysia Today.
It’s the season of loud engines roaring through the tracks of the F1 Grand Prix again and with it the prestige and privilege of hosting such a monumental race, which is beloved by fans all over the globe. This is an opportunity for some serious discussion about its benefits and drawbacks.
Two years after the 2017 race held in Malaysia’s famed Sepang Circuit, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has expressed enthusiasm for hosting it again. Attending a function in Kuala Lumpur last month, he said Malaysia was in serious contention to bring back the Grand Prix to the Sepang Circuit. However, he was not certain whether it was going to be next year or the year after.
Mahathir purports that Malaysia’s interest in the Grand Prix is still strong, and that the race has not only stimulated Malaysians to go into the automotive industry and encouraged locals to purchase all kinds of new cars, but also boosts the tourism industry which is Malaysia’s pride and joy.
He supports his argument by saying that, “by having the Grand Prix, we will be able to get spectators, more than 100,000, and that will be worthwhile for us. And when the television stations show the race all over the world, something like 200 million people watch the Grand Prix, which is a good advertisement for Malaysia”.
If it happens, Malaysian F1 fans can finally stop shivering in anticipation, and witness the high adrenaline and deafening sport again right here in Malaysia instead of having to travel to Singapore.
It is believed that Malaysia will get a marketing boost of 200 million spectators, who will be watching from all over the world, including those live streaming online.
The tourism sector is expected to benefit the most. The prime minister has said that by 2020, Malaysia would have 30 million visitors to the country. Thus, theoretically, by bringing F1 back to Malaysia, our economy will get a huge boost.
However, dissenting voices are calling for a reality check on the prime minister’s aspiration.
Sepang International Circuit CEO Razlan Razali has voiced concern regarding this, especially since the country is supposed to take a break from hosting the sport.
He claims that “we still have to maintain the fact that Malaysia is still taking a break from the previous race and is currently recuperating for the next five years.
“It is not as simple as wanting to do it next year and things will materialise the way Tun M imagines it to be.
“Such a monumental and time-consuming race requires more than just enthusiasm, a lot more thought is required to be put in, some studies to be done.”
He also said that “we need to know where it (the sport) is right now, how interesting it is and, most of all, how much it’s going to cost”.
Journalist Christian Sylt, writing in The Independent of May 11, said “viewers have been turning off in Brazil and Italy, which are home to the sport’s two largest TV audiences. F1 has lost viewers in Italy due to pay-TV channel Sky Italia becoming the exclusive broadcaster this year while interest has softened in Brazil as its local hero Felipe Massa retired at the end of last year”.
There is an obvious decline in the sport’s popularity. The seats needed to occupy the stadiums are no longer purchased and audiences do not feel compelled to experience the sport in person.
In 2016, the SIC Grand Prix only sold 60% of its tickets despite the race being moved to the second half of the year. The Malaysian Grand Prix organisers cited a decline in ticket sales, viewership and tourist numbers for their decision to pull the plug on a race that first made its appearance in 1999.
In a Business Insider article on April 22, 2019, the prime minister was reported as saying Malaysia would benefit greatly from hosting the Grand Prix again — due to the viewership and advertisement that the country would receive. Has he taken into account the country’s financial situation?
In 2017, former prime minister Najib Razak made the decision to terminate hosting the sport from 2018 onwards, citing the decline in returns as the primary reason.
The public has also voiced its disagreement, commenting on issues such as Malaysia’s RM1 trillion debt as well as how the majority of the population does not watch F1 and cannot afford tickets.
Even former youth and sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin said: “The cost to host F1 is more than RM200 million annually, with almost all borne by the government. You (the government) say that we do not have money, hence we must be prudent. Allowances for national athletes also are being cut and sports science staff did not get their contracts renewed.
“Yet, you still want to have F1 again. So, no to the F1.”
It is believed that in 2016, the annual race-hosting fee cost nothing less than US$33 million (RM135.30 million).
If this is really something the new government wants to introduce, then it will need to find ways to attract more foreign tourists. The expectation is that it will boost not only the ticket sales of the Grand Prix, but the hotel, retail and airline industries. This is due to the foreigners’ higher spending power compared with that of the locals.
Others want to host F1
However, since 1999, Malaysia is no longer the only country outside of Japan to host the Grand Prix. Other countries such as Abu Dhabi and Bahrain in the Middle East, and China and Singapore in East Asia are jumping on the bandwagon.
Tourist numbers will migrate to these other countries since we are no longer the sole host. Incidentally, 2020 is the year Vietnam will host its first F1 street circuit in Hanoi.
In conclusion, as prestigious and exciting as we may think hosting the F1 Grand Prix is, the fact of the matter is, we have to consider first and foremost our own capabilities to not only uphold the standard of the F1 Grand Prix but also to satisfy the fans’ expectations.
Hence, when comparing between the actual cost and the opportunity cost of hosting the F1 Grand Prix, which includes the consideration of (1) the country’s debt, (2) the cost of hosting the event, (3) the decline in F1’s viewership, and (4) other host competitors, it is obvious that this is escapism from actually tackling our own nation’s political problems.
Pakatan Harapan believes that our involvement in the sport is able to benefit Malaysia by giving it greater publicity in a refreshing and invigorating manner.
But the truth is, in the face of Malaysia’s current political situation, taking on this multi-million project, while still in a trillion ringgit debt, will paint the government as short-sighted and immature, only hoping to distract from real issues with fancy fast cars.
Afnan ‘Aqif is Research Associate at EMIR Research, an independent think-tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based upon rigorous research.
刊登在： 马来西亚 Malaysia.
这是大型发动机再次在F1大奖赛的赛道上咆哮的季节，以及举办这样一场纪念性比赛的声望和特权，这是全球各地的球迷所钟爱的。这是一个有关其优点和缺点的认真讨论的机会。
2017年在马来西亚着名的雪邦赛道举行的比赛结束两年后，总理马哈蒂尔·穆罕默德博士再次表达了对举办赛事的热情。他上个月在吉隆坡参加了一项活动，他说马来西亚正在认真地将大奖赛带回雪邦赛道。但是，他不确定是明年还是后一年。
Mahathir声称马来西亚对大奖赛的兴趣依然强劲，这场比赛不仅刺激了马来西亚人进入汽车行业并鼓励当地人购买各种新车，而且还促进了马来西亚自豪感的旅游业。喜悦。
他支持他的观点说：“通过大奖赛，我们将能够获得超过10万的观众，这对我们来说是值得的。当电视台在世界各地展示比赛时，有2亿人观看大奖赛，这对马来西亚来说是一个很好的广告。
如果发生这种情况，马来西亚F1球迷终于可以在预期中停止颤抖，并在马来西亚再次目睹高昂的肾上腺素和震耳欲聋的运动，而不必前往新加坡。
相信马来西亚将获得2亿观众的营销推广，他们将从世界各地观看，包括在线直播。
旅游业预计将受益最多。总理表示，到2020年，马来西亚将有3000万游客到该国。因此，从理论上讲，通过将F1带回马来西亚，我们的经济将获得巨大的推动。
然而，不同的声音呼吁对总理的愿望进行现实检查。
雪邦国际巡回赛首席执行官Razlan Razali对此表示担忧，特别是因为该国应该暂停举办这项运动。
他声称“我们仍然必须坚持这样一个事实，即马来西亚仍然在前一场比赛中休息，目前正在恢复未来五年。
“这并不像明年想做的那么简单，事情将会实现Tun M想象的方式。
“这种具有纪念意义和耗时的种族需要的不仅仅是热情，还需要更多的思考，还有一些研究要做。”
他还说“我们需要知道它（这项运动）现在在哪里，它有多有趣，最重要的是，它需要花多少钱”。
记者克里斯蒂安·西尔特（Christian Sylt）在5月11日的“独立报”上写道，“观众已经在巴西和意大利关闭，这两家电视台是这项运动的两大电视观众的家。由于付费电视频道Sky Italia今年成为独家广播公司，而意大利F1在意大利已经失去了观众，而巴西当地英雄菲利普马萨于去年年底退休时的兴趣已经减弱。
这项运动的受欢迎程度明显下降。不再购买占据体育场所需的座位，并且观众不会被迫亲自体验这项运动。
2016年，尽管比赛进入下半年，但SIC大奖赛仅售出了60％的门票。马来西亚大奖赛的组织者表示，他们决定取消1999年首次亮相的比赛，导致门票销售，观众人数和游客人数下降。
在2019年4月22日的商业内幕文章中，据报道，总理表示，由于该国将收到的收视率和广告，马来西亚将再次举办大奖赛，从中受益匪浅。他是否考虑到了该国的财务状况？
2017年，前总理纳吉布拉扎克决定终止举办这项运动，从2018年开始，主要原因是回报率下降。
公众也表达了不同意见，评论了马来西亚1万亿令吉债务以及大多数人不看F1但买不起票的问题。
甚至前青年和体育部长凯里·贾马鲁丁也说：“每年主办F1的费用超过2亿令吉，几乎全部由政府承担。你（政府）说我们没有钱，所以我们必须谨慎。国家运动员的津贴也在减少，体育科学人员也没有续签合同。
“但是，你仍然希望再次拥有F1。所以，对F1没有。“
据信，在2016年，每年的赛事费用不低于3300万美元（1.353亿令吉）。
如果这是新政府想要引入的东西，那么就需要找到吸引更多外国游客的方法。预计不仅会推动大奖赛的门票销售，还会促进酒店，零售和航空业的门票销售。这是因为外国人的消费能力高于当地人。
其他人想主持F1
然而，自1999年以来，马来西亚不再是日本以外唯一举办大奖赛的国家。其他国家，如中东的阿布扎比和巴林，以及东亚的中国和新加坡，都在加入这个行列。
旅游人数将迁移到其他国家，因为我们不再是唯一的主人。顺便说一句，2020年是越南将在河内举办首场F1街道赛道的一年。
总而言之，正如我们认为举办F1大奖赛一样有声望和令人兴奋的事实是，我们必须首先考虑我们自己的能力，不仅要坚持F1大奖赛的标准，还要满足球迷的期望。
因此，在比较实际成本和举办F1大奖赛的机会成本时，包括考虑（1）国家债务，（2）举办活动的成本，（3）F1收视率的下降， （4）其他东道主的竞争者，很明显，这是逃避实际解决我们国家政治问题的逃避现实。
Pakatan Harapan认为，我们参与这项运动可以让马来西亚更有吸引力，以更清新，更有活力的方式进行宣传。
但事实是，面对马来西亚目前的政治局势，承担这个耗资数百万美元的项目仍然处于万亿林吉特的债务之中，将使政府视为短视和不成熟，只希望能够分散注意力与实际问题的关系。快车。
Afnan’Aqif是EMIR Research的研究助理，EMIR Research是一家致力于数据驱动型政策研究的智囊团，主要围绕敬业度，适度，创新和严谨原则。
