Geico Sues SBI

[DollaBill]

My guess that offer was made by a group which included Gieco and included the Television air time that is in dispute. Today with, no TV, one law suit, may be more to come, only a hand full of racers, and a poor economy, I doubt it is worth even a small fraction of that offer.

Kind of like I should have sold my Citigroup at $65

totally agree.

[MarylandMark]

Boycott KW? I did last year... hated every minute of it but was more because it was KW, not because it was boat "racing" week; except the SOS'ers that were there of course..

[SHARKEY-IMAGES]

Hmmmmmm

Perhaps this is the reason for SBI turning 180 degrees and starts working friendly with OSS after so many years of fighting with them ....

Just a thought ......

I wonder if assets of SBi (if any) start getting placed under OSS for protection?

[Swede]

Does anybody know if DirecTV will get Versus back ? I think only Dish NEtwork has it aroun here. I'm not even sure cable has it around here?

[RHC]

The answer is Post #59, everyone wants to go to KW, but --------------------------!


RHC

[Slandrew]

This will be deleted but sometimes Sharks get bit also!

[LaughingCat]

This will be deleted but sometimes Sharks get bit also!

Had to get my magic decorder ring out for that one.

[Eaton Photos]

Does anybody know if DirecTV will get Versus back ? I think only Dish NEtwork has it aroun here. I'm not even sure cable has it around here?

Locally speaking, in KY & IN, Insight Communications carries Versus. Nationally speaking, Comcast carries Versus, since Comcast owns Versus.

[THEJOKER]

Love Versus!

[Slandrew]

Locally speaking, in KY & IN, Insight Communications carries Versus. Nationally speaking, Comcast carries Versus, since Comcast owns Versus.

I think Visa owns Versa

[LaughingCat]

I love how we're not harping on the lawsuit. . . just figuring out how we'll follow the racers and big players

[SHARKEY-IMAGES]

This will be deleted but sometimes Sharks get bit also!

[Steve Miklos]

This is very unfortunate and will hurt the sport. They have every right to seek their money back. I do not know the details and it is possible that SBI had others who commited and let them down. It takes much more than $150K for a TV package. A good race like St Pete or Savanah will cost that done full tilt.

I do find it interesting that when Mercury Racing stuck APBA LLC for $400K killing racing as we knew it that there was no outcry at all.
Steve

[chewiekw]

So i wonder what this means for the Qatar team? Will they follow Geico to OPA or will they stay with SBI?

[LaughingCat]

Hi Steve,

I will respectfully disagree that this will hurt the sport. . . in the long run. This has a strong chance to be the catalyst for revolutionary change in the structure and public awareness of the sport. This focuses around a TV deal, something we haven't been able to capture on a growing national level before. If offshore racing is to truly reach the fans that cannot attend the races, then we should support anyone who is actively pursuing the cause.

The fact that no one pursued legal recourse in the Mercury Racing/ABPA deal doesn't mean Geico should ignore this situation.

The fact is, GEICO is saying 'enough' to the years of “gimmicks” and fraud cast upon the racers. I believe TEAM GEICO is standing up for all the racers as they have done in the past. I understand there are many gimmicks that have been promised to the racers, many of whom have given financial support, only to see the promises evaporate and replaced by the next gimmick. (I don't want to speak for them, and they are certainly welcome to share past incidences.)

But this case could likely be the OJ Simpson trial of the offshore racing circuit. And by that, I mean a trial that teaches everyone if they see a racing promoter hoping a wall in the middle of the night and throwing gloves in the bushes, we may not want to simply turn the other cheek. (Or give them a free White Ford Bronco.)

Our sport deserves better and at least TEAM Geico is standing up for all racers to give everyone a better operating and racing environment.

Respectfully,

Jon

[MarylandMark]

It takes much more than $150K for a TV package. A good race like St Pete or Savanah will cost that done full tilt.

No disagreeing, just stating what the film says:

Around $70K per 1 hour episode, broken down as $25K for the TV time slot and $40K-$45K for the filming and post production.

[chewiekw]

I still think there is something missing here. I would love to hear the other side of the story...

To me it does not make business sense to bit the hand the feeds you...Without Geico SBI to me does not stand a chance....

Someone took someone but not sure if JC is being played as the fall guy here...

Geico was the Popeyes, Gentry, Apache of the old days why piss them off for 150K....I think someone took JC, and he was left holding the bag...

But what do i know....I am still watching DVD's from the 80's thanks to Big Seas!

[2TR]

So i wonder what this means for the Qatar team? Will they follow Geico to OPA or will they stay with SBI?

Were they ever going to race SBI to begin with?

[Mike A.]

Let me see if I have this correct: SBI makes a deal with CBS to carry the races, etc on a weekly basis.

(Normally, networks pay the promoters for the rights to carry the races, but in this case, it sounds like SBI had to pay CBS to carry the races. That's curious.)

All,

No network pays promoters for the rights to carry boat races, at least not in this country. The standard for at least the last 20 years has been that the promoters have had to pay for the network time and as part of the arrangement the promoter also gets the rights to sell a certain amount of the commercial time and in-show features and graphics.

[Ted]

Were they ever going to race SBI to begin with?

There was talk they were going to race in a hybrid 750/850 cat class, wherever that class ended up, as far as I know most of those boats raced at some SBI races last year.