Brno Grand Prix? There is a risk of more expensive tickets
The most expensive item is a listing fee every year before the Grand Prix. This year it was about one hundred and fifteen million crowns. "The mass of people who come to Brno at the Grand Prix will spend money there on accommodation, food or entertainment, which should more or less offset the costs associated with organizing the event, including the enrollment fee," assessed economist Petr Pelc.
According to him, the importance of the race is also in attracting tourists to the city. "Brno doesn't have that many of the world's tourist attractions. The Grand Prix also attracts visitors from abroad. It is important for Brno as well as, for example, the Tuřany airport or the exhibition grounds. And these are projects that are supported with public money," the economist added.
Grand Prix in Brno
- Costs for the past five years: CZK 686 million
- profits from the past five years: CZK 682 million
- problem: lack of money to host, increasing parking fee for Dorna promoter company
- possible solutions: more money from the state, use of advertising space, increase in ticket price
- state of play: negotiations for a new contract to host races for the next five years
According to the director of the Institute of Public Administration, Filip Hrůza, the organizers must now evaluate whether the race is advantageous for Brno. "Grand Prix is siphoning money out of public budgets for other matters. To some extent, however, it is a political and not an economic issue," he thinks.
In the future, the cost of a motoring event may be even higher. In fact, the option of increasing the enrollment fee is almost double that.
"The situation is not closed, we must try to negotiate the best possible terms with Dorna. It also depends on the extent to which the state is ready to contribute to the race. Should the worst-case scenarios come true, I fear it is not realistic for the city and the county to pay the amount," admitted Mayor of Brno Markéta Vaňková.
As the daily Equality has already reported, representatives of both the South Moravian Region and Brno are also discussing the possibility of using advertising due to difficulties in raising money for the Grand Prix. "Dorna's condition is that advertising must be placed in places that don't work on cameras. The choice of companies is also limited, because if Dorna has a general sponsor, then a company from the same area cannot be the second sponsor," Vankova explained.
Organisers can also get more money from tickets in the coming years. "We have to sit down and say what the cost will be. And we have to adapt the revaluation of tickets to this," said Brno opposition representative for the ANO movement and former mayor Petr Vokřál.
D5 accident: Highway closed by truck collision
The incident was reported around 08:00 on the 22nd kilometer in the direction of Prague. "The highway is closed, at least for freight traffic. Passenger cars can go through a gas station," police spokesperson Michaela Richterová said in the morning. Traffic was restored around 2:30 p.m. Preliminary damage, according to Richter, is at least two million crowns, the cause of the accident is being investigated by police officers.
Central Bohemian Fire Department spokesman Petr Svoboda said one truck was carrying passenger vehicles and the other a plastic granulate. "Due to the large impact, the transported vehicles were shifted, which firefighters had to first secure against a possible fall," he added.
One of the cars had a damaged fuel tank, from which about 200 litres of diesel fuel leaked. Another 200 litres were drained by firefighters. Due to the fuel leak, workers from the Beroun City Council's environmental department were called to the accident. The release of crashed vehicles and the freeway was cleared by a private company, which also extracted contaminated soil.
