Story By: KALI LANDIS / BAPS MOTOR SPEEDWAY – YORK HAVEN, PA – Whether it’s the national or local level, there is more competition for the consumer’s entertainment dollar than at any point in the history of sports. It’s led to a stand-still in cross promotion.
The fear is that if you feature another form of entertainment, people will leave your venue for another. Kolten Gouse and the management team at BAPS Motor Speedway see it a different away and have embraced these abandoned partnerships.
BAPS Motor Speedway has formed relationships with businesses such Corn Cob Acres, Field of Screams, and the Carlisle Fairgrounds. Partnerships also include other sports, such as the York Revolution, a minor league baseball team, and the Harrisburg Heat indoor soccer organization that plays at the Harrisburg Farm Show Complex.
“There are a couple of different ways to look at it, but we feel it’s a positive to partner with these other organizations,” Gouse said. “It works for both sides. We expose our fans to our partner’s form of entertainment, and we get an opportunity to market to the people who attend these other businesses.
“It’s important to generate new race fans, and these venues give us that opportunity. They have successful businesses, and hopefully, we get to expose them to racing and some of the things we have going on at the speedway.”
The cross promotions with these different forms of entertainment occur in a variety of ways. There are nightly sponsorships, signage, ticket giveaways, and special announcements over the public address system.
For Gouse, it’s just another way to continue BAPS Motor Speedway’s community initiatives. And like those other programs, the goal is to foster successful relationships to help build the success of local businesses.
“If other forms of entertainment are successful, it makes the region stronger,” Gouse said. “We want to be a part of that, and if we can be one of the leaders in putting it together, we will probably benefit from it, as well.
“You can never do too much promotion. We’ve experienced that with some of our events, and we just want to pass that along and help any way we can.”