USGP tickets - how do they feel?

[mnkywrch]

I got my USGP tickets today.

They feel cheap, in comparison to my Indy 500 tickets, and previous USGP tickets.

They almost feel counterfeit.

Anyone else?

[Grover]

Yep.

Got mine yesterday and thought the same thing.

[indyrjc]

They are cheap. They are printed on what feels like construction paper. In fact, you can fold them just about as easily as construction paper. These "thin" tickets are just the kind that you might print if you think you are going to have to handle a bunch of them directly over the sales counter instead of mailing them. Cutting the corners on printing is just one more sign that this race may be on the way out very soon. Enjoy Formula One at Indianapolis while you can.

[IndyIRLman]

Re: USGP tickets - how do they feel?

Originally posted by mnkywrch

They almost feel counterfeit.

Anyone else?

This was the first thing I noticed about the tickets.

[Professor Joe]

It is the least popular event at the Speedway. They have to economize somewhere....

[Bill Wicker]

And yet, it's one of the most sucessful races on the F1 schedule.

[PShoe001]

I thought you guys must be exaggerating. You're not.

[MichaelP]

I got my tickets yesterday and the first impression I got was counterfit run off a color copier.

I've been in the printing business for 12 years and I've noticed several cost-cutting measures.

1. The paper: IMS always used safety paper that makes counterfitting much more difficult. In the 80's the tickets had a red film sanwiched between two white layers of paper - if you hold it up to the light the ticket takes on a red hue. Then they started using paper that had faint printing on the back. The paper the F1 tickets are printed on is basically a very thin index card stock - VERY cheap paper

2. The foil stamping: Very simple and plain design. Inexpensive die to make, and about as inexpensive foil stamping as you can get. Contrast with the 2000 tickets that had very elaborate foil stamping.

3. The artwork. Very simple design. Probably saved a couple grand in artist fees.

3b. The simple design is easier to print. Previous years would require printing on only the best of equipment by the best of printers. This ticket can be printed by an average pressman on average equipment.

3c. Fewer Inks. This is straight four color process printing (and barely four color at that). Previous years tickets would put a gloss coat over all or part of the printing (which counts as another ink). Look at last years - the SAP logo is glossy, but the rest of the ticket is semi gloss. BTW, I just noticed - no SAP logo on the ticket! In fact the 2000 tickets used no less than 7 inks, plus elaborate foil stamping.

4. The map on the back. In previous years the image was a crisp and smooth dot pattern - printed out on an image setter with 2400dpi resolution, direct to film or printing plate. This year it looks like the artwork was printed out on a 600dpi laser printer.

[SPM]

MichealP, you seem to know a good deal about this printing.

How much do you suppose 250,000 tickets would cost this year versus last year?

[MichaelP]

I wouldn't even venture a guess, as I work in the quickprinting end of the business, and ticket printing for IMS woudl be at the higher end - plus I don't get involved with pricing. I can only offer this - the cheap artwork on the back of the ticket maybe saved $50. The biggest cost savings would have been in the paper, which possibly could have cut the paper cost in half, or more.

[Richard Kimble]

Originally posted by indyrjc
They are cheap. They are printed on what feels like construction paper. In fact, you can fold them just about as easily as construction paper. These "thin" tickets are just the kind that you might print if you think you are going to have to handle a bunch of them directly over the sales counter instead of mailing them. Cutting the corners on printing is just one more sign that this race may be on the way out very soon. Enjoy Formula One at Indianapolis while you can.

Good lord!The IMS prints cheaper tickets and this is the smoking gun about F1's demise?????????
Holy hyperbole,batman,this is the internet gone amuck.

[indyrjc]

Good point, Richard Kimble. I may be just a little amuck. But the tickets are an indication of something going on. I've seen Indianapolis tickets dating back to the 1950s until the present and they were the most impressive sports tickets that you saw. They were always first class as well they should be considering what they cost. As Michael P explained to us in his posting the card stock was always premium and utilized other techniques to discourage possible counterfeiting. These new tickets look like something done at Kinko's for the annual church bazaar. We'll have to see if it means anything or not but it is definitely a departure from the high standards that we have come to expect from everything associated with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

[naz]

I haven't received my tickets yet (east coast), but I'm sorry to read this. I have ticket stubs from every race I've attended and they're some of my favorite souvenirs.

[SPM]

I didn't infer that a cheap ticket means the event is in trouble.

I just wanted to know if they saved $2000.00 or $200,000.00.

If it saves the Speedway more than $100K I'll forgive them.

[Doctorindy]

After checking mine out closely, I noticed that they are still a WW&L product. Weldon, Williams, & Lick is the top of the line in tickets/credentials printing for all kinds of events. The Speedway has used WW&L for decades for everything, even practice tickets.

But these cheapies make me think this...

I called the ticket office in June to get a ticket. The lady was real nice, and helped me get one right by my friend's seat. I was amazed we got so close. The tickets normally would have been send out by then I think, but she told me they wouldn't go out til August. Makes me wonder that when they did the order for WW&L, they saw the drastically low number of tickets already sold, and figured they'd take a bath if they put in an order for "expensive" style ticket stock. This way, if there are a lot of tickets that go unsold, (I bet there will be) the Speedway will know that they didn't waste money on ordering tens of thousands of relatively expensive pieces of cardboard that are entirely useless come 3 PM on Sept. 28th.

Also, I guess they figure since it's nowhere near a sellout, they have little or NO threat of counterfitting. I bet they'd even invite it...at least it would get people into the gates to buy merchadise/consessions!!!