Fresh stats reveal the decline in support for the Superloop 500
Disastrous numbers showing plummeting interest in the Adelaide 500 were critical to the Premier’s decision to kill it off, it can be revealed.
SA News
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Economic activity created by the 2020 Superloop 500 was down 17 per cent on the year before, new figures from the event’s organisers show.
Statistics from the South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) also show a 21 per cent drop in interstate and international visitors.
Economic benefit dropped from $45.9m in 2019 to $38m this year. Interstate and international visitors dropped from 15,200 in 2019 to 11,906 during the same period.
The numbers – alongside figures that showed a 18 per cent drop in job creation and overall attendance numbers – were used to determine the future of the V8 street race.
A decline in corporate revenue, from “double to single digits” also played a part, the Sunday Mail understands.
On Thursday, the SATC and Premier Steven Marshall announced the marquee racing event would no longer take place in Adelaide – after more than 20 years.
Mr Marshall vowed Saturday the event would not be coming back, as his political opponents circulated a petition urging him to reinstate the event.
“It was a very tough decision but I am quite sure it was the right decision,” Mr Marshall said. “What we have seen in recent times is falling numbers, rising costs, lower corporate patronage.”
Mr Marshall downplayed concerns Supercars would pull out of the state completely – and not use racing facility The Bend at Tailem Bend.
“That is a decision for Supercars but what I would say is that Supercars have been at The Bend twice already this year,” he said.
“It (The Bend) is a fantastic, internationally regarded facility, right here in South Australia.”
Labor leader Peter Malinauskas hinted his party would go to the March 2022 election with a promise to bring back the event.
“We are looking closely at the Adelaide 500 with Supercars and I would say watch this space,” he said yesterday.
Mr Malinauskas’s office said, by yesterday afternoon, about 15,000 people had signed a “Save the Adelaide 500” petition started by the Labor Party. The petition was shared on Twitter by South Australian Supercars’ driver Todd Hazelwood.
Meanwhile, the government’s most “vulnerable” MP said she supported the decision to scrap the V8 race.
Liberal Paula Luethen, who holds her northeastern suburbs seat of King by just 0.7 per cent, said multiple events, “not just the one”, could create more jobs.
“I did get a few people write to me to express their disappointment because they really enjoy it,” Ms Luethen said.
“(But) I am comfortable with the decision the Premier has made.”
