The South Australian Tourism Commission has today announced that the Superloop Adelaide 500 will not go ahead in 2021, with the contract not being renewed for future years.
This difficult decision was made after careful consideration of a number of factors, namely the impact of COVID-19 on one of the biggest event-builds in the state and the inability to recoup costs in a pandemic.
SATC chief executive Rodney Harrex said South Australia remains a strong supporter of Supercar racing, and would continue to promote the state as a venue for future events.
“South Australia is one of the premiere event locations in the nation and globe, and we will continue to invest in a range of sporting, cultural and arts events to stimulate the visitor economy,” Mr Harrex said.
“Due to the high level of uncertainty around the ability of the event to proceed in 2021, the likely impact on the event for both the consumer and commercial market, and the long-term decline in the core motorsport fan, a decision has been made that it will not be possible to hold the race next year, and to not seek a contract for future years.
“We have been in discussions with Supercars for the majority of this year, working through possible scenarios. At the end of the day, with the current set of circumstances we are not in a position to deliver a sustainable, successful future for the event for next year and beyond.
“This was not an easy decision to make. The Superloop Adelaide 500 has been part of our event landscape since 1999.
“We have a terrific world-class motor racing facility at The Bend. We are very fortunate to have had significant private investment in that circuit, and we already know the motoring faithful are keen to support ongoing races there.”
South Australian Tourism Commission chair Andrew Bullock said the Superloop Adelaide 500 has been a wonderful event for the state.
“We want to thank the thousands of loyal fans, staff, officials, volunteers and suppliers who have worked on this event over the journey. We also want to thank all the commercial partners and businesses who have supported the event, including naming rights partner Superloop,” he said.
“We are committed to delivering world-class events and driving the visitor economy back to its record pre-COVID value of $8.1 billion.”
The Superloop Adelaide 500 funds will be repurposed to secure and support a mix of ongoing and one-off events, continuing to drive visitation to – and economic benefit for – South Australia.
More News
