This year’s Newcastle 500 tickets will go on sale next month, with organisers planning a community event for Hunter residents to secure their spots – similar to last year.
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The Newcastle Herald can reveal that Supercars is looking to release the first general admission tickets on Saturday, April 28, though the date is yet to be locked in.
Race organisers are hoping for a big response after corporate tickets sold out almost immediately after last year’s inaugural event.
And about 90 per cent of the syndicated tickets – roughly 3000 for each of the event’s three days – are already gone, with more than eight months until race weekend.
Event manager Kurt Sakzewski said the uptake for this year’s Newcastle 500 tickets had been very quick so far compared with other Supercars events. He said the speed with which corporate ticket holders from last year renewed for the 2018 event was “quite unheralded”.
“Given it was such a stunning event the majority, if not all, of our corporate guests rebooked at the event or if not straight after,” Mr Sakzewski said.
“There are still limited syndicated experiences left and we are considering locations for additional private suites.
“It’s a very good problem to have and echoes just how successful the first event was for Newcastle and the region, remembering most of these 3000 or so people travel to the event from around the country and in some cases overseas.”
Last year, Supercars’ official crowd figure was 192,242 across the three day event.
Fairfax Media reported at the time that this was 13,000 people fewer than the four-day Bathurst 1000 race meet – one of the most anticipated events on Australia’s sporting calendar.
Mr Sakzewski said another strong year for the Newcastle 500 would be a positive result for the city and have flow-on effects for the local economy.
“They are all staying in Newcastle or nearby, visiting restaurants, staying in hotels and buying local,” he said.
“Our hope in year two is now they know a little bit more about Newcastle they will stay a little longer and spread their wings a little further. We expect a similar demand for tickets when they go on sale in April.
“We think a lot of people who may not have come last year will have seen just how stunning the event was and it is now on their bucket list.
“We also think word of mouth will be a big factor.”
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Nick Bielby
Nick Bielby is a crime reporter who has been with the Newcastle Herald since 2017.
Nick Bielby is a crime reporter who has been with the Newcastle Herald since 2017.
