The crowd at the Italian Grand Prix was significantly down compared to previous years. The Monza event attracted a three-day crowd of 110,000, with 75,000 spectators turning out on race day. Last year that figure was 97,000, which translates to a fall of 20%. Given that the fees being paid for races is rising at a rate of 10% per years, this means that the promoter is going to lose around 30% of its 2008 income and perhaps more, depending on whether there were any concessions made on ticket prices to try to bring in more people.
The race is promoted by a company called the Societa Incremento Automobilismo e Sport (SIAS) a subsidiary of the Automobile Club of Milan, but it is believed to have financial support from the Lombardia province and from the cities of Milan and Monza.
And please note that a number of people in Italy bought tickets in a hurry after the “surprising” (ehm) 1-2 by Räikkönen and Fisichella in Spa and the subsequent move of the Italian driver to Maranello.