The proposal isn’t to bad until Page 16 where you get to a D1GP Vs. Formula D comparison page. Sadly they have been sending this packet to potential sponsors and companies trying to bash Formula D and spread blatant lies about the series. The comparison chart is located below and if your having trouble reading it, you can pull up a full size image with a link just below the comparison chart. In my post below all of the
D1GP vs. Formula Drift – Full Size Image
Organizational Footprint
D1GP – “Worldwide” This statement is a stretch but I guess we can even give them this one. They did have D1GB (D1 Great Britain) but after the 2006 D1 Vs. World event in Irwindale they ticked off the guys helping them over in that area. By the next year they split ties with D1GP and started EDC. I know Team Orange has done a few demos worldwide but all of the events have been in Japan/USA in past few years otherwise.
Formula D – “US/North America” All of this information is correct but they did leave out quite a bit of information. They threw an event in Panama (It is also the fastest growing economy and the largest per capita consumer in Central America) which covers them for Central America. For the past four years they have been throwing events in Southeast Asia adding that to the group. “US/North America/Central America/Southeast Asia”
Years in Operation
D1GP – “Japan 11 years / US 7 years” – They have not thrown events for 7 straight years in the USA. In 2008 they announced things and never threw an event on US soil. So far to date they have thrown events in 6 years since coming to the USA. 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009. This season coming up would make the 7th season for them.
Formula D – “US 6 years” For starters they have been in the USA throwing events for 7 years. 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 , 2009, and 2010. They have thrown events for four years in Southeast Asia. Also 2 years in Panama (Central America).
Live Events
D1GP – “Japan, USA, Malaysia, UAE, China” I cannot find a record of D1GP throwing a live event in Malaysia since 2006. To this date they have never thrown an event in the UAE or China. I have been told this winter they are throwing an event in Abu Dhabi (UAE) but no date was given to me.
Formula D – The proposal lists nothing for this section. Here is where Formula D has been doing live events “USA, Mexico, Panama, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia.”
Domestic or US Television
D1GP – “Speed/Fox Sports Net” The SPEED schedule for D1GP changes days and times through the broadcast. Some episodes are broadcast on Saturday and then some are moved to Sunday. The times range from 2:00pm to 6:30pm across those day changes. Link to D1GP Speed TV Post
Formula D – “Canceled” This is just blatant bullshit. This year they have a program on VERSUS like last season. The show starts airing on 8/15/2010 in the 4:00pm time slot on Sunday for 13 straight weeks with no changes. They also have a re-air of each broadcast which is at 5:30pm the Tuesday after it’s original air date. Formula Drift has never been canceled off a network and offered consistent television since 2005:
2005- G4TV
2006- G4TV
2007- ESPN2
2008- SPEED
2009- Versus
2010- Versus
Link to Formula D VERSUS Post
International Television
D1GP – “Tokyo TV, BS Fuji” No comments here due to lack of information/knowledge.
Formula D – “None” Another bold faced lie listed by D1GP. Formula Drift has posted before it’s syndication to over 300,000,000+ homes internationally that broadcast Formula D on television. They have posted that before on channel/country so if your eager to tune in, locate that sheet. It’s possible Formula D could post some of those slots here in the comments as well. In addition, Formula Drift Asia events are broadcast locally on Star Sports which is owned by ESPN. They have a reach including India, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and more spreading to 200,000,000 homes. These events air on Star Sports quite often and know people who see them frequently. For those of you who know Jason Small his father travels to China on business frequently and tells us about watching Formula D there. Just to provide solid proof, we have posted a whole episode of Star Sports coverage on our site before: Formula D Singapore on Star Sports Part 1
DVD/Blu-Ray
D1GP – “100+ Titles” This is an actual fact they listed in the proposal. D1 under the Option banner has released tons of DVDs which you can buy here.
Formula D – “2 Only Through Drift Alliance” Chalk up another lie. Want to buy Formula D DVD’s? 2005 Season DVD is here and No Limits DVD is here on our store. So now we have established that they released DVDs before. Currently you can access the Formula Drift All Access portion of the website and watch all the old television episodes from the series. New events are also now broadcast on the live stream and archived for viewing. None of these options are things D1GP does offer.
Yearly Estimated Unit Sales (for DVD)
D1GP – “3 Million” This is just not true. Assuming that a DVD costs about $1.00 to press (which is pretty correct) and they sell for an average net profit of $10.00 (low estimate) they would be bringing in $30,000,000 NET PROFIT a year just from DVD sales. The reality is then D1GP wouldn’t be having these financial issues everyone in the Japan drifting scene whispers about. Also speaking with US distributors of the DVD they just don’t move that many units, nothing even close. Less than 10,000 unit sales a year in US sales is a number I was told. So where are these other 2,900,000 DVDs being sold?
Formula D – “0” I am sure someone buys the DVD units they have made but I guess you cannot list a number D1 Grand Prix when you lied about them making DVDs in the first place.
Video Games
D1GP – “Yes” This is correct. In 2004 they released a D1GP game for Japanese PS2. It wasn’t very good. Then in 2005 they launched D1GP 2005 for the Japanese PS2 which was awesome. It had the three judges very animated in the bottom left corner of the screen as you drifted. In 2006 they brought that same D1GP 2005 game to the United States and released it as NTSC game so it could be playable on a US Playstation 2. They also have had Ryuji Miki’s Top Secret D1GP car featured in Forza 2 and Forza 3. On Japanese arcade systems you can drift as several D1GP cars in Battle Gear 4 as well.
Formula D – “No” Well guess who got it wrong again? They have been featured in two EA Game productions with Formula Drift. The most recent in Need for Speed SHIFT you have Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s 2010 Mustang (PROOF). It is unlocked at Level 10 driver level and you can use it to compete in various drift events. Rhys Millen’s Hyundai Genesis was also featured in Forza 3 in a free Hyundai DLC pack that came out just after SEMA 2009 to all Xbox Live players (PROOF).
Online MMORPG
D1GP – “Yes” Ummm really? Since when did D1 Grand Prix release a MMORPG which stands for “Massively multiplayer online role-playing game.” Per wikipedia “It is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual gaming world.” Anybody know about this one and I am just in the dark? The best I could find is “Drift City” which they called a MMORPG and didn’t look much like one by definition. It also appeared to have no affiliation with D1GP I could find. Perhaps they are working on a Dungeons and D1GP dragons for 2010?
Formula D – “No” This is correct. On the bright side you can play Fantasy Drift for the Formula Drift series here at Wrecked Magazine.
Mobile Games
D1GP – “Yes” They do have in the proposal information about an iPhone drifting game coming out. Don’t think it is on market currently.
Formula D – “No” You cannot get games from Formula Drift but they do have a LiveStream application and you can access Fantasy Drift on mobile phones.
Magazine
D1GP – “Option Magazine (Japan)” This is correct.
Formula D – “No” Formula Drift doesn’t own a magazine but you cannot deny the exposure Formula Drift gets from various media outlets in the United States. An independent study done by Meltwater News showed that Formula Drift has a 90% market share with magazine editorial coverage worldwide.
Professional Judges
D1GP – “All” I agree with this statement.
Formula D – “1 of 3” Alright so who is the one professional judge? I mean all three drivers have competed on a professional level in Formula Drift. Pretty sure all of them participated in the old D1GP events as well. This is just an absurd statement thrown in here to discredit Formula Drift.
Driftbox Technology
D1GP – “Yes” This is a correct statement. Due to malfunctions of this system back in the 2009 USA series, they made a few drivers run multiple qualifying runs since the box didn’t log any information.
Formula D – “No” I chalked up a debate with a professional driver on this topic and he ended it before it started with “who cares?” I think that somehow put it better than I ever could.
Professional Street Legal Series
D1GP – “Yes” The way they worded the category is just pure trickery. Sure, you guys named your Pro Am series “Street Legal” and nobody else has a “Street Legal” series but it’s just a fancy word for “Am.”
Formula D – “No” They call their series the Formula Drift Pro Am and we mostly reference it as “Am” series. They have a network in the Am series of over 10 series I know of and did some in Southeast Asia as well.
Car and Driver Entries
D1GP – “100+” I have attended several D1GP events in Japan along with the United States in the past 6 years. Never have I seen an entry list of 100+ cars. Even if they met that number, it’s a very irrelevant number. The issue here is quality over quantity any day.
Formula D – “50+” Correct.
Live Event Countries
D1GP – “Japan, U.S., Dubai, China” The big sore thumb here…. Dubai is not a country. It isn’t even the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (proper country name). Dubai is a city and also an emirate of the UAE (think of in America as a state) which they have seven of in the whole country. They didn’t even put enough thought/proof reading into this proposal to verify that fact. Also from Live Events to Live Event Countries Malaysia magically vanished.
Formula D – This section had no entry for Formula Drift. We covered this back in live events but I will bring the same list down. “USA, Mexico, Panama, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia.”
Number of Yearly Events
D1GP – “15-20” This is correct fact.
Formula D – “5 to 7” With international reach Formula Drift will throw 12 events in 2010. The American championship points series consists of 7 rounds. Never in history have they had 5 championship point rounds in one year. 2004 they had 4 (inaugural season) and in 2005 they jumped to 6 rounds. By 2006 they went to 7 rounds for America and have not changed to this day.
Average Attendance Per Event
D1GP – “10,000″ If you went to D1GP USA in 2009 you would know that number was not the case. I won’t really dispute that for Japan numbers because of a lack of direct first hand knowledge. It’s been a good minute since D1GP packed in 10,000 here in the USA.
Formula D – “6,000” That is another joke. All three events this season have been well clear of 10,000 fans. Irwindale last year broke an attendance record and sold out.
Editor Side Note: It upsets me to see D1GP using these false pretenses and malice practices to try and win sponsorship. While I know some of you might care I think it was worth getting out in the open. Over the last few days they have had reps posting on our site talking about how they are here for the good and growth of the sport. Sure doesn’t seem like it after reading over this. The document’s authenticity was verified by me with proper contact information in the back of this packet along with talking to people who had seen the same packet in presentations/meetings with D1GP. The packet came from a very trustworthy source in the industry who I thank and owe drinks too soon.
Posted in D1GP, D1GP USA, Formula D, Rhys Millen, Sam Hubinette, Vaughn Gittin Jr. | 58 Comments »
