Patxi Mutiloa, sports director of the Basque Government, has proposed a likely very unpopular idea to Ciclismo a Fondo.
Mutiloa contends that in order to finance cycling races better, fans should be charged a fee.
"In soccer, basketball, and baseball, fans pass through the box office admissions. Cycling, unfortunately, is a sport that costs a lot, and the viewer does not provide anything economically on the roadside," says the director of sports.
The idea, which would seem to be extremely hard to make work, is thankfully not something that would be in the realm of other major sport pricing, at least according to Mutiloa.
"We're not talking about crazy prices, but obviously, for the viewer to go and enjoy the show, it would be a way to help in the maintenance."
Ciclismo a Fondo notes that the Basque government's Department of Culture has been the main sponsor of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco for the past two season. The Department of Culture will come through again in 2011, but Mutiloa hopes to find a way to help finance racing in the Basque Country without using government funds, and charging a modest admission would be one rational, but very unpopular way to do it.