Redux: Bringing In Outside Money
Wednesday, January 30, 2013 | 1:30 PM
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PrintLet me make one thing clear: All the teams that have recently folded or contracted, be it Jeff Ward Racing, L&Mc Racing, J-Star/JDR KTM or Langston-Witt Racing, were answering questions no one asked. No one begged Larry Brooks to start a fifth Honda team, or JDR to add a couple of extra KTM squads to the pits. Kawasaki has a good thing going via the factory effort and Pro Circuit, so it’s not like Jeff Ward Racing had to be there.
But the sport would be better with them around. More teams mean more jobs and better competition (if JWR were still around, Dean Wilson would be racing a 450 right now). While factory efforts still look strong, bike sales and general OEM budgets are a fraction of what they used to be. Plus, those companies learned so many lessons during this downturn that they’ll probably never go back to their old spending habits. If the sport is going to grow, then independent teams must survive—and not just because a rich owner is willing to lose money on the operation.
I needed some answers. So I headed over to the JGRMX shop and asked their Vice President of Marketing, David Evans, what he thought. Evans is the man behind JGR’s sponsorship proposals today, but a dozen years ago, he helped broker the deal between Chevy Trucks and Kawasaki, and later, as James Stewart’s agent at the time, he was part of the picture when Monster Energy joined the factory team. He’s seen a massive change since then.
David Evans helped broker the deal between Chevy Trucks and Kawasaki before heading to JGR. Note the Chevy bowtie on Stewart's radiator louvers and front fender.
Simon Cudby photo
“It’s changed for everyone, not just motocross teams,” he explains. “Before, if you could find a company that was a good fit with your sport, you could make a pitch—and that would be a PowerPoint presentation with some basic information about the sport—you could get sponsorship. Now that was actually harder than it sounds, but it wasn’t nearly as difficult as it is now. Today, you need a much more scientific approach, and more numbers. And when you’re talking about motocross, I think we all agree it should be bigger, but at the same time, we should also be happy that it’s as big as it is. But when the sport is this size, when you think of a really big company, like a Coca-Cola, compared to what they’re usually investing in, this sport is not that big. But at the same time, we have a very niche market with a young, male demographic, and that group is known for being very picky and very hard to win over. So this sport could be the right place to be for the right company, but you have to be much more scientific now. You need to prove to them that this is exactly where there market is, and why your team or series can add value to that.”
Once you add that scientific approach, you add a ton of extra work. The JGR team has put together an incredibly detailed sponsorship plan that details any possible mention or view of a team logo. This type of work is not the stuff in which motocross teams are traditionally built. Most often, a team starts with a gear head that knows how to get results, or make bikes go fast. The business of procuring sponsors isn’t in the toolbox.And once you get them, the Gibbs crew points out that keeping them is just as much work, they all expect huge attention and activation. When the L&M team was getting San Manuel money, they literally used some of that money to build a staff to maintain the relationship—it’s worth paying someone $50,000 a year to keep an eye on a $3 Million deal. But when you don’t have that sponsor in the first place, it’s hard to hire someone for that spot.
Of course, you’re only building that proposal on the chance opportunity of actually getting a meeting with a potential sponsor.
J-Star/JDR KTM riders Malcolm Stewart (left) and Joey Savatgy (right) could be looking for rides after supercross unless a major sponsor steps in.
Simon Cudby photo
“The number one thing we’re usually up against is educating them on what the sport even is,” says Coy Gibbs. “We spend so much time explaining it—they literally have never even seen it or heard of it. That’s the biggest obstacle.”
There’s always luck involved with clearing that obstacle—a chance that at a higher-up at a big company maybe used to race or likes the sport. Before, finding that guy meant you’d hit a home run. Today, it’s not that simple.
“Back in the days when we did the Chevy trucks deal, it was kind of up to just a few people,” said Evans. “We had a guy there who liked street bikes, so he at least appreciated what the motocross riders do. So then we have an in. Now, with the way the economy is, there’s this fear that when you go to the initial person at the company—let’s say you talk to the VP of Marketing for Company XYZ, that person has to pass it on to three other people, and they evaluate it. After that, they might agree to let you come in and do a pitch—or, if you’re lucky take them to a race. But even then, there’s this CYA deal, where everyone has to make absolutely sure they dot every I and cross every T. They have to make sure that if this gets called into the big boss, and they say, “Why are you spending seven figures on this sport?” These people better have some ammo to prove it was a good decision. As always, if it goes right, everybody wins, but if it goes wrong, you have to be able to convince these people it was a smart decision, and maybe it just didn’t work out, but you had done your homework and there was a real reason to have made this decision. In the past, it seemed like someone made a decision and that was it. Now, all of those people are looking over their shoulder.
“When we did the Chevy Trucks deal with Kawasaki, GM’s ad budget was in the billions,” says Evans. “Billions. GM had a guy named Phil, and he was really flashy, smoked cigars, wore $3000 suits, $500 ties. That’s how it was back then. I was dealing with people four rungs below him. For what we were asking for, a guy like him probably wouldn’t even know. If he turned on the TV and saw James Stewart on a Chevy Trucks Kawasaki, he’d probably say, “Cool. I didn’t even know we were doing that.” Now, I guarantee you the guy at the top knows every single thing that is going on.”
L&Mc Racing had Chaparral as the title sponsor, but really needed an additional outside sponsor to keep the doors open.
Simon Cudby photo
The Gibbs team has a built-in advantage if a sponsor is interested, because they have a large conference room designed to pitch even bigger sponsors on the NASCAR side. It helps compared to other motocross teams, but it’s not a magic bullet. And hey, why not just sign up their big Sprint Cup sponsors like Home Depot, Fed Ex and M&M Mars to the motocross effort, anyway?
“Well we thought that, too,” says Evans with a laugh. “I’m not going to lie, it [the NASCAR connection] helps. But with what’s going on with these companies nowadays, before they could say, “Yeah I grew up riding a dirt bike as a kid, that’s cool.” So they come to the race, they feel like a VIP and they think it’s fun. But that’s not enough anymore—just having a guy in the company thinking it’s cool isn’t going to get it done. They have to see it as a strategic partnership, they have to see numbers. Yes, we did approach the obvious players. But it can also be a drawback. Several times we’ve looked at scenario that could have been very lucrative, but we had to turn it down due to partnerships we already had in place. Also, we can’t do any casino or alcohol sponsorships because of the principles of Joe Gibbs Racing. But it’s key to get creative, it’s not just logos on the shroud and logos on the trucks anymore—although that’s certainly something we point out.”
What teams face today is a much more fractured market, but the good news is that there are holes to be filled. The Business to Business term gets thrown around a lot, as sometimes sponsors go into a venture not just to get more eyeballs on their logo, but to find a link to another company that can help them. Often times, those deals are as much behind the scenes as the traditional sponsorship package, which is designed to be as public as possible.
Last year, the Gibbs team realized the old adage of win on Sunday and sell on Monday doesn’t quite add up, mathematically. The team put up a huge sum of money to sign James Stewart, with the expectation that his star power would attract an outside sponsor to defray the costs of his salary. It didn’t happen. The independent teams need to weigh the cost-to-benefit ratio more than most. A factory team is designed to sell bikes, so winning is the only way to really succeed in doing that. But if you’re not the bike seller—or in the case of a Pro Circuit team, a company that builds their rep on the performance of the race machines—it can be very hard to justify the higher costs of living and dying on race victories.
JGR has Toyota as their title sponsor.
Simon Cudby photo
Gibbs has Yamahas help when it comes to paying their riders. But there are only so many of those gigs available—Honda, certainly, was all filled up when L&Mc launched, leaving the team to lease a works Honda at a very steep price. That’s the cost of trying to win races—but winning isn’t always the only goal anymore.
So armed with all of this knowledge, I asked Evans and Gibbs if this is a winning proposition at all. Is the sport big enough to attract enough money to keep teams afloat? While the evidence seemed to build a grim tale, both sounded optimistic.
“Yes, it absolutely is possible, and we’re actually doing it right now,” says Evans. “But, it does get to the lucky part. Timing and luck has a big thing to do with all of it. We were certainly lucky to have a relationship with Toyota, for example. We’ve seen Witt Racing fold, JWR, Chaparral, JDR, and that’s not good for any of us, we want all of these teams to be able to stick around. The good thing is, the money is out there and it can be done, but timing and luck play a huge role. Unfortunately, it’s all much harder than it used to be.”
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every aspect of the sport needs to be exploited unfortunately from holeshots to WMX to track design. I personally skip the TV ads but I appreciate every sponsor I can when I can I tell them it is because of MX/SX. Business is Business
Good stuff Weege. Nice glimpse into what is going on behind the scenes. I often wonder why teams don't just streamline and operate out of a sprinter. Like most things, the closer you look the more complicated things get. I also have been wondering why Tobacco and alcohol/soda companies aren't involved at all. They got more money than anyone...It looks like the teams are targeting them, just with little success.
As long as the gov't/banks keep sucking money out of the world's population things will only get worse!! Are tobacco and alcohol sponsorships allowed??
Good article! so it all comes down to marketing No$hit!
@Jason Weigandt: Extremely informative and pertinent read about the times, as they are a changing. Return on investment, when justifying advertising dollars spent, as anyone who has ever pitched a deal in the conference room, has to be the worst objection to overcome. There is so much insight to David Evans words regarding the industry, economy, stringent lending qualifications and basic skepticism by those with the purse strings as of late.
I like David Pingree's analogy of, Two Types of Racing Team's. Those who have product to place in the market, and those who don't. And for those who don't, their pockets better be damn deep.
At least Evans sounds positive, in his attitude for new life in this tight knit niche of an industry.
Once again, great article, Jason.
I believe that the marketing aspect needs to be blended into the TV package. They need to commit to help getting the marketing message out to the public. Maybe a series of 30 second spotlights on the teams, one spotlight per season. In this way, the bigwigs can be shown that their marketing is reaching the demographics. There are less than 17 top flight teams, so one spot per team isn't a major deal.
Each spot could showcase the race shop (with plenty of signage), the riders signing autographs (signage) and saying something good about their title sponsor - "Having Toyota on board is awesome - it is great to have such a performance minded company in our corner" or some other phrase to give some love to the suits paying the bills.
Maintaining a sponsor is important for our sport, and to do that, the sport needs to help itself.
I have principals too. Keeping the doors open is principal #1. Winning is principal #2. These principals are interchangeable as the economy fluctuates.
The Budweiser / Jack Daniels / Pala casino racing team would be AWESOME and pandering to the dads that pay for little johnnies racing career is perfectly acceptable to my keen sense of acceptability.
Roush racing is a prime candidate to expand their racing operations to include MX / SX and Ford has shown that relationships with motorcycle companies (see Harley-Davidson pickup trucks) can pay dividens. Can't let JGR have all the crossover benefits.
Weege - thanks for writing this article. Hopefully it will make us fans more aware about where we should consider spending our money for products and services.
DC -
This also raises a question for me. Should Feld (SX) and MX Sports (Nat'l MX) jointly fund 2-3 full time positions to work on marketing and sales efforts to attract outside sponsors that could then be introduced to potential race teams? If there is a lack of targeted demographic information for large and well organized teams like JGR, then that information is non-existent for smaller teams like JWR, L&Mc;, JDR, etc. A small team that slices and dices demographic information for those participating and attending SX/MX events could do wonders for packaging said demographics for specific presentations to attracting potential outside sponsors.
Seems to me that the problem as described by Dave Evans is hard for an individual team to do on its own. Why then is it not incumbent on series organizers, the groups that benefit most from more and better funded teams, to bear the cost of expanding the opportunity for race team sponsorships? Or expand the funding base to include series organizers, manufacturers, and others collectively funding this initiative, to potentially include input from people with direct experience like a Dave Evans.
For all I know this is already happening behind the scenes. If not, it should be, as the existence of the sport could be at stake if "energy drink" sponsors suddenly went away.
My $.02
“When we did the Chevy Trucks deal with Kawasaki, ……GM had a guy named Phil, and he was really flashy, smoked cigars, wore $3000 suits, $500 ties. That’s how it was back then. “
“The team (JGR) put up a huge sum of money to sign James Stewart, with the expectation that his star power would attract an outside sponsor to defray the costs of his salary. It didn’t happen.”
Interesting quotes. The economic problems we are experiencing were caused by individuals, companies, and the athletes. The guy at GM wearing $3,000 suits and $500 ties did not work out so well for GM. It declared bankruptcy and but for the taxpayers, GM would have gone under. When RC signed with Suzuki for $12 million a year, roughly $600 of every Suzuki sold went into RC’s pocket. That was a contract not economically feasible. I heard on here JWR was paying Wilson $800,000 a year. That is insane. The pay scale between the privateer and top-paid pros is absurd.
Prior to the economic collapse, we were a nation of 110% mortgages (now illegal), maxed out credit cards, corporations spending like drunk sailors, and athletes expecting paychecks nowhere near their actual value. Things will improve but we simply need to make it through the contraction caused by the excesses. The sport is strong as shown by the attendance. We just need to have Teams operating on a more reasonable budget to fill the starting gates.
I think that there is room for growth and bringing in outside sponsors, but Feld needs to step up their game in helping make this happen!
NASCAR vehicles have a built in advantage of being rolling billboards representing that teams sponsors. NASCAR does a good jobe of making sure the TV coverage doesn't focus on just the top 5 cars and NASCAR also has a lot of lead changes that provides a wider range of sponsors on the cars getting viewed.
Motorcycles don't have enough space to be those rolling billboards that the NASCAR vehciles have so Feld and their TV partners need to get a little more creative in how teams sponsors can get better coverage during the race and they also need to focus speading that coverage out amongst the entire field and not just the leaders. Not sure what the solution is, but Feld and SpeedTV should be experiminting. The growth of the sport i beneficial to all of those involved.
1. Perhaps include NASCAR style call outs on the TV screen which provide Rider name, posistion and round robin a sponsors name along with it based on their % of sponsorship.
2. When the top 3 riders are on the Podium why not scroll a Ticker at the bottom which display the Sponsors involved with that rider. I think we'de all rather hear a rider give a good interview then simply roll of their top 10 sponsor names. Seeing a sponsors logo also sticks better in the mind of the viewer as opposed to the rider saying the name.
Not sure what the answers are, but they need to start trying something.
Scrub ... Thanks for volunteering me! .lol.. I don't have any money to give, but I would like to try and put together a marketing plan to show a potential advertiser.
Our sport has a lot of value to offer a corporation, such as Coke. Pepsi owned Mountain Dew is reaping benefits from marketing itself as an Extreme sports drink, Coke should be also and motocross is a great place to start!!!
Progressive insurance could be shown how Geico has been rewarded through advertising in our sport and perhaps enticed into a head to head battle on a moto battle field.
Clothing manufactures such as Wrangler markets to Cowboys and bull riders, not that big a stretch to get them back in Moto or perhaps Levi would like to invest and brand with the toughness of motocross.
There are many more tie ins that could be explored, but a must is the expanse of our fan base. A lot of us on here groan when our races are on CBS, it may seem a hindrance, but it is a blessing in disguise. Millions of people, who would not otherwise get the opportunity to view our sport, will tune in, even if by accident and see how exciting supercross is. They will tell their friends, who will tell theirs creating a surge in popularity and before you know it motorcycle sales will increase as a result.
Sorry, I got so carried away, but I do believe passionately in our sport...
All that money being bled out by individuals being greedy, grabbing as much as they possibly can all backfired and here we are. To quote (or at least paraphrase) the great philosopher Ryan Villopoto:
"how greedy are you?"
This is the best story on Racer X in a long time. It deals with real issues affecting the industry and what brought about many of the economic problems causing the collapse of Teams. Great story Jason. The quotes were insightful.
Davey/Feld- suggestion
How about putting together a sponsorship "kit" for any potential team to use? Many of the privateer teams, even the ones sponsored by "rich guys" don't have the market info and sponsorship experience to pitch these deals- and you only get so many chances to pitch. Nevermind the normal privateer that has his Dad's help and probably little education in marketing, etc.
This would help the whole sport and it is something that would benefit every team. A rising tide lifts all boats.
@BD25: CocaCola manufactures Full-Throtle, and Monster (Hansen Natural Corporation) uses CocaCola for it's distribution needs. Maybe there is a conflict of interest clause somewhere in there. Don't know, just sayin...
I still haven't figured out why a KTM team hasn't figured out how to bring Home Depot on board as a sponsor. For God's sake, the bikes are ALREADY orange!
JGR has a marketing department! Imagine that.
As I've mentioned before many of the team managers don't have a clue when it comes to running a business and marketing a brand. They would be better off scaling back some of their operations to invest in a marketing guy. It takes money to make money as they say. I hate to admit it but I think Hart is one if the few who get it.
I think the main problem is the TV package. Why would a company sponsor a team involved with a sport that doesn't have a coherent TV package? One day, you're turning on Speed and it's live, the next week you're turning on CBS and they're only showing one class the next day. Last week CBS didn't even show interviews of the winners of the qualifiers on air: Why would a company dump sponsor money into a team when the network the race is aired on doesn't even show the rider plugging their products? Then you have the nationals: First races on the internet and two or three other channels to catch the 2nd races. Even for people who are into the sport, keeping track of when a race is on and what channel it's going to be on is somewhat of a challenge (albeit a small one). Hell, even Speed changed the air time for the race last week from one to five. If you didn't follow Twitter or moto websites or the Speed website itself, how would you know? The sport needs to be marketed as a legit sport before the teams can benefit from it. People always talk about getting the sport to the mainstream audiences, and in my eyes, that only makes the sport look like some sort of novelty act; watch any CBS or NBC coverage to see what I'm talking about. I often post comments on here about broadcasting on Speed, and I still have to stand by that. Yes, they have their issues with coverage, but they seem to have the most stable presentation out of any network that broadcasts races. They show most of the Supercrosses live. When they were broadcasting the nationals, we had same day coverage. They rarely seem to bump a broadcast to show some infomercials. And speaking of getting the sport mainstream, Speed now has a little Fox logo above theirs, yet the promoters are still trying to deal with CBS and NBC. Try exploiting that Fox affiliation with Speed. Get some advertisements on regular Fox channels for the races. Look at what Fox is doing with UFC, showing live fights in primetime. This is not an ideal situation, but the promoters might even have to look at bumping the start times of the West rounds up to 6 o'clock or so in order for live broadcasts to go off at a more convenient time for Joe viewer who can't stay up past ten or figure out his PVR. Someone else also commented on giving teams some exposure during the broadcasts, and I think that was a great idea as long as it's not at the expense of the racing (which it is on most "mainstream" coverage). There's so much downtime on a live broadcast of Supercross that they could easily have someone wandering around the pits and talking to riders and teams in between races, and that would save everyone from having to watch those Toyota and Progressive commercials 500 times a night! (Marketing overkill, but hey, I just mentioned them) I think the bottom line is that companies are looking for a forum to hock their crap, and they look to sports to find an identitiy of some sort, something that will make them seem cool or legit, and until Supercross and moto can find a way to present a stable and coherent TV package, the teams and riders are going to pay for it.
Make no mistake, this is hitting everyone hard, even the kings of NASCAR are losing sponsors and teams.
Along with sponsorship, purses need to grow. How serious does a sponsor see us if the winner wins $5000? It makes us look like a fair ground demolition derby. I know this isnt exactly what we're talking about, but its part of it. The show is fantastic and the crowds are there as well. Time for a change.
caseypons Thanks for the info, Coke may not have been the best example, as you say, possible conflict of interest, but in my rush to respond they came to mind first..
If we want to lessen cost in racing, then start with the machinery. Stock bikes these days are incredible. Compared to a 90's factory bike, i bet a stock 450 with a pipe and suspension valving is just as good.
The gap in machinery is as rediculous as the gap in salary. Not only do the top few guys get paid a ridiculous ammount, but their bikes are insanely better. Go back to 20th place in a national, and the guys arent making any money. AND their bikes suck.
If we made a rule so that all the bikes were somewhat the same, and it was really about the rider, it would take a lot of money out of the spot. Also, it would make the competition better!
When asked how different his new CRF is compared to his factory bike that LMC had for him, Andrew Short said something like" well, it has a red front fender... thats about it".... the funny thing is, that bike had clamps, a linkage, piston, pipe, coated suspension... and he got 6th. Now i know the field wasnt as good as normal, but still. The bike he rode was what anyone can afford at that level. Make them all ride bikes like that and each company saves tons and tons of money on parts, and testing.
a great important read going here with ALOT OF GOOD THOUGHTS..
I so wish to hear riders making $$..it makes outsiders think!
The big 5 should not be funding racing teams. Raise the weight limit 12lbs where privateer bikes are just as good. Outside sponsers will never be interested unless there is a chance they will win. Untill the equipment is equal hiring the best riders will not happen for privateer teams. Why spend $$ to not get mentioned on TV, that is called giving money away and that is what most race teams want is give me money, that is not b to b...
The only way to get TV time is to win, our TV announcers wont research the guys in the back to even give them a mention. What do you expect companies to do? They leave the sport.
Good article but, here are a few misconceptions.
First, energy drinks are soda. They are considered non-traditional flavors within that industry.
Second, Pepsi is the distributor of Rockstar, as of recently(things change fast). Pepsi don't work for free. So these companies are working closely with each other. Maybe closer than told. Which brings me to my last point.
Third, I hold stock in Coca-Cola and the shares split(1=2) in August of '12. That was 5 months after it was rumored that Coca-Cola purchased Monster energy. I can't find proof they did but on my shareholder site it has Monster as a "Coke" brand. I will know when I get my shareholder package soon. Even if Monster was not bought out, Coca-Cola distributes it. Like Pepsi they don't work for free either.
On a side note, if Coke does own Monster, Coke owns Bacardi. Which means alcohol is inter-twined in it all as well.
This is why teams have to be super professional all the time because almost all "small business" leads back to a huge company.
I know, why don't we quit pretending we are are big shots. Like having one rider out of a million dollar semi with no less then 10 people in his pits on the salary. At a local race when you see the 45' motorhome and a 30' enclosed trailer behind with one 60 rider in it don't ya say "thats ridiculous" in many ways our sport, that so desperately wants to like NASCAR is very similiar.
We are driving up the costs of racing to the point that only people big chunks of cash can race. And sadly like car racing the best dirt bike racer on the planet may never get the chance to ride a dirt bike.
I say give them all stock step thru Honda 90's and a ford van. If the racing is good who cares how big the jumps are.
@xxktm made another good point regarding money for winning and placing. If the average SX race has 50,000 people and each pays $100 on average for a ticket that is $5 million per event in basic ticket sales. When you add in concessions, pit passes and merchandise, I assume each event brings at least $7.5 million in gross sales.
It cannot possibly cost more than $2 million to hold the event, pay an applicable sanctioning fee to the AMA and pay employees, even with the dirt hauling and track building. It is a 3-hour event. That leaves at least $5 million in profit per event for a 17 race season. Someone is making a boatload of cash while Teams are folding.
Davo I agree, Speed does a great job of covering our sport, trouble is it does not reach as many people as broadcast TV. Speed and Fuel are cable and satellite additions to basic packages, which cost more money, usually only motor heads or established fans will pay for. CBS ABC NBC and FOX on air is where we will expand the fan base of the sport. Golf, Baseball, Football and Nascar, all sports that take 3 hours plus to broadcast, get great coverage, so time is not a constraint. It is lack of viewer interest, due to lack of exposure and information available to John Q Public on our sport. The sport as a whole needs to market itself better.
As an example, I tried to get a major news paper in our area to run supercross results, since Trey Canard is from the area. The sports editor had little knowledge of Trey and knew nothing of suprecross. I sent them a 1000 word back story on Trey, which they liked, but did not think there was enough interest locally in supercross. I then explained, it is on Speed and 50,000 people show up at a stadium to watch supercross, he shrugged it off, but when I told him supercross was to be broadcast on CBS, he perked up and agreed to run the piece, if I can get an interview Trey..
Moral of the story is, we have a great sport, followed fiercely by passionate fans, who are mostly motorcycle riders, former riders or family and friends of riders. We may fill a stadium with fans, where other sports might not, but they can supply millions of TV viewers, where we cannot. The other broadcast sports have fans, who never played the sport, but did grow up with a working knowledge of it. That is where we are at a disadvantage, we have to basically create a fan base, which requires extreme amounts of marketing to educate the public on the excitement they are missing out on..
It's all a vicious cycle. More money that comes in the more it takes to keep up with the standard. There is always somebody that wants to raise the standard. It comes to a point where one has to wonder, is it making things better or just more expensive?
I think the article made the best point - they need to find people in key locations that had ridden a dirt bike, then things got easier.
We cannot have 7k four strokes, and expect people to leave the sport with a positive memory. Would you play baseball if it required a $3000 mitt that would fall apart after a couple years? How about a $2000 basketball that popped after a season or two?
If the ecomentalists drove us to four strokes, then they are getting a bonus out of creating high barriers to entry for the casual enthusiast. In the late 60s, participation was epic due to inexpensive and relatively compeditive bikes. Now, we have amazing machinery that takes a very high degree of mechanical competence to keep on song. Even if a kid could make 3k to buy a used 4 stroke, he doesn't have the mechanical competence to keep it moving forward.
We have all drunk the four stroke kool aid, and now it is time to sleep...
By the way, this commentary is approaching James Stewart dimensions
@JonR145 tickets don't cost a $100 dollars and most of the attendance figures are inflated to lure sponsors. Most fans are blue collar familys and young guys not alot of disposable income. In your budget you have a family of four spending ($600) to go to a supercross race. Ya might wanna back that down a few million.
If the race teams could lower their overhead they might be able to attract more sponsors.
What I don't get is why JGRMX doesn't even update their website with current riders and staff? You would think a PR person would raise their hand and say something during one of their staff meeting in that big fancy conference room.
Apparently someone forgot to tell Ben Schiermeyer that Saps no longer rides for them. http://jgrmx.com/cgr/community/team.htm
i agree with xxktm on how we look to sponsers but also do we really look like a profesional sport when an ama official doesnt hold the 30second board no we have some tramp hold it up who half the time has no clue what she is doing yes this is great to a 15yr old boy but to a sponser it is nothing but a redneck sport and then throw in the drunks the cameras show screaming when we go to comercial ya thats redneck .at the local level we are a family sport at the profesional level sx is a circus sideshow and they are trying to make the nationals the same!
yes we want the sport to grow but at what cost? we are so far away from what mx was, is growth worth tossing principles and the true fans aside just to bring in money
I agree purse money needs to go way up. If the riders were getting serious winnings they wouldn't need big salaries. I use golf analogies a lot but there are many parallels. Maybe each MX/SX event could get a local corporate sponsor to put up the purse. Just getting $500k in purse money per event would be great. Monster Energy Oakland SX brought to you by Apple or Radio Shack/Monster Energy Dallas SX?
Just estimating, How close am I ???
Cowboy Stadium - $2,000,000 = 40,000 tickets $50 (av
Stadium rental- - $250,000 + concessions (food, drink) and parking
Advertising- - $250,000
Track construction- - $200,000
Fees & salaries- - $200,000
Purse & misc- -$200,000
________
Feld Profit $900,000
This is a very interesting discussion.. It touches on some of the issues I am concerned with.
JonR, while you say the sport is strong and you make some very awesome points, do you mean its strong as far as attendance at the Pro level?
I can certainly say the sport in NOT strong at the amateur level. Even my best friend who is a suspension guru for Enzo, reluctantly, admits that 4 strokes have hurt the sport.. ONLY because of added cost.
At what point are the manufactures who pay these tremendous salaries passing the cost to the consumer at the local level for a CR450? I don't know about you, but I don't want to pay 9000$ for a dirt bike!!
I honestly believe the sport is not all the strong, but its plainly obvious to me they are desperately trying to make it mainstream. I am not sure if that's a good idea..
@arm670
Ever been to a NASCAR race? extremely drunk rednecks, NFL game? assorted drunks and slutty looking cheerleaders, NHL game? drunk yankees, and so on...
My point is SX/MX is as professional as any other sport. Classless fans are not holding us back. They are everywhere.
@ricka
I think we are strong at the amateur level in the short term but participation by kids under 10 is low. My son is participating in the Texas Winter Series. There are riders from all over the country. 85 class gates are full. Supermini turn out is good, and the 10-11 65 class is strong. The 50s and 7-9 65 participation is not good though. I'm not sure what is going on but the future doesn't look bright. It's never been a cheap sport but the cost of entry keeps creeping up. A new KTM 50 SXS runs almost $5K. Add engine work and a suspension revalve and your looking at over $6K. You have to have a practice/backup bike with a similar setup so find a decent used one and add another $3 or 4K. On top of that the move toward political correctness makes parents shy away from a dangerous sport. If people are reluctant to let their kids play football imagine how they perceive MX.
You forgot RC GOAT HAS AN APPEARANCE FEE OF $ 75,000.00 also
I agree with the fact that the expensive salaries are outa control.But these guys are putting there lives on the line.So I think tracks with out the xgames jumps and and and rythem sections are a good way to make racing closer thus allowing the the sponsers more of a chance to be seen.Plus I think the best races are the close ones .Those are the ones that are remembered as well
scrub are you kidding
@rickamatuzio, yes, I was pointing to the strength at the pro level. I think we were talking about Short’s Team folding and how Teams and riders have become a world of the have’s and have-not’s. Guys like Stewart, Dungey and RV making millions in salaries while privateers and mid-level guys are barely getting by. The consensus is to spread the wealth a bit, cut back on extravagant budgets, establish some parity in equipment and get back to basics. Some of the factory spending is incredible and that money has to come from somewhere. There is no way a privateer can compete with these “factory” bikes or Teams. It is not just the bikes and equipment but also top-notch training facilities. My feeling is parity in bikes is critical. Bob Hannah made tons of money with one mechanic racing out of a box van. Looking back and longing for a simpler and more stable way of life is becoming part of today’s lexicon.
I agree with your 4-stroke assessment. I think your friend at Enzo has done my suspension if he lived in Waverly before moving to TX. I do point to the fact consumer goods across the board (including bikes) have risen in price dramatically along with the cost of living, while wages and earned income have decreased. The good thing is SX/MX is the coolest sport on the planet at the pro and amateur level. We just need to keep the faith.
You guys with the "kit" for Feld or MX Sports to make available to the teams to use......
If they are that clueless that they need their hands held then they have no shot at either obtaining or REtaining an outside sponsorship.
When we all sit here and laugh at the press release L&MC; sent out with the news that they are "commencing" operations immediately, you start to see what part of the problem is.
Great points too about the scantily clad girls holding up the boards, how about the idiotic flames going off at the start of the mains and the finish? I'll throw in the racers themselves too, who throw an untucked team shirt on, hat backwards and sleeve tattoos, who then get on the podium and read a list of sponsors.
I think for the most part, teams pay too little attention to their sponsors and act like the sponsors owe them. The battle is only half won by OBtaining the sponsors, the 2nd half of the battle is REtaining them. Over the years we've seen sponsors come in such as Chevy, Subway, SoBe and soon were gone. I'm guessing they didn't see the results they were looking for. Or maybe they didn't see the appreciation from the teams?
Here are some numbers for everyone (clueless teams pay attention).
from: http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/05/07/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Supercross.aspx
2012 SX attendance= 831,600
The big (or small) number is the TV ratings: an average of 384,000 viewers per race.
That means that across the whole country there is only an average of about 8 times
the number of people in the stands watching on TV. That is the number sponsors want to know.
By comparison, a poor golf rating is 2.5 million viewers.
NASCAR ratings were way down in 2012 and they AVERAGED 5.8 million viewers per race.
It's simple math, sponsors want to go where someone will be seeing their product and logo. If they will realize more profits by pumping $8 million into advertising with NASCAR than they will pumping $1 million into SX/MX, guess where they are going?
Plus, NASCAR has these roling billboards, and even backmarkers end up at the front and on camera at some point. In SX/MX you get a few dominant guys and worse, they take camera angles from the roofs at some events and it looks like ants racing to a picnic.
SX/MX has a niche for sure and the teams should be able to get decent sponsors but they need to kiss some sponsor ass and really work for it. I think too many are just hiring a big bucks PR firm (who obviously just cash the checks) instead of investing in a guy like this David Evans.
BD25, I totally agree that the maintstream stations are what will get the sport the most exposure, but I'm just looking at this from the perspective of laying down a base for TV production. What you said about the newpaper printing Supercross results likely applies to network TV stations. That point also raises another idea to bring the sport some recognition: Get the sport recognized within the sports news world. Think about how much more the sponsors would be interested if they turned on Sportscentre or Sportsnet (I'm Canadian) and got an update on what happened at a race, or if they skimmed through the sports section of the paper and found out that so-and-so won or so-and-so crashed out. That would drum up more interest and give people a chance to get familiar with the names of the riders and who is who in the sport. Going back to Speed, they are now affiliated with Fox Sports. Build the foundation on Speed and build a relationship with the people at Fox. As I said earlier, look at what they've done with UFC. They went from having nothing but pay-per-views to being free and live on Fox on Saturday night in primetime. Supercross has been plugging away with stations like CBS and getting nowhere. I remember watching Supercross on CBS 10 to 15 years ago, and it was the same broadcast as what we have now on CBS. What have they been doing to advance the sport or their coverage over that time? Maybe we need to take a step back in order to move forward in the future.
@Texag:
See? This is what we're up against.
You are comparing SX to NFL football. Are you kidding? Do you have any idea what the TV ratings are for NFL games? In 2012 they AVERAGED 16.6 million viewers per game nationally.
They can afford to do whatever the F they want with those numbers, and yet they STILL protect the NFL shield like a rabid pitbull does a bone.
SX needs to go ABOVE and BEYOND what other sports do to obtain sponsors and present professionalism, because it doesn't have the shear numbers sponsors want to see. We need to look much more professional than Monster Jam, which unfortunately is run by Feld as well. So yes, all that works against the sport.....the chicks, the pyrotechnics, the drunks.....it is in the sport's best interest to be as insanely professional as possible. When SX has 3 million viewers at home watching on TV, then this stuff won't matter.
forget about alcohol or tobacco sponsors......... mx/sx needs to go after "medical marijuana". it would fit perfectly with the demographics and should be big money in a few years when it is totally legalized! yahoo! just think.........the "pineapple express" sx series! pulling a "bubba kush" holeshot.......... or flying high over the "purple voodoo" triple jump! skimming across the " hindo skunk" whoop-de-does the possibilities are infinite...... haha or maybe go after some NRA money......?? haha
seriously though..........moto is a small niche sport. i love it , but the majority of american tv watchers could care less. i think the sport will continue to regress due to many factors..........cost , environmental issues, health concerns. the last three inforced by the fed gvt. i think we have seen "peak sx" ............and the down slide has began, look at bike sales. and when the roots die.......... the tree topples down
@Colbsdad
EXCELLENT point about the websites. I haven't been on any of them this year, but I remember in years past they ALL have outdated info on the team websites. JGR is a surprising one too. This gets at what I have said before. Starting with the horribly incorrect "commence" in the L&Mc; press release. The rider intros that are just a Tweet on the rider's account. The tight-lipped secrecy surrounding the teams, who they hire, what direction they're going, injuries, etc. Anyone have a clue if Barcia is ok, or if he is out for the year? Think if we saw an NFL QB carried off the field Sunday we'd know absolutely zilch heading into the following Thursday? The website thing is crazy as that is PROMOTION of the team and sponsors. This is the most basic of efforts in the battle for sponsorship, promotion, and exposure. Hey, I just learned that "Sports Clips" is JGR's 4th sponsor from the top. Why did I not know that before? I had to go to the JGR website to see that, instead of it being presented to me here or on other websites. SX/MX fans aren't busy seaching to find out who is sponsoring who. The idea of sponsorship is that the company is brought to us and stuck in our faces, just like they are on TV with commercials. Sadly, it looks like the most recent photo gallery on JGRMX.com is of James testing the NASCAR car with JGR from last year. I don't get it. This is probably THE team to use as an example when it comes to outside sponsorships. These teams really need to step up this part of their game.
Tobacco sponsorship is not allowed in any sporting event.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2010-06-01-tobacco-era-ends_N.htm
Can anyone imagine tool bag Brooks or MC pitching a potential outside sponsor, it makes me cringe to think how it may ruins chances for other teams to gain support due to the approach they may use.
Stop giving team team manager jobs to x riders and actually hire some educated business development professionals. Make x riders crew chiefs, stop putting these burn outs in front of people flipping the bill. Like Brooks they can be miserable to work with.
@B-KR
You completely missed the context and my point. I made no comparison of viewership between the NFL and SX. I was specifically referring to arm670 saying the lack of professionalism was keeping sponsors away. No sponsor is turned off by Diana Dahlgren holding a 30 second sign or drunk fans screaming at the camera. Sex sells in every sport (ie NFL cheerleaders/NBA dancers/Boxing ring girls), and drunken fans buy a lot of beer and merchandise. In my experience there are no more drunks at SX than any other pro sporting event. Golf has the most drunks in fact. Many in attendance at PGA events could care less about golf and never leave the hospitality tents. It's far from a family environment.
The SX/MX business has many shortcomings but lack of professionalism is nowhere near the top of the list. If sponsors thought they could sell more product marketing to SX fans it wouldn't matter if there were orgies in the stands. The things keeping sponsors away is the relatively small viewership and attendance, the poor economy, and many teams lacking sales/marketing skills.
What's missing in this article, what I want to know is how much profit is being made at the top of the food chain? What's the profit margin on the gate, concessions, and tv deals? Because if Feld Motor, for example, is raking in the dough while the teams and riders are starving (relatively speaking), that's a shame. And if that is the case, they are choking the goose that lays the golden eggs. We fans are never told about that end of the business. I, for one, would dig a little deeper in my pocket, to support the sport I love, if I knew the struggles were from top to bottom. But if there are a few big wigs making all the money....I'm out... I do know from reliable sources that someone is making a lot of money...Racer X, what say you?
Let's face it: There are many factors leading to the death of this sport. Severe injuries leading to smaller local gates, fewer fans. High cost of participation. Niche TV market interest (small viewership). Even if the numbers doubled or tripled, it wouldn't be enough to sustain the sport. It basically peaked around 1980, and has dropped off ever since; with a sight bump in the early 2000's (middle aged Baby Boomers with kids). There's nothing from here on that's going to save the sport. Enjoy it while you can. On a good year, Honda used to sell a few thousand dirt bikes of a certain model. Soon, they won't even be making them.
superfan.............couldnt of said it better myself
@BD25: Hey, it's ironic that just yesterday I was on wikipedia researching Monster about something, or other, and had read about them using Coca Cola as distribution in the US which struck me as an interesting agreement between competitors.
I wasn't trying be be a knit-picker about detail.
I still don't know if there really is merit to my conflict theory. Maybe it was from pouring too much Monster Drink on my Grape Nuts this morning. And that's not a venereal disease, but a breakfast product item. Ha!
My Bad...
As stated in the article, the Gibbs team put up a huge sum of money to sign Stew. That was a gamble. And gamblers do win ... but Gibbs lost that one.
I think you might be able to do something like what ESPN did with the World Series of Poker. Their hole card cam turned what had been a snoozefest of a telecast into interesting and popular television. With the advent of the Go Pro camera you could link to shots from the rider's perspective in real time. This week was a good example with the big 2nd turn pile-up. Lots of shots from the TV cameras, but nothing showed it as well as the Go Pro footage.
Personally I think they need corporate sponsorships from video game companies, fast food joints, tool makers (Snap-On, etc) just to name a few. If they cannot sell our sport to those companies then who can? For nearly 40 weeks out of the year motocross/supercross packs out stadiums in some of the largest cities in our nation. Sure, we have come a long way since the 60s and 70s but we have a lot more exposure now and with companies like Fox and the their logo you see it everywhere now.
@moto_va_48~ Who cares who is making the big money? It is called capitalism and it is the great thing about America.
So many good comments to a good article. Rant: How much does JGR promote or 'activate' sport clips? Zero. Why don't the results scrolling across the top of the screen on any moto broad cast have the team sponsor in stead of the bike brand? Feld won't let teams promote a product in the pits that is a competitor of a Feld sponsor. Teams are paying for needless works bikes instead of marketing personnel and wondering why they can't afford to race. End rant.
casey , I know you were kidding but I would not type stuff like that. Look outside the black Escalades should be pulling up anytime.
@texag
No, I understood your point and you expanded on it more to ensure I didn't miss it.
You are comparing SX to sports that have huge TV ratings in terms of drunkeness, sex, etc. First of all, show me a golf telecast where fights are occurring in the crowd or there is a stripper holding the "Quiet" signs up. 2nd you are missing the point that huge ratings are what sponsors want to see. When a show or telecast has huge ratings, other "professionalism" issues take a back seat. In a sport where you first have to explain to the potential advertiser what the hell it is, before you move on to the demographics, you are starting in a hole. No one has to pitch NFL football or golf to sponsors. They are outbidding each other to sponsor. Feld apparently pays the TV channels to broadcast the races. The TV channels in other sports bid against each other for the right to pay to broadcast the events. See the glaring difference? If sponsors have a hard time differentiating between SX and Monster truck events (in terms of legitimate sport), it isn't a good thing in trying to get their advertising dollars. Pay attention to the problem which is that huge outside sponsors are reluctant to sink money into SX. Now realize that means there are things that can be improved to help that change. I would bet at least one sponsor has turned down a team simply because they didn't think SX was a legitimate sport, based on some of the goofiness that is the circus of SX. If I was an executive at a toy company and was pitched by a team for sponsorship and then watched a few races, I'd have to ask why there are chicks doing what seems like important official bizness. It would be like the NFL having a bikini chick do the coin flip instead of the head referee. At the same time, Monster would probably get pissed if they didn't get that shot at the start of each race. Understand though, a huge portion of the population thinks that SX is just a bunch of redneck's out for a good time and don't even realize how serious it is for all involved.
At the risk of sounding "old school" or "has been", what happened to the days when the factory team raced out of a box van? Surly the cost of these ignorantly huge haulers is astronomical. Mabey the teams should get together for the sake of the sport and decide on a spending cap. At the end of the day, costs are controllable, but everyone has to be on the same page for it to be fair. How about racing bikes that are closer to stock? Look at Andrew Short who raced a very production base bike last weekend and got 6th overall. What about an amature racing day after the big venue. I'd love to rip some laps on a supercross track. Keep the dirt around for an extra day and let the local guy put in some laps. The supercross and motocross of today is worlds away from the sport I used to know in the early 90's. Just my two cents.
best article I've read in a long time regarding the "pulse" of our sport
Agreed, most thoughtful comments on any article in forever.
Bringing this discussion back full circle, look at the “Chapaparral” rig in the picture. All that for one lone guy. I would imagine they have at almost $1 million tied up in that rig, driver, parts, bikes, engines, insurance, advertising wrap on the trailer, accoutrements in the rig, employees, etc. Yet, Short had his best ride of the season on a production bike as a privateer racing out of a box van/pickup with a single mechanic. You can see where things went wrong.
"Chaparral" - my bad.
Freefaller35 I thought the box vans were cool too, each rider having his own little shop, being able to peer in and see what rider and items were inside. However, the cost of running several box vans up and down the highway may not be a lot cheaper than one semi. The semi provides great signage for the sponsor, which is the main reason for the switch and conveniences such as lounge, kitchen area and facilities to all the riders on the team. The semi also looks impressive and professional adding a style and vibe to the pits that the sport wants to project
As for the amateur day following a supercross, they were awesome! Still remember the view, from the top steps of the Astrodome, looking back over the massive sea of riders, in line to start the day's qualifying races...However today is a different era, the cost of renting the venue for an extra day, the added time for operators to mellow the track, and I cant even image the insurance cost and liability issues an amateur day would create...
The things you brought up were wonderful pieces of our past, we will remember for ever, but today they are just not practical, as the sport looks to move forward, for better or worse....
Eleven10 Mods - Getting shit done out of a flat black box van
@BD25 - I recall an interview (I think with Roger DeCoster) in the early days of teams moving to a single semi from multiple box vans that the break even point for a semi was something like 2.5 box vans, which is a combination of fuel, mileage, meals, hotel rooms, etc. vs. airfare, fewer hotel room nights, etc. Not sure if that math is still the same today though.
So for single or 2 rider teams, a semi is more expensive, especially now that there are better options than box vans that include real sleeper space.
CR500AF Agreed not every team needs a semi, lots of other options that would still look professional and be functional. Each team needs to stay on budget and be smart with the financial backing they have. Every one wants to be a big dog, but you got to be a puppy first...
@caseypons...I didn't see your first post regarding Coke/Monster until after mine went up. I wasn't trying to prove or disprove. Just wanted people to know the big corporations are involved even if they are not seen. Even if Coke hasn't bought Monster, Monster was worth 11.5 billion at the time, so there are companies with big pockets already involved. Like a few others said, SX/MX just doesn't appeal to enough people to justify huge dollars. It's not about finding companies with lots of money, it's about finding ones that want to part with it.
Box trucks are not known to be reliable for back and forth across the country trips 30 times a year. Semi's look more expensive but, I bet over time it works out to about the same. Remember stories of box vans breaking down all the time?
Didn't Feld used to be Clear Channel? If so, I have dealt with them before and it is all about money for THEM and nothing else.
@VISTAJIM: No sooner did I hit submit, and I thought, someone out there is going to read that one sentence and flags are going to be risen.
To all those who did not know I was being absolutely facetious about firearms and any intentions of doing harm to myself or anyone else, I was joking, and it was a (bad) joke at that.
My apologies if I alarmed, and/or offended anyone.
Sincerely...
Two strokes would be much cheaper to maintain.
Tractors are WAY more expensive in both purchase price, fuel consumption, decorating, etc. but he is right, they make life alot easier.
If motocross TRULY wants to go mainstream, and impress sponsors as well as the general public that doesn't really watch.. Then we need to teach a few parenting lessons to the riders.
First off, rip out the big hoop hole earrings out of Roczens ears, erase the tattoos up the sides of riders necks, faces, and arms, get decent haircuts and look professional.
There is a reason Ryan Dungey had a huge sponsor like Target that follows him, Brayton has muscle milk following him, and Stewart has RedBull. They LOOK professional, speak well, don't get tied up in the obnoxious "look cool" element.
I know a lot of you are going to come at me for being politically correct or judging.. But it's a sad truth. 90% of society looks at most mx racers as hoodlums with an attitude. I'm only saying, on TV, in front of millions.. We need guys like Phil Mickelson or Tom Brady. It's sad yes, I know, but it's true whether you want to admit it or not.
Dress to success, and we are judged by the company we keep. It's America, and corporate America has dress codes for a reason.. Public perception.
B-KR makes a good point on the over use of the Monster girls. It would look more professional if a Race Official held the boards to start a race. I know the camera angles of the short dresses and the cute wink are a hit with the teens but it does give the sport a cheese factor. I told some friends of mine about the races being on Speed and since I go on about them all the time, they decided to check them out...Whats up with all the T&A was the question to me from them. They did not even watch the race because they thought it was a joke...these are race car fans who drive Porsche, Ducati and quite successful but would not take supercross serious.
@ caseypons
People like you must think in there own mind you have some power or think your something of importance.Why the red Hype text name that when you click on it Its nothing!!!! a big nothing just like you...You should at least have charecter enough to put something that your name could be attached to an Identity of sorts !!
http://www.thosefunnypictures.com/picture/8571/two-idiots.html
Who drinks Monster? Young boys, it's no stretch to see why they use them. I bet the main tv demographic is the same. If we are throwing the monster girls under the bus why not Erin. If I got a 3-D tv I would have to wear safety glasses. How about if Diana Dahlgren(sp?) comes out all Amish mafia? Sex sells.Duh.
Her sister is smarter and better looking
@ricka, BD25, B-KR
I respect y'all's opinions but I think you are giving corporate America and the public in general way too much credit regarding their prudishness.
The marketing exec at company XYZ is likely taking lunch breaks at Hooters, Twin Peaks, or the local strip joint. As far as rowdy behavior at other sports not being covered on TV thats far from true. In my hometown where a PGA event is hosted by Colonial CC they have a drinking game associated with caddy races at one of the par 3s. They cover it on TV and love the raucous antics of the drunk gallery. The drunken debauchery at NASCAR events has been covered by the media as well. The stuff that goes on outside the speedways looks like Mardis Gras. Ken Roczen looks like a choir boy compared to the thugs in the NBA. In the end it's all about the dollar.
What sponsor is going to lay out millions to get delayed telecast on Speed and CBS? If NASCAR had coverage like that there would only be half the cars racing so our industry needs to get real promote it better. Supercross draws more people then some NFL teams so get the right people to promote it or die.
Claxton The football team that does not fill the stadium will still draw 2 million TV viewers. Last year Speed had an average of 385,000 viewers for its live races with Atlanta being the most watched ever with 630,000 viewers. Your rigth we have a long ways to go and must promote our sport better...
Claxton, the 101 Nationally televised NFL games last year AVERAGED 16.6 million viewers. There is no comparison. The channels broadcasting SX are getting paid, a broadcast company is giving the NFL $9 BILLION DOLLARS to broadcast its events. Today I heard the president of CBS today say that the 5 years they lost the NFL for, were the worst for the company ever. They went from 1st to last. He said you are not a broadcasting company if you do not have the NFL because of the value of all the cross promotion for other shows. Many NFL fans spend a PSL fee (personal seat license) now of upwards of $10,000 per seat to then have the right to pay for the seats for the season at listed ticket prices.
I tried with Texag to get him to understand if SX was on equal footing with these other sports, the unprofessionalism that abounds would not be a factor. Texag's point would make sense if we were comparing apples to apples and for whatever reason SX lost out. The point still is if you are an underdog (like SX) you have to make change by any means necessary (sound familiar-I stole it). You have to look at your sport and say to yourself, does Diana Dahlgren help me get other big sponsors? Maybe the fact is that not one sponsor has cited such things as the reason for turning down a pitch, but the point is it can't be helping. I also have run into the friends who should be turned on by SX who instead think it is just hacky. Maybe back before the internet and 750 channels in hi-def, having Monster girls would have been nice but nowadays you can hit any beach or mall and see the same girls walking around in similar or even better getups in person. The 15 year old kids are at school seeing this in class every day, so there is no big deal happening at the start of SX races for them either. Then when the camera pans up for that cameltoe shot? Gotta admit that ain't bad, but it really should be out of place for a multi-million dollar, serious as all get-out, event like SX races. Sex sells, so does violence (NFL, UFC), so does awesome crap like 450 dirt bikes ripping around a track. People don't watch the NFL games hoping to get a glimpse of a cheerleader. They'll go to one of their 15 porn channels for that.
Good reporting. Not quite the balls of the latest "inside the Moto" But nicely devoid of the usual fanboy fluff.
I can't think of many sports which ask more and give less to those just below the best.
But I'd wager there's hardly motorsports racer who doesn't keep up with SX. Especially with all the new production technology, the sport is so spectacular, You would think we would have more big names and big pockets.
But the incredible riding level now obviously has its downsides. And a whoop section between the first and second turns doesn't help.
Anyway, Jason keep up the great work.
@B-KR I think we've gone on long enough and can agree to disagree but one more comment to prove my point.
Which SX team has some of the best outside sponsorship? I'll give a hint. They are the least "professional" using your criteria. The owner looks like he just got out of prison. I'm talking about the Dodge and Sycuan sponsored (T&A and tattoo loving) Hart&Huntington;/RCH team. RC got them the factory Suzukis but everything else was in place before he came along.
the cold hard truth is the sport got to big in to short a time. and 4 strokes murderd the sale of bikes.and the entry level of the sport is now way to high.( a dad buying a couple of bikes for him and the kids,25000 grand) to race regularly even local is crazy money, and left only to the hard core. as i have said in the past,riding and racing mx is a blue collar redneck sport.doctors, lawyers e.t.c. dont let there kids race dirt bikes! for us its to dam expensive anymore.
If MX bike sales are so bad, maybe the factories ought to reconsider their forced migration to 4-strokes. Duh!