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Just a short hop across to GB and the Sports personality of the year show doesn't give mention to the sport of mx on a two hour show the year Jamie Dobb won the World title. Cultural differences do affect this issue though so perhaps we shouldn't read to much into this.
When I lived in South Africa there was an advert run constantly on the 'supersport ' channel advertising F1. It was pretty much aimed at the F1 geeks but it hit the nail on the head with its slogan. 'The more you understand about a sport the more interesting it becomes' Something all of us can relate to I'm sure. Its often the sub plots within the series that gets us all most interested, and most definately the more you find out about the underlying tentions or politics in a situation the more it catches your attention and maintanes your interest.
The bottom line, very simply, comes down to awareness. The only way people will get awareness is through exposure to it and frankly, despite the efforts of good people, the sport has not been driven forward adequately by those running it. In the eighties there was decent coverage of both World and domestic Championships throughout Europe. After that era however it didn't appear the sport was moved forward adequately and it seemed to bring a period of stagnation. Now YS have picked mx up and are trying to run with it, but after such a period without direction it seems clear that big changes are proving uncomfortable. Theres a real sense of awkwardness in MX about any change however, results are allready apparent so we'll wait and see.
In the US, with new leadership, the slow process of making things more presentable for TV seems to be a greater concern too. One clear difference in America is that the series is run by people heavily involved in magazines, so they can press manage more effectively and to an extent, write their own headlines. This has to be a major benefit to implementing any difficult (and I believe necassary) changes, I'm sure a situation Youthstream would be greatfull of. I definately get the sense that theres a real change taking place in the sport right now and I feel its long overdue. Its an exciting time to be in Motocross.
Surf?
>Several x more than race a motorcycle.
Ski?
>Same answer
Ride Bicycles?
>same answer, squared
Race Indycars?
>Nope. Not an indycar. But drive a car? Same answer, squared and squared again
Play Football or baseball as an adult?
>Same answer. Not as pros, but down at the corner lot or front yard? Sure.
Ride horses?
>Same answer
Compete in an Olympic sport?
>Same answer (not necessarily as olympians)
The issue is being able to RELATE to the sport. Most everyone can relate to driving a car, skiing, racing a bicycle, play football or any stick and ball sport, riding horses and so on. Probably because at one time or another they have actually done it or know someone who has. Nobody but us can relate to whipping a 230lb bike flat over a 100' gap at 35mph. Sure, it's cool and all, but relate to doing it? No way. They have no connection to it.
But they do have a connection to 200bpm heart rate for 35 minutes in 100 degree heat.
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I know people, myself included, that were so blown away by MX at Carlsbad on ABC's Wide World of Sport it burned in me the desire to race bikes. I also know that it was one of the most watched shows every year so it wasn't just little joey moto watching it. It was fun and the coverage was good. I will say the coverage this year is better than last year but we are missing some of that today. The thing we are probably missing the most is some sort of drama about who will win. That has been the biggest problem with MX/SX for over 10 years and it is killing interest.
I really doubt that. Is that your opinion or do you have proof? There are a LOT more people growing up on farms, around livestock, etc, than you think.
Bottom line, this is not news. It's marketing 101. It's been studied time and again. NASCAR is widely popular mostly because Suzie Q can imagine being in the race, cutting off Jeff Gordon. She can't imagine being in a motocross race. You can trivialize it all you want, but it doesn't change a thing.
More people are involved with other sports and we can all see ourselves throwing a touchdown or scoring the final basket to steal the win (well, not me because I sucked at sports other than ones involving two wheels). But you can't explain what it feels like to hit that 90 foot blind double for the first time with the sun just starting to set and then matching the landing perfectly.
Motocross has a very attractive demographic for non-endemic companies. But do we want the corporate culture of that? I've been in the industry for a few years now and its great to see that most companies aren't run by MBA's but by guys that were racers and had a good idea, then ran with it. Its refreshing.
Personally, I think there needs to be an advance in pay to add prestige to the sport but I don't think we need to be mainstream per se. Freestyle and all the EXPN stuff is cool but its not the sport (see the thread on first races for the soul of the sport). With the way it is, all the "extreme" aspects are still fringe sports. Now the clothing companies (Fox mainly) has moved mainstream but I doubt its because of motocross. That's just marketing. They were just good enough to get the clothes into major retailers.
Interesting though that no one talked about what I said about lowering the entry level costs.
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (July 11, 2008) – The National Promoters Group (NPG) today announced that Muscle Milk has joined the growing list of non-industry sponsors associated with the 2008 AMA Toyota Motocross Championship.
The rider that shows the best recovery by bettering his results from the first moto to the second (mechanical DNFs excluded) will be the Muscle Milk Recovery Rider of the Day, with a $1,000 cash payout each event. The new Muscle Mile Recovery Rider of the Day award will make its debut this weekend at the Monster Energy Budds Creek Motocross National on July 12-13.
“Muscle Milk is a perfect fit for our sport,” explained John Ayers, director of operations for the NPG. “The nutritional nature of Muscle Milk has been designed to assist athletes in recovery after their workouts. Having the Muscle Milk product associated with the Recovery Rider of the Day is a win-win for them and our riders.”
Muscle Milk is presenting sponsor for the MDK/KTM Lites Motocross Race Team and its Muscle Milk product is also used by several of the top professional riders in the sport.
"Motocross has a very attractive demographic for non-endemic companies. But do we want the corporate culture of that? I've been in the industry for a few years now and its great to see that most companies aren't run by MBA's but by guys that were racers and had a good idea, then ran with it. Its refreshing."
I hate to say it but these MBA people would be the one's running companies to bring MX into the mainstream
I think the Target deal with Dungey is great. Also, Joe Gibb's Racing coming in and bringing their sponsor contacts. Imagine a Home Depot sponsored team, or a financial company or something.
Gotta agree with you about your MBA comment too.
I know muscle milk has ties I was making a funny on that but it would be awesome to see more big outside sponsors like you mentioned ..... need the knowledge of a (how do I say this) "MBA smart" team manager to put something that big together
Like I was saying about the MBA thing, this industry is run by ex-racers and enthusiasts I know because I worked at a dealership for 5 years when I was going to school. Its cool that the people involved in the industry are who they are and for the most part are business savvy but to bring in the kind of dough and outside attention is the work of a business professional. Look at what happened to all the small dealerships around the southland that are gone now because of Del Amo and OTD cyclesports, once they put together a small business plan/model they ran all over the smaller shops and either took them over or they went out of business. Im not saying it's good or bad just progression and when you refuse to conform you get passed by.
Pit Row
If motocross is to grow, it has to grow from the ground up - which means less expensive bikes, nicer and less dangerous tracks, family atmosphere, stuff like that. Breed a new generation of riders and the sport will be safe. But it's lousy competition, it doesn't translate to TV well, the tracks are too far from civilization for most pure spectators, and it's too much commitment to go watch - so it's not a mainstream sport, in my opinion.
I think the real thing is for the next entity that runs motorcross is that they come in with a clear business model. One that realizes that the sports personalities matter and that we aren't NASCAR. One that will spend more time building and working with the grassroots. They have to realize that to make moto grow, or even sustainable, you have to get young people into it. They need to be able to afford bikes and gear and have a place to go ride on Sunday. I really don't think this can be worked from the top down but from the bottom up.
I'm leaving SX out now since they are live nation for at least a little longer. Although live nation might have shot themselves in the foot with their new 360 music artist deals. These guys own everything and are still using an old business model for the most part. They could be sucked dry financially if it fails and then I'd be interested to see what they do with Supercross.
More money will come from sponsors if the branding expense makes sense. If not, they will spend their dollars on other motorsports, like they do now. So going more mainstream will always be good if you want the sport to prosper.
So how do you fix it, you gotta make it more popular, plain and simple. Motocross in general is now more popular than ever. Thanks to FMX, most people not familiar with the sport have at least heard about the crazy stuff those guys do. But thier challenge is in live spectators, its not really that exciting to see live. One guy out at a time doing tricks is not going to get the masses in the seats. But the awareness is there.
I was watching a F1 race last night and I noticed some of the things they did to make it more fan friendly, and I think MX should do the same. Think about it, unless you are a die hard fan, you pay a lot of money to stand in the heat all day and then are lucky to find a spot where you can see more then a third of the track (on most tracks).
Here are some of my suggestions:
1. Covered bleachers - this is a no brainer. Most motocports have bleachers that have shade covers. And put them on good sections of the tracks where they have multiple viewing angles.
2. Jumbotron's - Place jumbo screens inside the track where viewers can see more action, including places where they can not see from where they are standing /sitting. You see this at most outdoor motorsport venues.
3. Track Pit Area - Place the pit tent row accross from the start finish line and accross from bleachers, just like at a stock car track. That gives the spectators more things to watch.
4. Pit Area - Make it more accessable, and make it more exciting. This is one of my pet peves. There are only 3 rows of factory rigs, a few vendors and energy drink stands. Its boreing, and they close too much. Why not leave them open from sun up to sun down? I have been in them when thry are "closed during the races" not much happens. And if they organize it better, they can get the bikes to the rigs without running into fans.
Also, make it more family friendly. Add rides, add more food and drinks, add more vendors (live nation is too strict). Make it a Motorcycle Show and MX race. That will make more prople want to come out and piddle around. Sit on bikes, by MX related stuff, etc. The way it is now, there is not much motivation to drive an hour to one of these tracks, stand out in the hot sun and maybe pay an extra $20 to be ignored by riders and their wrenches. Thats not selling the sport very well.
5. Media Presentation - They really got to work on this. I saw a lot of great ideas in this area. They need better "track facts", "MX Tech", etc. to better educate the fans. And they need way better communication and focus on the riders. The folks watching it on TV don't get much. An interview at the start when they have their helmets on and the God aweful podium speeches, which are the joke of motorsports. Thats got to get modernized. No more holding a energy drink into a camera lens and spouting off sponsors. Thats plain rediculous. They can get a great lesson from Nascar. Get their bikes behind them so the sponsor logo can be seen and let them talk about the race.
Well, I have more ideas but I will start with those. I think the sport is prime to become a few notches above where it is now. But they gotta cross market and do a much better job making it more exciting and comfortable to be there live.
Several costs for the teams have gone substancially including fuel, health care costs, insurance, just to name a few. Professional motorsports is a form of entertainment intended to earn enough money to susidize the marketing costs. The return is measured by how many people see the sponsors name on the pilots/bikes.
So it has to become mainstream, or it will no longer be cost effective for the sponsors and it will disappear.
Look at supercross, you have seen the crowds. Half are there for entertainment. Here in Houston, you can take the train to the stadium for $1, and get a good end-zone seat close to the track for $14. So for $15, you are inside and watching the race. No heat, no long drive and no dirt/mud.
For some of the Nationals, you have to drive a lot farther, and pay one entry price (no breaks for cheap seats). And then you pay extra for access to the pits, which is marginal as entertainment goes. So you will have $50+ dollars invested and lots more of your time just to get in the gate. Thats why you find more true "fans" at the nationals, but you need more folks than that to make the numbers work for the track owners.
You are going to have to have more than "good racing" to get more fans/people to invest more time and money.
First of all you have to keep the star power in both mx/sx. With the rumor that JS is going sx only I know I'm not the only one who feels that is kinda bad for the sport. Debatable to some but not to me at all, when the fastest most exciting guy to watch isn't out there well its not good for the fans/sport. Don’t get me wrong, no one person is bigger than the sport. But they are certainly representatives of the sport. And can be marketed as such. So...why not reward teams that make deals that are both mx/sx friendly?
And as far as sx, expand on the locations…in D.C there isn’t anything. (Budds creek is only one hour away though) Maybe bring sx to more stadiums to advertise let people get their feet wet. Monster trucks come down here so why not sx?
You know, there’s a market for chocolate covered roaches…you telling me you can’t market motorcross? If you come they will follow!
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