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Go make a list of all the guys on factory bikes that're getting paid to ride'em.
Now, compare that to the 22 gates on the line (66 when including 250 West/East)
Here's a start (Including DIRECT Factory Support...BTO, PC, Geico, Star...etc.)
11 at KTM
4 at Husky
8 at Honda (9 when you include Freddie)
7 at Kawasaki
4 at Suzuki
7 at Yamaha (Eight if Star has 5 riders...?)
That's 41 (Actually 43...but, let's go conservative)
Now, add up the *Support Teams...here's a soft count...
2 at MCR
2 at RMC
2 at Tedder
2 at Rock RIver
4 at Motorcycle Superstore
2 at Blue Buffalo/Slater
2 at Dirt Candy
2 at 5150
That's 18 more...but...what about the Asterisk I put up there...?
Some of these guys on the 2nd list aren't necessarily "paid"...but, they aren't Privateering it or "Roughing It", either.
And that's my point: No ONE was EVER promised a "Salary".
This IS NOT a 9-5 Job...
It's a CHOSEN SPORT that these guys are ATTEMPTING to make their "Profession".
Btw, 41 + 18 = 59 With that number I've filled most ALL the gates at ALL the West -AND- East races...which is 66 gates when you do the Math (8 open gates).
I've left out a few Teams...my bad; but, I think we can all see the point.
While we're here...we are a LONG-LONG-Looooong Way from the other Sports and Leagues that many of you want to compare SX/MX to. Some of you need to learn the meaning of "Franchise", "Professional", "Accomplished", "Viable"...etc.
That need's to recognized and understood.
The can stop at ANYTIME & go take a LOW RISK "Job"...like making your hamburger or building your house or fixing your truck. You know J-O-B?
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Lets compare apples to apples please. My whole point is that I think we need to make this Premiere Class a PRO league. Meaning a full field of Team riders. And those guys should dedicate most of their waking moments to being a Professional, and earning enough salary to do so. You dont see a 3rd string Linebacker working at Sports Authority during the week and wearing a hand me down helmet and sneakers from Craigslist. He gets paid to train and play as a pro with comparable equipment. The Pro's dont let high school or college scrubs walk on and give it a go when they are in town....so if we want to someday be as big as the NFL and get the same coverage and sponsor money, we have to try to emulate their model as best we can. The every man for himself mentality will only go so far. Either way the top talent will still win and be top earners.
Are you as outraged by what our military members deployed to combat zones are getting paid? If you want to talk about real risk, talk to some of those guys who have seen combat.
But hey, let's offer some guy who rides a motorcycle fast a ton of money to do so. The risk in this sport is overstated. Can you get hurt? Sure. Can it be bad? Sure. I've even been there where riding almost cost me my career. The risk is what you make of it. These guys aren't "risking their lives" to ride a motorcycle. They're simply getting paid for something that is a hobby to most of us.
Shane
Well stated!
Shane
Thanks
I guess that was a rhetorical question. The realist in me knows that the top 5-7 guys are who the fans come for (and top 1-3 in the 250s), and for the promoter the guys who run 15-22 aren't that big of a concern, because they know somebody will somehow find a way to get a bike together and fill their gate. Capitalism at its finest. But again from the circus/monster truck/entertainment perspective I guess the guys further back might crash more, so there's some value to that. All of this was sort of okay 25 years ago when Rick Melon was working five days a week and driving to the supercross, but now that 20th place guy is probably someone who has been devoted to supercross nonstop since grade school and has had multiple trips to Lorettas building for that dream. I know, I know, there are no "freebies," nobody "deserves" anything, but damn. And maybe that's one of the reasons our sport is inherently self-limiting.
I'd love to see the actual numbers on how it all comes together and where the money goes... stadium rental, track construction, television, insurance, merch, event and title sponsors, purse money, concessions, etc. Not to point fingers, but just to understand.
We need to understand that SX/MX will never have the viewership of the NFL. Having teams local promotes fans. Having a schedule that has teams "home" half the season promotes fans. Having football accessible in public schools allows people to relate...and promotes fans.
The general public feels no alliance to a team or rider that works on the opposite side of the country and comes to town once or twice a year. SX/MX is little more than a novelty sport. Awesome when it comes around and then forgotten until next year when it comes again. There's a core following, but we will be following no matter what.
Start thinking of ideas to fulfill the sport on its own. And they don't lie in emulating what another team sport does.
Shane
Pit Row
SX/MX has come along way from the days of vans and pickups but I thing some of you over estimate the level of growth now that MX bikes sales are on a decline and local MX numbers have been on a steady decline for years.
Yeah Merica!
Hi....you guys remember me? I used to hang around here quite a bit, and I have read this same argument like, "OH MY GOD, Becky, LOOK AT THAT THREAD, it's so BIG"
I don't know where you guys think Feld, or even MXSports have this magic money tree, but can you show it to me??
I have asked this question, I swear, every year, maybe 3x a year, when these same threads come up, and no one HAS EVER EVEN TRIED to answer it.....
Make a list of all the costs to put on a SX event.....from dirt, to staff, to airfares/hotels/per diems, to porta shitters, to fencing, to replacing the grass (yes, that IS part of the deal, and it ain't cheap grass), insurance, rain out insurance, and on and on and on.....Feld ain't making as much as you think, and EVEN IF your math brings you to a $1MM per event profit, you're talking about a multi-billion dollar company....a million is pocket change....jet fuel and lunch for a business trip. It's nothing in the big picture. Then you have to ask, who dictates how much money/profit Feld or MXSports makes?? How much is too much? I've been around here long enough to know this is a pretty conservative crowd, and the idea of limiting or dictating a corporation's profit margin isn't going to go down well.
This weekend at A1 with the El Monsoon happenin', Feld is going to LOSE MONEY....low crowd numbers and more damage to facility they have to pay for....mud races are nightmares for more than the teams and riders
and when it cameto the "Supercross Wars" (Feld/CCE vs Jam/AMA) what was said was right, Feld/CCE locked up ALL DIRT BASED EVENTS in every major stadium in the US, even if a SX isn't there, a Monster Jam is....so, to have another series, not unless in college stadiums or Walmart parking lots, so a second series ain't gonna happen.
And lastly, it is up to the riders to make a stand, but if they do, they risk their careers, because if they don't race, even in protest, they violate their employment agreement with their team....can you say "unemployed?" And for every rider who iskicked out or fired, there's 10 behind him to step up and try to "make their bones" as a Pro SX'r
Reality sucks, but that's it
Back to my hole.....Bye!!
Who's doing Dolphins on radio in Miami, still WQAM? They're paying the Dolphins millions for those rights, because they make it back in ad revenue....we you areound during the Neil Rogers days? He used to explain all this crap out, pissing off all the TV and radio stations down there. He used to rip WSVN mercilessly....but I digress......SX is not getting paid much, if anything, to be aired on TV, and up until recently, FELD was PAYING THEM to put it on the air, like one long commercial, so people would attend when the circus (series) came to their town, but only in last few years it either became a push, or FOX started paying Feld a few bucks, but certainly not ANYWHERE close to the multi-millions the networks pay for stick and ball
The entities who own the rights to those sports make money by selling the media rights to media outlets. In turn, the media outlets make even more money by selling to sponsors and advertisers the opportunity to put their brands in front of those large audiences. Sponsors and advertisers believe the investment is worthwhile in sales and is relative to the size of the audience, but the fact is that the only group who are paying directly out of their own pockets with no direct return are sponsors and advertisers.
Supercross has been around now for what, close to 40 years? Do you think if it had that much entertainment value someone would have jumped on it already? The fact is - supercross (and motocross) don't have high entertainment value to spectators and TV audiences. The main event at a supercross, the one people would potentially pay to see, barely lasts 20 minutes. That's less than the actual advertising slots in a NASCAR or NFL broadcast. Add to that the difficulty in being able to show bike/rider sponsors in a TV broadcast.
To use your analogy, if we place flipping burgers at one end of the entertainment scale, and NFL at the other, SX/MX sits somewhere in between, but probably closer to the burger end.
What would it be worth to Feld to have RV22 back on the starting line?
If the 3 hr. TV show can be improved in entertainment value and bring more eyes to the TV screen that would increase the size of the pie that gets cut up.
Post a reply to: Riders Salaries 2017 and beyond (FELD)