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As a sport, the only thing we determine each week is who can get the best start. With the track designs, and as talented as these guys are, the rider that holeshots (or starts within the top 5) usually wins. The races are sooo boring.
As entertainment, the show is stale and the races are sooo boring.
I'm not sure what the answer is; chase format, 2 strokes, joker lane, who knows. I watched a bit of a Monster Jam the other night and it was sold out so maybe "dumbing down" the sport/show is what's needed. Or go the other direction and get technical with rules and venues like MotoGP. My middle-aged, non-riding wife sleeps through SX but won't miss a minute of a MotoGP race.
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I paid $90 for 300 level in Dallas, and only $45 for 100 level in Toronto. With the concessions gouging, makes for an expensive night!!
Increase the MONEY in the 450 class. The top 250 guys not racing in the 250 class will have serious motivation to be in the big boy class. Make the top three mean more in the heat races. Bonus points, and MONEY. Give these guys motivation to battle to be in that top 3. Increase the laps in the main by 5 laps. BIG MONEY and more points to the top 3.
Tracks. MUST be tougher. Right now, every one goes the same speed and does the exact same thing. And I am not talking about bigger triples and quads. You can make more challenging wall jumps, sand sections, off camber corners, etc. The whoops need to be tough too. No more just blitzing the top of them. With the talent level today, and the bikes....big whoops all the same size are just blitzed.
Have a SX champ and MX champ, but also combine the points between the two to have a overall US AMA Motocross Champion. This is the guy that gets the #1 plate for the following SX and MX series. No more SX specialist, or MX specialist. You need to be able to race both.
You want to see the top riders more often?
You want less predictability of results and bar to bar racing?
Do you find a variety of bikes interesting?
Here you go:
1 class any bike (including dropping all rules, to include factory specials, 2 stroke, electric etc. and no homolgation)
80 riders run 4 quarterfinals 10 minutes
40 riders run 2 semifinals 10 minutes
20 rider main event 15 minutes
SX will not be back to Santa Clara. Rent is too steep to have that bad a turnout.
Someone forgot to tell Feld that Levi's stadium has a HORRIBLE reputation locally for it's traffic. It's hard to get the locals to want to go to that stadium even for 49ers games let alone a 3rd tier sport.
Not to mention, any round run in Southern California is world's cheaper for the teams to make happen. That plays a factor.
Also, factor in tourism boards & concessions split % with the venue. It's all negotiable.
Seattle lost it's SX and it had NOTHING to do with poor attendance. There are several variables. Sometimes the ticket prices are a result of higher rent or a new split of the concessions revenue. You never know exactly unless you know the details of those negotiations with the venues.
Expect Nashville and Carolina to get rounds next year.
Tho, to your point, it's a damn shame Seattle lost it's round. It's blasphemous.
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Compare that to Anaheim, which is old as fuck (tho renovated) it's still a crowded mess in the concession areas. That sorta forces people to their seats.
Furthermore, if Saturday's race were held at Angels stadium 43k attendance wouldve been damn near a sellout and a win for everyone involved. Anaheim is simply much cheaper to rent and easier for the teams to get too. A stadium set up for 60k in attendance also has to be staffed for a potential 60k fans. If only 2/3 of the building is full, that means they over staffed the event by 33% and considering the way Levi's Stadium does things that is a HUGE expense. That's why Atlanta 2 is no more. only 40k+ showed up for the second one but they were staffed and set up for 70k.
Here's some food for thought, renting a luxury box at Atlanta SX is $2k. Atlanta's dome is set to be replaced here soon but it's not a dump by any means. The stadium is barely of drinking age. That same luxury box at Levi's was $4k and it was better business for them to have it empty than sell it to someone willing to pay $2500. Crazy economics, huh?
And again, we dont know how the revenue split was negotiated between Feld & Levi's. For all we know, Levi's didnt give Feld ANY of the concessions revenue. I can guarantee that Angels stadium offers up a much sweeter deal. It's just so much easier for everyone to make money.
A even better comparison to Levi's is right across the bay to the Oakland coliseum. Renting that venue out is but a FRACTION of the cost of Levi's. And while Oakland coliseum doesnt give up any of it's concession revenue, the rent on the event is probably about $1-2 per ticket (educated guesstimate) and the stadium is setup to hold around 45k spectators so if only 40k show up, that's a big success for everyone involved. Not to mention, locals know that the coliseum isnt a parking nightmare like Levi's is.
Levi's is a big boy venue that only really works for big boy events. SX just doesnt generate the fans/revenue needed. It'll be interesting to see what happens when the new stadium in Atlanta is finished and how that affects the economics of that event. Some of these new venues are pricing out the "smaller" events unfortunately.
I have fond memories of the Boston SX. (Photo below I took in 1983 at Foxboro)
And with that said I have no desire at all to go this year.
The action (or lack of it) doesn't justify the expense and effort to go to the stadium anymore. Not even close.
When real fans are skipping SX events - especially rare ones like Boston after all these years - that says something is wrong.
And I make that guess based on the known/easily verifiable figures they charge for other events such as pro baseball & football.
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