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HOW THE FIM GOT CONTROL OF AMERICAN SUPERCROSS
Dear MXA,
Why is the American Supercross series sanctioned by the FIM? The Euros have nothing to do with Supercross, but they bring their rules, not to mention WADA, to a country that was doing fine without them. How did they get control of Supercross?
Where there is money, there are people willing to play for keeps. Back in 2001, the AMA and Clear Channel, then the promoting group of Supercross, engaged in a civil war over who would run Supercross. The AMA had been the sanctioning body for the vast majority of Supercross races held in the United States since the very first one on July 8, 1972. As the sanctioning body, the AMA was the ombudsman for the riders, rule book and sport. Its job was to look out for the best interest of the sport, ensure fair competition, protect the riders and run the races. A sanctioning body should act as the middleman between the spirit of the sport and the realities of the business aspects of the sport.
Clear Channel was the promoter of 15 of the 16 AMA Supercross rounds (albeit under names like Pace Motorsports, SFX and Live Nation over the years). A promoter’s job is to hold the races. The race promoter makes the majority of his money by selling sponsorship packages to energy drink bottlers, motorcycle manufacturers, software developers, tire companies and automobile firms. They also reap the benefit of selling tickets, souvenirs and concessions to live audiences.
The sanctioning body makes its money by charging sanctioning fees to the promoter, collecting gate money for rider entries, charging for AMA Pro licenses and selling title sponsorships (in competition and conflict with the race promoters, who also want to do the same thing). It is in the area of title sponsorship that sanctioning bodies and promoters most often come to loggerheads.
THE 2001 CIVIL WAR
The 2001 Supercross civil war came about when the AMA and Clear Channel were unable to come to an agreement on a future contract (the then-current contract expired at the end of the 2002 season). The sticking points were profit sharing, sanctioning fees and sponsorship rights. Clear Channel said that it didn’t need the AMA and would run its own Supercross series. In response, the AMA declared its intention to run its own Supercross series head-to-head against the Clear Channel-promoted series in 2003.
Clear Channel’s advantage in the battle was that it had agreements with most of the major stadiums and arenas in the country and experience holding Supercross events. On the AMA side of the war was a big club called fiduciary rights. This legal term became very important because, as interpreted, it said that the motorcycle manufacturers who were members of the AMA Board of trustees could do nothing that would harm the AMA—because as board members, they had a fiduciary responsibility to support the organization that they governed.
On one hand, you had a promoting group that had the stadiums wrapped up, and, on the other hand, you had a sanctioning body that had the riders and factory teams caught in a legal conundrum. One thing that everyone who was involved on the rider and team side of things in 2001 knew was that promoting group should not be the sanctioning bodies. Why not? If a decision had to be made that meant more money for Clear Channel or an improvement in the riders’ well being, the promoting groups would always look out for their bottom line. It’s no secret that previous Clear Channel management teams abused their power, brow beat privateers, banned the press and were anything but benevolent to the sport. Their heavy handedness eventually culminated in the 1995 Las Vegas rider strike and their attempt to have Jeremy McGrath banned from the sport. Nobody wants absolute power in the hands of a corporation.
By the same token, sanctioning bodies should not promote races. Their job is to look out for the welfare of the riders, integrity of the sport and long-term future of all involved (and that includes race promoters). They can’t do that when they are money hungry.
THE PRE-PRE 2001 CIVIL WAR
The 2001 Clear Channel-versus-AMA civil war was not the first time the AMA and a promoting group got in a battle. Ten years earlier, the AMA tried to take over a road race series from the promoter who developed it. They got tagged for $3,000,000 after the promoter’s lawyers were through with them (and the circumstances were remarkably similar to the 2001 Supercross spat).
On the Supercross legal front, history shows that arguing is part of the deal. In 1984, the Supercross promoters broke away from the AMA to form their own series. The hastily assembled Insport series and its AIR sanctioning body only lasted for a short time—but the record books are a mess because of it. In 1984, Jeff Ward won the AMA Supercross title (a two-race series), while Johnny O’Mara earned the 15-race Insport crown.
THE AMA SUES THE RACE TEAMS IN 1982
Additionally, the Big Four manufacturers were sued by the AMA in 1982 when the factory teams pulled out of the AMA Trans-USA series to race the non-AMA sanctioned CMC Trans-Cal series. The factory teams lost that lawsuit because as members of the AMA Board of Directors, they were bound by “fiduciary responsibility” to support the organization they directed. The manufacturers had to pay the AMA a settlement.
Back in 2001, Clear Channel started locking up long-term exclusivity deals with several major stadiums, including Anaheim, Dallas, Phoenix and Minneapolis. The goal was to keep the AMA out.
THE BATTLE THAT GOT THE FIM INVOLVED
As for the AMA, it signed a contract with Chicago-based entertainment group Jam Sports to become the promoter of the proposed 2003 AMA Supercross series. Jam Sports took the job seriously and began rounding up whatever venues were possible Supercross sites. The AMA and Jam Sports’ plan was to hold as many 2003 Supercross events as possible on the same weekend as Clear Channel’s events—with the knowledge that the factory teams would have to race with them. Psychologically, they also knew that the Japanese corporate bosses saw the AMA as the one-and-only motorcycle organization in the United States and, most important, the official federation of the FIM (International Motorcycle Federation). Since the Japanese manufacturers field more than just American motocross teams, the AMA was their one-stop shopping association.
No sport, no matter how strong and powerful it thinks it is, is immune to collapse. The AMA/Clear Channel discord smacked of the CART/IRL fiasco. And, if you know anything about championship auto racing, you know that both series were demeaned by their bitter fight. The powerful CART turned out to be the surprise loser, but Indy Car racing never returned to the glory it had before the nasty breakup.
THE SUPERCROSS PROMOTER’S LATERAL ARABESQUE
It didn’t appear as though the AMA and Clear Channel could resolve their differences without going to court. But, Clear Channel had an ace in the hole. An outside promoter, who worked for Clear Channel, told his bosses that the solution to their problem was to skip over the AMA and sanction the 2003 Clear Channel Supercross series with the FIM. Since the FIM was the world-wide sanctioning body of all motorcycle racing (and the AMA was an affiliate of the FIM), if they became an FIM-sanctioned event, the Big Four manufacturers could race with Clear Channel without violating their fiduciary responsibility to the AMA—because the AMA was under the FIM umbrella.
And that is how the FIM became the sanctioning body for the AMA Supercross series. Beaten by the FIM trump card, the AMA had to return to sanctioning the Clear Channel Supercross series and give up its Jam Sports plans. Clear Channel had outsmarted the AMA.
However, Jam Sports didn’t take it lying down. Jam Sports accused Clear Channel of illegally using its entertainment industry might to scuttle Jam Sport’s bid to promote Supercross racing by intimidating stadium owners (and Jam Sports had Clear Channel memos to prove their case). In January of 2005, the jury awarded Jam Sports a $90 million judgment against Clear Channel for anticompetitive behavior. And that’s the short version f how the FIM got involved in American Supercross.
Also the fact that the substance in question has virtually next to no performance enhancing characteristics...Do you really think Tickle would risk his career by knowingly taking a banned substance that has no performance benefit for him? Really ??
You are carrying on like he"s hopped into the steroids and is whining about getting caught!
Imagine how you'd feel if it was you...the utter bewilderment , wondering what the fuck it was you took that had this shit in it?
And btw ,wether or not Tickle is a race winner or not is of no importance to the argument of fairness and how hes been treated
Look at AMA supercross winners by year and then World Supercross... its all jacked up.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Energy_AMA_Supercross,_an_FIM_W…
I don't for a second buy into any conspiracy theory, but, in addition to that statement we have Tickle's statement that the FIM has not issued a hearing date. I agree WADA isn't conspiring to do anything to Tickle and may not even know or care who he is. My agreement is based on the fact that the FIM is responsible for setting up the hearing, etc.
So we have our players right, let me refer to the FIM Anti-Doping Code. FIM initiates the hearing process pursuant to Article 8.1.1. It does so by referring the matter to International Disciplinary Court (CDI). WADA can attend the hearing as an observer should it so choose (8.1.4). WADA doesn't conduct the hearings.
Lets look at another case not to dissimilar from Tickle (Alcohol was involved and the Rider didn't know how it got in his system) http://www.fim-live.com/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/Anti-doping-Dar…
1. Event - August 17, 2014
2. Provisional suspension upheld September 19, 2014 - "In his decision the CDI Single Judge ... recommended that the final hearing should be fixed expeditiously, preferably in the month of October or November 2014, so that a decision on the merits could be taken in a timely manner."
3. September 29, 2014 - Ward's Attorney asks for case materials
4. October 29, 2014 - FIM sets hearing for January 8, 2015
5. December 19, 2014 - Hearing continuance requested by Rider
6. January 9, 2015 - Hearing set for January 30, 2015.
7. January 30, 2015 - Hearing held
8. February 25, 2015 - CDI renders decision. 10 months ineligibility
Provisional to Hearing 133 days
Provisional to First Notice of Hearing 40 days
Whether or not it is out of the ordinary I can only speculate. History seems to indicate that these things can be handled a lot quicker than Tickle's case is being handle. We can only make assumptions of what is transpiring. I even have to take Tickle at his word that a hearing hasn't been set. Who knows ....
I was maybe a little harsh with the Fascist analogy, but in any set of circumstances we are now 197 days from the provisional suspension without a hearing having been set. Even assuming there are a lot of unknown facts out there beyond what we do know (i.e., dirty tests A&B, rider says I don't know, Rider wanting a hearing, etc.) this seems unreasonably long. Only thing I can think of that would change my opinion is if Tickle was asking for continuances and not being candid about the hearing dates. Also factoring into my thoughts are the manner in which other violations have been handled and keeping in mind that Stewart's hearing was held within 119 days of the provisional suspension.
Just my 2 cents .... Reasonable minds can differ.
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Ohio isnt a “free” state. Too bad we have a horrendous drug problem lol
Also the fact that the substance in question has virtually next to no performance enhancing characteristics...Do you really think Tickle would risk his career by knowingly taking a banned substance that has no performance benefit for him? Really ??
If it didn't work, it wouldn't be a banned substance. Obviously you have never used it otherwise you wouldn't post such nonsense.
Pit Row
You so hard Bro!
And in reply to you dumbass analogy above your last dumbass analogy. Yes he got caught smoking weed but guess what, he can go the very next day and get a job doing the same exact thing no matter what his past employer says.
Once again! Give the man his sentence so he can get on with his life either on what he knows (racing his motorcycle) or calling it a day and moving on to something else. Can’t call it a day when you have NO answers. That is all
That's why it's a fucked situation, not because of whether Tickle is guilty or not, not whether he was pumped full of roids or took a supplement that's not allowed.
If it takes them this long to even have a hearing into the matter, than they're obviously not managing the situation very efficiently. If they can't manage testing and make concise decisions in a reasonable amount of time, they should fuck off and hand the reins to someone who can.
Have a hearing, give the penalty and get on with it.
While I get his point, I do see a difference in industry vs moto for drug testing. Drug testing in industry is to mitigate risk and try to prevent unnecessary loss (damage, injury, death). Drug testing in moto is to prevent people gaining an unfair advantage. Kind of an apples and oranges comparison.
Broc fucked up. Period. But the FIM should have a plan laid out for him by now, that’s just being professional.
Thanks for listening to my ted talk.
I literally live here, work here, know plenty of people here, and have done the workmans comp thing, what i wrote is exactly how it works for every single person ive ever spoken to about employment.
Dont tell me im wrong when others and myself have experienced it first hand and i wont be a dick to you.
You dont even live here and youre trying to tell me how it works.
Post a reply to: Tickle is pissed