Do SX/MX team owners make any $$

kpiper
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kpiper 1/11/2020 8:41am
1/11/2020 8:41am Edited Date/Time 1/11/2020 8:43am
Saying make a 'profit' is really not the correct term.

These smaller teams survive only from sponsor money given to them. They don't 'make' money except for maybe some small amounts from selling parts, shirts etc.

That is why JGR was so uncertain this year...they were waiting to see if they would get money from a sponsor. Yes, everyone should be getting paid something. That should be in the budget they present to the sponsor.

But you never know. Sometimes 'management' or the 'owner' may have to use the money that was for them to pay for something unexpected to keep the team going. Or even dig into their own pocket.

That is the responsibility of being an owner. Everyone gets paid before you. Every bill gets paid before you. Maybe they get lucky and some money is left over at the end.

trentmanracing 1/11/2020 9:38am
1/11/2020 9:38am
Profit??? whats that? I brought in ZERO, ZIP, NADA in when we raced AX.
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PastranaWho
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PastranaWho 1/11/2020 10:04am
1/11/2020 10:04am
So you start a team to lose money? yeah OK
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stiksandstones 1/11/2020 10:52am
1/11/2020 10:52am
Not everyone can bring in a big sponsor, like Geico eh? its not easy to land these types of big fish from outside the industry. That has to be the poster child of how to do it right. It seems like that program is well funded mostly through Geico insurance, and they don't need to go full 'ricky bobby' jersey with a thousand little $20k partners plastered all over, just a big ass GEICO logo, well funded, well ran.
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lumpy790
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lumpy790 1/11/2020 11:05am
1/11/2020 11:05am
The bigger teams with good main sponsor means the riders get paid more for being the teams performers.
MX Warrior Dad 1/11/2020 12:34pm
1/11/2020 12:34pm Edited Date/Time 1/11/2020 12:37pm
Some owners / riders take out a Lloyd's of London policy. I'd be surprised if Michael Lindsey didn't have one or two
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honda907
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honda907 1/11/2020 2:48pm
1/11/2020 2:48pm
Many riders are paying to be part of the team, the team infrastructure and guidance. These young men bring money with them, and where that comes from is only a guess.
Rockwell
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Rockwell 1/11/2020 3:05pm
1/11/2020 3:05pm
I believe there are 2 ways to make money owning a race team.
1) Have a product that you sell that makes you money. Use the team to market that product and analyze the cost of the team compared to the sales you can attribute to the team.
2) Be a marketing team that uses racing to accomplish marketing objectives. Being a race team to try and accomplish marketing objectives will never work. If your sponsors want to win or place higher and they are willing to pay for it then you can build a race team. If the sponsors just want content, entertainment and some exposure then you will never be able to run a winning race team. You can still have an awesome experience and enjoy what you do. You just can’t kid yourself and think you can compete without the correct budget and sponsors.
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Racerman967
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Racerman967 1/11/2020 3:30pm
1/11/2020 3:30pm
Operations like Butler are corporations so the owners just pay themselves a salary from the corporation.
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JOE_SPROCKETS#1 1/11/2020 4:39pm
1/11/2020 4:39pm Edited Date/Time 1/11/2020 4:47pm
stiksandstones wrote:
Not everyone can bring in a big sponsor, like Geico eh? its not easy to land these types of big fish from outside the industry. That...
Not everyone can bring in a big sponsor, like Geico eh? its not easy to land these types of big fish from outside the industry. That has to be the poster child of how to do it right. It seems like that program is well funded mostly through Geico insurance, and they don't need to go full 'ricky bobby' jersey with a thousand little $20k partners plastered all over, just a big ass GEICO logo, well funded, well ran.
Does geico pay extra $$ or to the team for the 15 min update every race outdoors? Always wondered this. Edit: if not this is where feld could help smaller teams. Hell what’s 30sec of air time to help the small fish get advertising time. We all know there is plenty of down time. Doesn’t have to be during the race
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endurox
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endurox 1/11/2020 4:43pm
1/11/2020 4:43pm Edited Date/Time 1/11/2020 5:03pm
Tax write off for the advertising department.
stiksandstones 1/11/2020 5:04pm
1/11/2020 5:04pm
stiksandstones wrote:
Not everyone can bring in a big sponsor, like Geico eh? its not easy to land these types of big fish from outside the industry. That...
Not everyone can bring in a big sponsor, like Geico eh? its not easy to land these types of big fish from outside the industry. That has to be the poster child of how to do it right. It seems like that program is well funded mostly through Geico insurance, and they don't need to go full 'ricky bobby' jersey with a thousand little $20k partners plastered all over, just a big ass GEICO logo, well funded, well ran.
JOE_SPROCKETS#1 wrote:
Does geico pay extra $$ or to the team for the 15 min update every race outdoors? Always wondered this. Edit: if not this is where...
Does geico pay extra $$ or to the team for the 15 min update every race outdoors? Always wondered this. Edit: if not this is where feld could help smaller teams. Hell what’s 30sec of air time to help the small fish get advertising time. We all know there is plenty of down time. Doesn’t have to be during the race
No idea of their relationships or agreements, but, The 'team' sponsorship/budget generally is an entirely different budget than their advertising budget.
I'd suspect that whomever the promoter of the series is, solicits those ad spots to endemic and non-endemic partners, sold at certain rates....etc etc
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ACBraap
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ACBraap 1/11/2020 6:12pm
1/11/2020 6:12pm
Racerman967 wrote:
Operations like Butler are corporations so the owners just pay themselves a salary from the corporation.
That still requires cash inflow to cover the salary. And with any smaller business, usually the owner is the last to get paid.
HighPlainsSquid 1/11/2020 6:20pm
1/11/2020 6:20pm
kapaa10 wrote:
if you want to make a million dollars w a race team, start w 2 million.
MelonFan123 wrote:
can people PLEASE stop using this analogy it is getting so old
Plus it's wrong.... 'cause if you start with $2 million and MAKE $1 million, that's a pretty good ROI!!!! Sign me up for that.

If you start with $2 million and END UP with $1 million.... bad ROI.
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jtetchila1
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jtetchila1 1/11/2020 7:39pm
1/11/2020 7:39pm
I have been involved in MX, Speedway, and Flattrack since about 1978. In the fall of 2018 another rider was raffling off a pretty nice Kawasaki 700 flattracker for $350/ticket. He was only selling 40 tickets and my wife told me to buy a ticket. I ended up winning the bike, and decided that we were going to put a fast kid on it and run the American Flattrack production Twins Class. I have absolutely zero intention of making any money. In fact, the rider gets all winnings, although he does have to pay entries and tires. Me and/or the mechanic do all of the motor work and haul the bike to almost all of the rounds. We skip the west coast rounds, but raced most of the other rounds and made a couple of mains on what is basically a $350 bike. We have had a couple mechanicals, one hurt pretty bad as we destroyed a $4,000 head, but we have gotten a lot of support, because people like that we are paying it forward as I could have easily sold the bike for $12,000 or more. It also looks like we are going to be adding a 750 for the miles for the upcoming season.

I encourage everyone that has been involved in the sport to “adopt” a younger rider and provide him a chance whether it is at the amateur or pro level. For me, it’s been great and am looking forward to the 2020 AFT season.
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ML512
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ML512 1/11/2020 9:42pm
1/11/2020 9:42pm
MX Warrior Dad wrote:
Some owners / riders take out a Lloyd's of London policy. I'd be surprised if Michael Lindsey didn't have one or two
Nope.
Holigan
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Holigan 1/12/2020 4:24am
1/12/2020 4:24am
Rockwell wrote:
I believe there are 2 ways to make money owning a race team. 1) Have a product that you sell that makes you money. Use the...
I believe there are 2 ways to make money owning a race team.
1) Have a product that you sell that makes you money. Use the team to market that product and analyze the cost of the team compared to the sales you can attribute to the team.
2) Be a marketing team that uses racing to accomplish marketing objectives. Being a race team to try and accomplish marketing objectives will never work. If your sponsors want to win or place higher and they are willing to pay for it then you can build a race team. If the sponsors just want content, entertainment and some exposure then you will never be able to run a winning race team. You can still have an awesome experience and enjoy what you do. You just can’t kid yourself and think you can compete without the correct budget and sponsors.
This is correct.
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FuzzyLogic
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FuzzyLogic 1/13/2020 8:26am
1/13/2020 8:26am
MX Warrior Dad wrote:
Some owners / riders take out a Lloyd's of London policy. I'd be surprised if Michael Lindsey didn't have one or two
ML512 wrote:
Nope.
Why would you? Respectfully, aren't the insurance policies only taken out to insure that a team doesn't have to foot the large championship bonus should their rider win it?

I've obviously never seen the income statements or balance sheets of a team, but do you think Ryan Dungey wrote a check to buy into a team out of the kindness of his own heart? Yes, he could certainly find a safer return elsewhere and he seems to love the sport and being involved in it. But lets not act like this was just a donation, he has seen behind the curtain and there must be some solid hope for a return.

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