Mike grondahl gypsy tales podcast is unreal

4/7/2021 11:45am
Throwing this out there for shits and giggles…

Could the top guys of our sport for the last 2 decades, MC RC JS7 CR RV RD KR etc, possibly pool together $$$ to buy rights and recreate a league to essentially recreate what is today?
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TeamGreen
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4/7/2021 11:48am
Throwing this out there for shits and giggles… Could the top guys of our sport for the last 2 decades, MC RC JS7 CR RV RD...
Throwing this out there for shits and giggles…

Could the top guys of our sport for the last 2 decades, MC RC JS7 CR RV RD KR etc, possibly pool together $$$ to buy rights and recreate a league to essentially recreate what is today?
Years ago, MC had his own race & it was A BLAST!
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Janko630
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4/7/2021 12:01pm
soggy wrote:
Your saying every professional sports league is now a mafia. And as has been said before you are free to start your own series, just as...
Your saying every professional sports league is now a mafia. And as has been said before you are free to start your own series, just as there are other football, baseball leagues etc.
Janko630 wrote:
Rock solid response. I'll just start my own Facebook while I'm at it too.


soggy wrote:
There is nothing stopping you, come up with a better idea and do it
Please refer to my previous post.
The question:
Besides top riders, why can't the guys outside the top echelon make a decent living?
The rider's ineptitude off the bike? Of course not.
The internet/social media/livestreaming has made it easier than ever to capitalize on one's own image, yet the vast majority of professional racers aren't being compensated for the risks they take?
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soggy
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4/7/2021 12:18pm
Janko630 wrote:
Rock solid response. I'll just start my own Facebook while I'm at it too.


soggy wrote:
There is nothing stopping you, come up with a better idea and do it
Janko630 wrote:
Please refer to my previous post. The question: Besides top riders, why can't the guys outside the top echelon make a decent living? The rider's ineptitude...
Please refer to my previous post.
The question:
Besides top riders, why can't the guys outside the top echelon make a decent living?
The rider's ineptitude off the bike? Of course not.
The internet/social media/livestreaming has made it easier than ever to capitalize on one's own image, yet the vast majority of professional racers aren't being compensated for the risks they take?
Because most of a riders earnings come from a deal with the manufacturer or tier 1 team not prize purses. I don’t even really know what you are trying to argue here. Yes they can make money via social media, by what does that have to do with it.
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The Shop

TeamGreen
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4/7/2021 12:19pm
Janko630 wrote:
Rock solid response. I'll just start my own Facebook while I'm at it too.


soggy wrote:
There is nothing stopping you, come up with a better idea and do it
Janko630 wrote:
Please refer to my previous post. The question: Besides top riders, why can't the guys outside the top echelon make a decent living? The rider's ineptitude...
Please refer to my previous post.
The question:
Besides top riders, why can't the guys outside the top echelon make a decent living?
The rider's ineptitude off the bike? Of course not.
The internet/social media/livestreaming has made it easier than ever to capitalize on one's own image, yet the vast majority of professional racers aren't being compensated for the risks they take?
Ya know, there's a lot to take into consideration...but...outside of the limited number of slots where a rider is paid to ride for a team...

There have been quite a few successful privateers.

It takes really good relationships, communication/marketing skills and a HELLUVA LOT OF WORK. But, riders like Marty Moates, Rick Ryan, Jeff Glass and countless others since those good ol' days have proven it can be done.
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Janko630
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4/7/2021 12:30pm
soggy wrote:
Because most of a riders earnings come from a deal with the manufacturer or tier 1 team not prize purses. I don’t even really know what...
Because most of a riders earnings come from a deal with the manufacturer or tier 1 team not prize purses. I don’t even really know what you are trying to argue here. Yes they can make money via social media, by what does that have to do with it.
Why can't rider's sell their own merchandise at the races? Why can't they live stream from the races?
The vast majority of professional racers' earning potential is being throttled.

The podcast is worth a listen. Grondhal's perspective on restrictive marketing are on point.
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Holigan
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4/7/2021 12:47pm
Hard to bag on MX Sports or even Feld over the last year. Neither of these promoters made any money running races without fans in attendance. No fans, so all of the event sponsors want a discount or rebate. And there are no television networks throwing $$$ to telecast the races.

In the world of Sports, both Supercross and Motocross are very small. If Monster and Red Bull had a desire to grow the sport, they have the money and the marketing ability. But both of those companies are focused on growing their own sales and profits, which is what they should be doing.

As a former team owner, I understand Mike's feelings. We had some major sponsors and still lost money every year no matter how the team did on the track. There have a been a ton of teams come and go over the years. It is a lot of fun, but it is not a smart place to invest.
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soggy
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4/7/2021 12:53pm
soggy wrote:
Because most of a riders earnings come from a deal with the manufacturer or tier 1 team not prize purses. I don’t even really know what...
Because most of a riders earnings come from a deal with the manufacturer or tier 1 team not prize purses. I don’t even really know what you are trying to argue here. Yes they can make money via social media, by what does that have to do with it.
Janko630 wrote:
Why can't rider's sell their own merchandise at the races? Why can't they live stream from the races? The vast majority of professional racers' earning potential...
Why can't rider's sell their own merchandise at the races? Why can't they live stream from the races?
The vast majority of professional racers' earning potential is being throttled.

The podcast is worth a listen. Grondhal's perspective on restrictive marketing are on point.
Look I’m not saying the promoters do everything the right way but calling it the mafia seems like a stretch. should the riders be able to sell there merch at a race, yes I think so. Have riders been fighting for it? I don’t know the answer to that. And if you are resourceful enough I think you could find a way to get your product out, either by setting up a booth on an adjacent street or somewhere just off stadium property.
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McG194
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4/7/2021 12:55pm
RonJon wrote:
How could he not? The guy signing his paycheck runs the biggest media source in our sport and the nationals. Its not a conspiracy, its smart...
How could he not? The guy signing his paycheck runs the biggest media source in our sport and the nationals. Its not a conspiracy, its smart business. I can promise you if Matthes started bagging on any of the title sponsors or MXSports that DC would put a gag on it pronto.
seth505 wrote:
I think if you comprehend how sponsorships work then it all makes sense. For example, Intense bicycles and Yamaha motorcycles. Matthes is always hooting and hollering...
I think if you comprehend how sponsorships work then it all makes sense. For example, Intense bicycles and Yamaha motorcycles. Matthes is always hooting and hollering "blucru". That isn't some elaborate scheme from a puppet master.
Very true. Keefer was explaining what a fat pig the Yamaha was and Matthes kept interrupting until Keefer gave up. Bought and paid for.
Sorry, this is just silly.

Yamaha pays him a lot and does a lot for the show so of course he is not going to shit on them too bad even if the other guy is just busting balls. Same way with DC, Steve I'm sure was never told by DC to only talk glowing of RacerX and Racer Productions but he would be an idiot if he came out with a hard hitting exposé that damaged either brand.

Do you shit on your employer when you are speaking with your customers? Of course you wouldn't not only would it be career suicide it would be unethical on your part. In the most literal sense we are all "bought and paid for" acting like you're not is plain silly.


As far as the Grondahl discussion, a lot of you guys let your politics sway your opinion on too many things. It is possible to be a liberal and listen to what he has to say and learn something. The vast majority will never do what he has done in the moto industry so I'd be willing to listen to what he has to say regardless of politics.
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RonJon
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4/7/2021 12:59pm
RonJon wrote:
Someone that owns a series and the sports' media outlet controlling the messaging coming from people on his payroll isn't a conspiracy its savvy business.
LungButter wrote:
Alright bud, then give us an example of where DC has controlled Matthes' messaging. What grand conspiracy has been out there that he was given the...
Alright bud, then give us an example of where DC has controlled Matthes' messaging. What grand conspiracy has been out there that he was given the gag order on?

If you're so sure about it then please let the rest of us know when it happened. I expect details, dates and facts since you are so sure of yourself on this one.

Can't wait to hear this, it should be good....




First of all I'm not your buddy, guy. Second of all, DC having influence over his people's messaging isn't some grand conspiracy. If you owned two businesses you wouldn't let one of those businesses jeopardize the other. I'm not saying DC is covering anything up, maybe he is, I don't really give two shits.

Maybe, just maybe, there is some truth in what Grondohl said, maybe its all Alex Jones bs. Sure riled all you ding dongs up.
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Johnny Ringo
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4/7/2021 1:00pm
soggy wrote:
There is nothing stopping you, come up with a better idea and do it
Janko630 wrote:
Please refer to my previous post. The question: Besides top riders, why can't the guys outside the top echelon make a decent living? The rider's ineptitude...
Please refer to my previous post.
The question:
Besides top riders, why can't the guys outside the top echelon make a decent living?
The rider's ineptitude off the bike? Of course not.
The internet/social media/livestreaming has made it easier than ever to capitalize on one's own image, yet the vast majority of professional racers aren't being compensated for the risks they take?
TeamGreen wrote:
Ya know, there's a lot to take into consideration...but...outside of the limited number of slots where a rider is paid to ride for a team... There...
Ya know, there's a lot to take into consideration...but...outside of the limited number of slots where a rider is paid to ride for a team...

There have been quite a few successful privateers.

It takes really good relationships, communication/marketing skills and a HELLUVA LOT OF WORK. But, riders like Marty Moates, Rick Ryan, Jeff Glass and countless others since those good ol' days have proven it can be done.
MC would beg to differ, he wadded himself up good on that one.

JG and Kdub were fun to watch head to head with the metal ramps.



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TeamGreen
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4/7/2021 1:03pm
RonJon wrote:
Someone that owns a series and the sports' media outlet controlling the messaging coming from people on his payroll isn't a conspiracy its savvy business.
LungButter wrote:
Alright bud, then give us an example of where DC has controlled Matthes' messaging. What grand conspiracy has been out there that he was given the...
Alright bud, then give us an example of where DC has controlled Matthes' messaging. What grand conspiracy has been out there that he was given the gag order on?

If you're so sure about it then please let the rest of us know when it happened. I expect details, dates and facts since you are so sure of yourself on this one.

Can't wait to hear this, it should be good....




RonJon wrote:
First of all I'm not your buddy, guy. Second of all, DC having influence over his people's messaging isn't some grand conspiracy. If you owned two...
First of all I'm not your buddy, guy. Second of all, DC having influence over his people's messaging isn't some grand conspiracy. If you owned two businesses you wouldn't let one of those businesses jeopardize the other. I'm not saying DC is covering anything up, maybe he is, I don't really give two shits.

Maybe, just maybe, there is some truth in what Grondohl said, maybe its all Alex Jones bs. Sure riled all you ding dongs up.
Hey, I'm not your guy, buddy!

Grinning

Pure Southpark Gold
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LungButter
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4/7/2021 1:08pm
RonJon wrote:
First of all I'm not your buddy, guy. Second of all, DC having influence over his people's messaging isn't some grand conspiracy. If you owned two...
First of all I'm not your buddy, guy. Second of all, DC having influence over his people's messaging isn't some grand conspiracy. If you owned two businesses you wouldn't let one of those businesses jeopardize the other. I'm not saying DC is covering anything up, maybe he is, I don't really give two shits.

Maybe, just maybe, there is some truth in what Grondohl said, maybe its all Alex Jones bs. Sure riled all you ding dongs up.
Listen pal, you're the one all riled up and making claims you cant back up.

Matthes speaks what's on his mind and the truth about what's going on more than ANY other "journalist" in this sport. Then you wanna come in from Kanagroo County and act like you know some shit and Matthes is just some puppet for DC?

You can't give a single damn example to back up all the shit you've talked.
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FIREfish148
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4/7/2021 1:09pm
The guy that wanted to put Donald trump stickers on a gieco bike? Nah I’ll passGrinning
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TooTallJason
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4/7/2021 1:10pm
First I want to make the distinction, it seems like more people are riding dirt bikes than any time in recent history.

If the question is why isn't SX the sport blowing up as a spectator sport, I think the real answer is ultimately that we don't have a dominant athlete at the top. As I stated earlier, I can't think of any time a fringe sport like ours has enjoyed mainstream attention without a dominant athlete to talk about.

Let's take Pastrana for example. Yeah he had a successful 125 career but couldn't really beat down on Carmichael in the big class. But Pastrana wouldn't be who he is today without dominating at the XGames.

If you're talking micro, yeah letting racers sell merch would be great. If you're talking Macro, big money investment, I think I'm correct.
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McG194
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4/7/2021 1:12pm Edited Date/Time 4/7/2021 1:13pm
The guy that wanted to put Donald trump stickers on a gieco bike? Nah I’ll passGrinning
Proves my point.
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Shenzi
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Fantasy
4/7/2021 1:18pm
that's a very entertaining thread. LOL
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LungButter
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4/7/2021 1:19pm
RonJon wrote:
First of all I'm not your buddy, guy. Second of all, DC having influence over his people's messaging isn't some grand conspiracy. If you owned two...
First of all I'm not your buddy, guy. Second of all, DC having influence over his people's messaging isn't some grand conspiracy. If you owned two businesses you wouldn't let one of those businesses jeopardize the other. I'm not saying DC is covering anything up, maybe he is, I don't really give two shits.

Maybe, just maybe, there is some truth in what Grondohl said, maybe its all Alex Jones bs. Sure riled all you ding dongs up.
You know mate, now that I'm thinking about it, I can actually think of a specific time where Matthes has in fact talked shit on MX Sports.

Remember the time Nick Wey had to grab a Yellow Flag and jump in the middle of the track to save someone from getting ran over? Matthes talked shit on the flaggers and how terrible they are and how they need to be trained better for weeks after that.

This seems to fly right in the face of your theory. But again, I'd love to hear any example of what your claiming....
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fanger
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4/7/2021 1:53pm
Holigan wrote:
Hard to bag on MX Sports or even Feld over the last year. Neither of these promoters made any money running races without fans in attendance...
Hard to bag on MX Sports or even Feld over the last year. Neither of these promoters made any money running races without fans in attendance. No fans, so all of the event sponsors want a discount or rebate. And there are no television networks throwing $$$ to telecast the races.

In the world of Sports, both Supercross and Motocross are very small. If Monster and Red Bull had a desire to grow the sport, they have the money and the marketing ability. But both of those companies are focused on growing their own sales and profits, which is what they should be doing.

As a former team owner, I understand Mike's feelings. We had some major sponsors and still lost money every year no matter how the team did on the track. There have a been a ton of teams come and go over the years. It is a lot of fun, but it is not a smart place to invest.
Yeah my take is grondahl isn't content with the sport not being a smart place to invest, which is what the sport desperately needs.
RonJon
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4/7/2021 2:09pm
RonJon wrote:
First of all I'm not your buddy, guy. Second of all, DC having influence over his people's messaging isn't some grand conspiracy. If you owned two...
First of all I'm not your buddy, guy. Second of all, DC having influence over his people's messaging isn't some grand conspiracy. If you owned two businesses you wouldn't let one of those businesses jeopardize the other. I'm not saying DC is covering anything up, maybe he is, I don't really give two shits.

Maybe, just maybe, there is some truth in what Grondohl said, maybe its all Alex Jones bs. Sure riled all you ding dongs up.
LungButter wrote:
Listen pal, you're the one all riled up and making claims you cant back up. Matthes speaks what's on his mind and the truth about what's...
Listen pal, you're the one all riled up and making claims you cant back up.

Matthes speaks what's on his mind and the truth about what's going on more than ANY other "journalist" in this sport. Then you wanna come in from Kanagroo County and act like you know some shit and Matthes is just some puppet for DC?

You can't give a single damn example to back up all the shit you've talked.
There are no real " journalists " in this sport. Every one of them is dependent on the sponsors and advertisers who are from inside our little sport. You think they are going to start ratting on the people that pay the bills?

This sport is just as dirty as all the rest, some of you are just too dumb or ignorant to acknowledge it.
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soggy
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4/7/2021 2:10pm
First I want to make the distinction, it seems like more people are riding dirt bikes than any time in recent history. If the question is...
First I want to make the distinction, it seems like more people are riding dirt bikes than any time in recent history.

If the question is why isn't SX the sport blowing up as a spectator sport, I think the real answer is ultimately that we don't have a dominant athlete at the top. As I stated earlier, I can't think of any time a fringe sport like ours has enjoyed mainstream attention without a dominant athlete to talk about.

Let's take Pastrana for example. Yeah he had a successful 125 career but couldn't really beat down on Carmichael in the big class. But Pastrana wouldn't be who he is today without dominating at the XGames.

If you're talking micro, yeah letting racers sell merch would be great. If you're talking Macro, big money investment, I think I'm correct.
That probably has some factor in it. Another is just that unless you like dirt biking watching the sport on TV is pretty boring. He’ll I get bored when there is no passing in the top 3. The tv product has to actually be good to draw interest and let’s face it a lot of the time it’s not.
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fins227
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4/7/2021 2:44pm
soggy wrote:
That probably has some factor in it. Another is just that unless you like dirt biking watching the sport on TV is pretty boring. He’ll I...
That probably has some factor in it. Another is just that unless you like dirt biking watching the sport on TV is pretty boring. He’ll I get bored when there is no passing in the top 3. The tv product has to actually be good to draw interest and let’s face it a lot of the time it’s not.
The broadcast isn’t great, I know a gaggle of guys who ride that don’t watch, they say it’s boring. most people would take a dirt bike for a spin if given the chance, a tiny fraction of those people could watch a race without being distracted the entire time.

Personally, I love it. I’ve been following pro racing for as long as I can remember. We’re deeply invested fans and most of us would pay per view these races if we had to.
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crowe660
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4/7/2021 2:55pm
8 Vicodin a day? What a savage...
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soggy
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4/7/2021 3:16pm
fins227 wrote:
The broadcast isn’t great, I know a gaggle of guys who ride that don’t watch, they say it’s boring. most people would take a dirt bike...
The broadcast isn’t great, I know a gaggle of guys who ride that don’t watch, they say it’s boring. most people would take a dirt bike for a spin if given the chance, a tiny fraction of those people could watch a race without being distracted the entire time.

Personally, I love it. I’ve been following pro racing for as long as I can remember. We’re deeply invested fans and most of us would pay per view these races if we had to.
Yea and I’m not even talking about the broadcast, just the races themselves aren’t very good a lot of the time. I think it would be insanely cool if say the top 5-10 guys all had go pros that you could get a live feed too. Not sure of the possibility of this but it’d be cool to know webb is coming through the pack so you can switch to his feed and watch him slice through the pack. Also still have the regular broadcast available as well. It’s a hard sport to film cause you don’t always know where the action is so it can be easy to miss.
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GuyB
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4/7/2021 3:21pm
RonJon wrote:
There are no real " journalists " in this sport. Every one of them is dependent on the sponsors and advertisers who are from inside our...
There are no real " journalists " in this sport. Every one of them is dependent on the sponsors and advertisers who are from inside our little sport. You think they are going to start ratting on the people that pay the bills?

This sport is just as dirty as all the rest, some of you are just too dumb or ignorant to acknowledge it.
Thanks for trolling at Vital MX. Have a nice day.
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SoCalMX70
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4/7/2021 3:24pm
Don't let any of this distract you from the fact that Tim Ferry "accidentally" knocked Steve Matthes off the back of the bike after practice at the 2005 Houston Supercross.
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Conkey
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4/7/2021 3:47pm
As for the journalism aspect, I appreciate EJ’s writing abilities but I stopped reading his stuff when he became a Monster shill.
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Yammyam
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4/7/2021 4:00pm
Explain how a bunch of unsophisticated moto kids with minimal resources are beating WADA? Who are they bribing. Who is doing the bribing. Because that is...
Explain how a bunch of unsophisticated moto kids with minimal resources are beating WADA? Who are they bribing. Who is doing the bribing. Because that is really the only way to beat the testing regime. The big problem with testing is it goes overboard, not that is misses cheaters.
It's really not rocket science. Clarence Kennedy released a great video a few days ago explaining how athletes get around WADA testing. For anyone who doesn't know Clarence is an olympic level weightlifter who no longer competes for reasons he explains in the video. If a top level athlete like him is coming out saying that all top athletes in all sports are on PED's, giving detailed explanations of how it's done, I really don't know how people can still choose to bury their heads in the sand, and pretend our sport is any different.

4/7/2021 4:07pm
dv12.com wrote:
I'm 1h into the show... Why would you ask a guy who failed at everything he touched in moto to fix the sport? Would you ask...
I'm 1h into the show... Why would you ask a guy who failed at everything he touched in moto to fix the sport? Would you ask Donald how to run a casino or an airline business successfully? (I might get heat from this but I couldn't think of another parallel with this impact, sorry if I offended anyone)

Sports are successful with 2 things and 2 things only... Eye balls and TV rights redistributed to teams/clubs. Real Madrid, Manchester United, Dodgers, Lakers and so on would die without their TV rights money/packages.

To get eye balls you need to make the sport very accessible and free. That's the "invest in yourself" part. When you build an audience of followers and a viewership, you can then take it to channels, streaming devices and other platform to deal with TV rights. The more the followers the more the network can sell ads and can spend on TV rights.

Nowadays, we (the sport) either pay to be on TV or, like SX, the promoter keeps the TV rights money (if they still get any anymore. They were with FOX so I'm assuming they still are) and doesn't redistribute like other sports. That's the issue with having a promoter instead of a league. In that interview, they talk about not having capitalism in the sport and being an issue. Promotors are a capitalism model. They make money. They keep the profits. Leagues are more on a social model, they grow the sport the most they can, they get the most money they can for their products and they redistribute to clubs/teams etc...

Selling T-Shirts and hoodies won't grow the sport...

You don't have to reinvent the wheel. The business model of successful sports has been known by many. We just have to put it in place in our sport...
But what if you're wrong......😂😂😂

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4/7/2021 4:09pm
SoCalMX70 wrote:
Don't let any of this distract you from the fact that Tim Ferry "accidentally" knocked Steve Matthes off the back of the bike after practice at...
Don't let any of this distract you from the fact that Tim Ferry "accidentally" knocked Steve Matthes off the back of the bike after practice at the 2005 Houston Supercross.
I heard steve got a compensation deal relating to the financial success of Timmy's first child. Thats why matthes is pumping evan ferry. 😂😂
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