I think we may have found the guy that can grow the sport

I can see what you're saying, and there's truth in the unattainability of an F1 , but watching an F1 onboard or Nascar isn't that impressive either. But I have to repeat MX/SX IS massively popular. You have a domestic championship that tours around stadiums and generating millions of dollars.  Most motorsports would kill for that level of popularity.

I agree with what you’re saying. I don’t think 22 guys riding dirt bikes has the same “wow” factor that someone driving an open wheel car at 160+ mph (or however fast those cars go) through city streets does, to the uninvolved viewer. As said earlier, the first time my wife watched with me, she asked why they were so sweaty. No comprehension.

My point is, I’ve never been interested in F1 even though I know it’s huge around the globe. The Netflix series peaked my interest in the sport. In my opinion, something similar for Mx/sx could attract new people into the sport we love. I believe that’s what the OP is referring to, attracting new viewers/fans. 

Every race for years has been posted on YouTube. 

My point is DTS was lightning in a bottle that took advantage of latent demand within the already huge fanbase. It also took enormous liberties with the truth, which to the annoyance of drivers like Max Verstappen who boycotted it in 2021.

There's a mis-perception that the DTS model can be applied to other motorsports. I just don't think that's the case. motoGP tried it and it flopped on Amazon from what I saw. MX/SX has always had a plethora of behind the scenes stuff as well. DTS didn't really do anything that special. All it did was mess with reality a bit and demonstrate a rather soap opera version of what actually happened.

Again, all this is lightning in a bottle stuff. Right place, right time.

Something similar for MX/SX would go down like a lead balloon. There's no reason for Netflix to invest because there's no latent demand for it as there was for F1. I am not sure you could create anything that doesn't already exist. Half the grid have their own video series on Youtube that, in my view, is way ahead of whatever DTS puts out. We already know what most of the riders are like behind the scenes.

I think SX/MX is already close to its maximum potential in terms of market reach. Sure it can do better, but how much better? I don't think there's huge growth potential. F1's always had the urge to break America, but SX at least, is already an all-american product. 

 

This "grow the sport" term is usually said by those that aren't paying attention...they always bring up "we were on ESPN" or "Only if we were on ESPN". What many don't realize is that back then when we were on ESPN or ABC the sport was paying to be on TV and by doing that they brought the sport to the point that Fox and NBC began paying for the TV rights and fast forward to this year NBC/Peacock is paying way more than anyone ever has which has allowed Feld and MXSports to pay the riders more and create the SMX championship at the end of the season with a huge payout....that is what growing the sport looks like... 

You grow the sport by getting more women involved, but we know how moto men feel about women.

I think mainstream accessibility is key in expansion, not pay to watch mediums.

If accessibility was the key to success karting would be the most watched motorsport on the planet(it isn'r obviously). Almost every major championship domestically and internationally is streamed live on youtube for free by companies like Alpha Live, and has been for years. and when I say streamed live I mean as soon as racing starts (sometimes this can literally be friday right through to sunday night). 6+ hour streams every day. 


 

This exactly . I have several rc racing buddies , who are huge f1 fans and follow it religiously , and I have been sending them YouTube links of just the SX mains and they are starting to get into it now they are learning the riders/bikes . But no way will they watch the whole broadcast or even an outdoor moto . It’s simply too long . The biggest appeal for them seems to be the parity and abundance of side by side racing . The technical and personality stuff they couldn’t care less about . It’s the tight racing action … that’s the appeal for non moto race people .

They do care about the technical aspect, they just don't know it. F1 has the most profound level of technical difference between competitor's vehicles that manifests itself quite clearly on on track performance. You can be the best driver in the world and struggle to get a top 10. This difference in cars, i.e the technical aspect of the sport, is what creates the narratives that make f1 more addictive. 

 

It takes all of us to grow the sport. Not 1 man.

Bawahahaha...  Yeah, people are just breaking the doors down to pay good money  to watch a small group of c level riders in a sh!t show...

Your mom, (sister, daughter, wife) must be proud of you.

All the Troy Adamantis (sp?) stuff was awesome for bringing the storylines out. Loved Inside the Outdoors and his few episodes of the Sx one. 

And it gets deleted before I've even woken up in England on Sunday morning because they race at 3am my time. New f1 fans don't go on YouTube to watch races, they can watch it on terrestrial TV and then watch it again from a free streaming service from the channel it was played on

How the public see's motorcycles in general.....

Went into a Cycle Gear store to get whatever, store had some video playing of drunken(actually vomiting) STURGIS year.

Go into my local Harley store, all the help(check out girls) wearing leather vests(only up top) sort of deal...biker types. 

Now, factor in a family exploring getting a bike etc....

Let's add in monster truck deals with freestyle side gigs.....

Supercross is probably cleaner though.

How about the Hill People and all that.

Let's not mention wheelie boys.........

Or just the neighbor kid using your driveway culvert for a jump all day(happens in my neighborhood)(not mine after the first time).

Image matters. One event can change a lifetime.

Generating millions of dollars because of massive prices....

I'm a motorcycle guy. No-one else in my near or larger family is.....

I tune in to You Tube Sunday and catch the hi lights of Sat Sx. I will watch some(very little actually) while doing shop work at home. Skip to the hi lights. Can't stand Ricky.....tired of British/Australian accents...European. Miss Grant(I liked his accent).

Never go to outdoor Nationals or the local SX stop(Arlington). Never go to (just)watch local mx.....never have(maybe when I was 15).

Never watch F1 ever. Or MotoGP. Ever. Or karting. Couldn't pay me to go to a freestyle anything.

I've got lot's of bikes from an xr80 with Fox AIRSHOX, HL500, 1994 cr250 to a Harley dirt tracker, Road King etc.

Way more of me than who goes to a SX race or even races mx. 

$10k bike prices have killed any chance for the average American to consider mx. So does $5k used prices. $400 helmets.....

Too bad DV already ran this guy off

Great video!  Reminds me of the Great Outdoors video's.   Wish we had the guys from TGO's creating these annually.  

And yes Herlings put a beat down on the entire 450 field!  Embarassing and RC like.

Growing the sport starts at the ground level. It’s just like any other business. As far as moto goes keep the trash out while having a fun family atmosphere. If all the promoters can do that and introduce new customers into the sport via cheaper entry level machines we’ll all be happy. All it takes is a big ad campaign and someone with connections to get the factories to go along with this stuff. That last sentence is the hard part. 

Cheap bikes aren't going to suddenly make a difference and you need to be careful what you wish for.

In 1997 Rotax introduced the MAX FR125. A spec engine for karting. For competitors their engine rebuild intervals went from under an hour to over-25. It gobbled up most of the karting market up in the UK as drivers abandoned the traditional classes (think of it as Honda introducing a spec-250F that didn't need as much maintainance). It had a starter motor too, which the race engines didn't. Guess what? Since 1997 Motorsport UK licence figures have dropped nearly 50%. People can't see the wood for the trees. What appears good on paper, might not be at the macro scale.

Let's take rentals karting as another example. That is hugely popular. It's 'cheaper' than buying your own kart. Granted, the karts are heavier and much slower, but a lot of people do it. But are people transferring from that to buying a kart and doing it properly? Not really. Not in huge numbers.

So you have examples of new products that makes the sport 'easier' and 'cheaper' but do that actually grow the part of the sport we enjoy... not necessarily.  There's a hope within motocross that a 'cheap' bike will be a magic wand. I am hugely skeptical. There are plenty of bargains on the second hand market anyhow. I happened to think cultural shifts are the biggest problem and that's a complex problem to solve.


 

The one thing I don’t like about this video is when he’s referencing James Stewart in 2003..

”Back then, people just didn’t take it that seriously “

WTF?

Well Chinese bikes have put a "motorcycle" in just about every garage around here. You can buy them at the hardware store. You can see them being ridden in empty fields....everywhere. 4 wheelers too. Throw it away when it breaks and get another one. They are piled up at every "independent" bike shop.

Racing is just another subject. There is a big difference in a $600 bike and a $10k bike. And when the average Mom and Dad go to a local race and sit there all day and add up what it would take to let their kid race.....just not going to happen. I imagine karting is the same way. There's just no place to ride a kart...just like dirt bikes. Karting must be a factor or 2 even higher because it's pavement.

Cheap bikes sell.

The sport is growing thanks to youtube accounts like the deegans and reeds and so on, my partner hasn't given two shits about SX/MX until she found those channels, now she watches the sport with me and wants a pit bike lol.

One thing this sport doesn't get enough of is respect of the riders, only motosports people understand what these boys are laying down, I know that a lot of MotoGP and F1 drivers watch the sport religiously big names like Marc Marquez and Daniel Riccardo, if there is ever a Moto version of Drive we need stars like that promoting their respect towards these athletes that way their fans will give the sport attention.

One thing that hurts the sport a lot is 2 major series in AMA and FIM, if we had a merger and have all the best guys on one calendar it would raise the sense of prestige within the sport but that will probably never happen.

Sure, the sport could use F1 type credibility, but it’s the grassroots structure that will grow the sport - assisting track owners, lower bike prices, other misc costs for average income families and mx enthusiasts.

Perhaps a by product of no championships after how many years of trying?   JGR lost their way early IMO building their own shocks and forks.   The times Barcia won on a JGR bike it was actually a factory Yamaha provided by Yamaha not JGR.

My roommate in college, who want into the sport, was hooked on The Motocross Files.  I can see how this works