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Anyone able to give a ballpark to what a factory rider would make for 450 outdoor/450 SX championships in 2024? I know there are win/podium bonuses along the way, but I'm just curious what the championship itself would pay.
Congrats to Chase. I imagine his SX and MX championships have set him up pretty well.
$1 million per championship
Been that and ~$100k race win for a while according to people. I would “think” those $ are short and they get more from the factories currently. Not to mention gear and other bonuses
I wouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t changed all that much. I don’t think the dirt bike economy has been all that great post 2008 except for that short stint during Covid which now has the KTM group on the brink of bankruptcy. That combined with most manufacturers don’t actually pay the bonus, I think most if not all do a lloyd's of london policy, and they have to pay a premium to buy that policy based on the riders chance of getting that payout, or something along the lines of that.
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This is just what info ive heard over the years for a top 450 guy.
100k for a race win, 1 million for a championship, base salary could be 500k-1M I imagine that varies a ton, gear and helmet deals could be 500k+ a year.
Figure 7 overalls=$700,000
Plus side/smaller sponsors gear etc is an additional $300,000 conservatively in total for all those overalls?
Add championship bonus of $1,000,000 id imagine he’s knocking on the door of $2,000,000 plus or minus a little?
Let's just assume he can safely afford to supersize at Whataburger now.....
My guess as well. He for sure made around 2M. My guess would be slightly over.
Take into account he got around 50k for the second place races.
You got downvoted but you are probably correct. JB said on the pulp show that all together he made $160,000 for his Daytona win. That’s straight from the horses mouth.
I would guess Sexton gets a base salary of around $ 1.5 million as he is a top race-winning championship guy. Plus $150K to win overalls, that's figuring in purse money and other bonuses. Then he has salary from the gear companies and others probably worth another $500K a year. Plus supermotocross championship say he gets top 3 is worth $250K to $1 M depending on what he gets. So i would say he probably had more like a $4M to $5M dollar year by the end of it.
Minus Uncle Sam’s take.
More interesting question would be what expenses does Champ Sexton, Inc incur?
I’d be curious to know how creative these guys can get, on top of actual costs to be a pro motocross athlete.
Agents, trainers, financial advisors, a place to stay on both coasts, motorhome and driver, lawyers, practice facilities, health insurance, and mechanics bonuses etc.. His 5 million or so is gross income for the Chase Sexton inc. business, not what Chase actually makes.
$100k per moto win !
You can spin that both ways. He also writes off basically every expense that a person could have, so while his expenses are surely higher, he's able to knock down his taxable income pretty well I'd imagine. Obviously that comes with hassles as well IE selling a property that has been classified as a business though it's worth the trouble I'd argue.
Luckily everything you mentioned (save a mechanics bonus) is tax deductible business expenses, if ran as a business, which I'm positive is for all the top riders. Someone at Chase's level, with the aforementioned needs/expenses, could easily be looking at having deductions in the $700K per year range easily. And thats including incremental depreciation of the motorhome.
Now residing in FL, he also doesn't have to pay a state income tax on his earnings, which also helps.
Frankly, I would be very surprised if Chase is "only" earning $5 million per year. I would expect its actually higher than that
Why not the mechanic's bonus? I guarantee that if it's anything substantial (gift limit is $18K), the IRS is going to want to tax the mechanic for the 'income', so it would be an expense for the bonus payer. Probably a 1099 transaction?
Pit Row
You're right, even though his mechanic(s) may not be directly paid by him, if he in fact pays bonus $$ to them, it probably is also qualified as a business expense
Standard Factory Riders bonuses ballpark:
Per Race overall from bike manufacture: 100k - 50k - 25k. Some have MX moto win bonuses, like $10-$15k... Championships: $1M to $1.5M each. They might have the same bonues for each SMX races but I doubt the teams pay that high bonus for SMX championship or if they pay any actually. Not sure about gear bonuses, those vary a lot depending the contracts but nowhere close to manufacture bonuses...
For a rider like Sexton, I would think his bike salary would be closer to $2M than to $1M. As far as other deal, think at least $1M for the rest (Pants/Jersey/Gloves/Boots/Goggles)
To put in perspective, my highest Yamaha deal 20 years ago was $850k, $75k/win, $25k for 2nd ($35k if 2nd behind a Yamaha rider. Got a few of those behind MC or Chad), $10 for 3rd. Biggest deals for the rest, Gear/Boots/Helmet/Energy Drink etc.., $500k.
Write offs, or business expense are still money spent. It doesn't make it any less painful if something is a tax deduction. When fuel costs go up for my business, I don't think "luckily it's a write off" or "no big deal, it's a write off", it genuinely sucks. All those tax deductable items cut into Chase's bottom line and hurt.
Damn…..I enjoy hearing DV’s input. That is as close to being there as I will ever get !
Exactly! The least amount of expenses = Most money in my pocket. I've always lived this way and why I've never flown in a private jet. Half of that private jet bill, you're still paying for it.... I DGAF if it's a write off... People have a hard time understanding how taxes work
For some reason a lot of people think "write off = you pay for it and you get the money back"
Trailer parks are full of people giving advice on the advantages write offs.
I’d rather have the biscuits and gravy. Then I would get the burger from In N Out
I assume MX athletes don't get game day checks like the stick & ball sports do, but are you guys subject to the "jock tax" on bonuses you get in different states/cities?
Most of the riders have corporations in favorable states. All the money goes to the corporation, all the bills are paid by the corporation. The corp sets up a retirement account and a pension (for the smarter guys) and the corp pays a salary to the rider at the end of the year. Rider is taxed in the state he resides
This is all very interesting, and it should get talked about more in my opinion. I have a question, who pays chase for going to MXON? I know the Luongo’s don’t, but does ktm pay him anything, and how much would he pay his mechanic for a race like this?
I'm sure whatever it is, it should be 3x more. I say this mostly because of the revenue stream of moto/supercross, and whole heartedly the risk these guys are at. Lastly because most of these guys have spent and dedicated a lifetime of injury, disappointment at times, and great sacrifice to get where they are. It costs almost nothing to play football or baseball if you compare it to high level amateur motocross. In football and baseball, the rejects are still making 500k plus, the highest level of rejects in ball sports get at least free college! Motocross and supercross? lucky if all in the 10 are making money, unless they have a social media following.
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