What would you do to improve it?
- optimum number of rounds? What dream locations?
- I think I remember them having a super pole last year? Maybe I’m thinking of some other off season race, Bercy? But would you incorporate that? Maybe hand out 1–3 points for 1st-3rd in the Superpole?
- lots of empty baseball stadiums in the U.S. this time of year, could have your pick of the litter for a U.S. WSX round?
- would you keep the combined classes idea they’re apparently going for this year?
- same points system? Numbering system? How do you feel about the “wildcards”? Would you try and break up the classes alá AMA SMX with maybe having a 250 division with a Northern and southern Hemisphere class (seems a little goofy, but maybe you could break it up? More opportunity for riders to win another title).
Having already had rounds at Cardiff (U.K.), Melbourne x2 (AUS), Birmingham (U.K.), Abu Dahbi (U.A.E.) Perth x2 (AUS) and Vancouver (CAN) what destinations would you like to see return? Staples? They were going to go to Düsseldorf in 2023 and an unnamed round in SE Asia in 23’ before they were cancelled.
Always wondered how they haven’t gotten the Bercy SX involved in this somehow, let it still be its own event sort of like Daytona in the US, but have it run as part of the series. Or incorporate the Geneva SX that they were running pre-covid. Maybe a round in Brazil (the 2nd biggest audience for American SX in the world as far as viewership goes) or a round in India that runs along with their new SX series that has legitimate riders (Moss, Tixier, Bowers, Soubeyras). Back in 2004 I think they ran a round for “world supercross” at stadiums in Seville, Spain (could draw the eye of the new crop of Spanish riders burgeoning onto the MX scene), Arnhem, Holland (could peak the interest of riders from that region, who wouldn’t want to watch Herlings wild card for one SX race in his home country.
What do established races like bercy have to gain by merging their events?
They already have bigger names, sell out crowds, and a solid reputation.
From the very beginning WSX jumped the shark by making huge promises everyone that knows anything about sx knows were BS.
They hyped the "FIM" and "world" tags like they really mean anything anymore, and were complete idiots for scheduling conflicts thinking riders would chose them.
If I were running WSX, the first thing I would do is probably dump FIM, the second is do away with the moronic team concept and pay show money and purse to get riders to hit them.
Production rule and claiming so the guys with money aren't shipping their works bikes everywhere. instead, claimable suspension and some parts they can bolt on.
do something like arena cross does where they crate the bikes and ship them at a discount rate, or as part of the compensation package.
big names are overrated. especially if you only have one. jet and eli are awesome, but if only one shows up, it is a snoozer.
good racing is what is needed. can you imagine 10 frieses?
ok, that might be a little too much, but some guys that will rub and won't just let people by could be awesome.
poach the arenacross series. guys like peters and bitterman. get a bunch of 5-15th place sx guys to commit, be consistent, and let it build.
Make it accessible! US audience needs to be able to watch it on TV.
"could have your pick of the litter for a U.S. WSX round"
Each round has to be sanctioned by the country's national federation, that would be the AMA in the US, Feld has the Supercross rights in the US, do you think Feld would agree to a competing series running on it's home turf?
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I would try to leverage my relationship with FIM to create a symbiotic relationship with Infront and make a strong push to establish SX in Europe. Give the GP stars a legit winter series to scratch their SX itch without having to jump head first into AMA supercross. I think Bailey and Cochrane f-ed this thing up beyond recovery, but if the new leadership is going to succeed they need Europe and Infront needs something to keep their talent home.
I'm probably not their target market but I would focus more on the racing and less on the show. Calm down the dancers, music, pyro, FMX, cheerleaders, bears on tricycles, and general Idiocracy environment.
Cut the 10 team/40 rider F1-inspired exclusivity, it will never work in MX/SX.
Why is it like this? Serious question, but if they just wanted to run a race, who's stopping them? Is it an insurance thing or something? There's other sanctioning bodies on the AM level, so curious why it would matter.
Paris SX is not interessed into paying more for having less, i would guess.
WAX - World Arenacross
Honestly, I think they'd be better off acknowledging and owning what they offer than trying to present themselves as something they are not.
AX Style Tracks - Acknowledge your limitations on venue availability and access, and simply build tamer, smaller tracks. This also allows MXGP guys to jump in. Simple tracks also compress the field, potentially making for better racing.
Stream on YouTube for Free - Use your streaming numbers to build commercial value. Honestly, is anyone buying a WSX pass at this point?
Recruit MXGP Riders - Cater the schedule to MXGP guys, see schedule below but bookend the season with Euro rounds. Offer bike transportation and show up pay. Partner with InFront as mentioned above to allow MXGP guys to ride SX/AX in the off season in a lower risk environment.
Get rid of the "Teams" concept - Invite riders and have a certain # of slots on the gate allocated to those (MXGP guys, SX guys), then a LCQ for locals if needed.
Focus on the Racing - Less fluff, high quality racing builds viewership.
Bike Crates - Subsidize and support riders shipping their bikes to overseas rounds, and ground transportation as needed, replicate how US Arenacross does this with standardized bike crates.
6 Rounds:
2 European Rounds (UK/Germany)
Brazil
Middle East
2 European Rounds (Italy/France)
They really need to do some things to differentiate themselves from conventional SX. The idea of just putting existing SX in new parts of the world won't work. It would take generations, if ever at all, for adequate fan bases to build in some of these markets they're targeting. In the meantime, they need legacy fans to take an interest to keep the series afloat, and the only way to do that is by doing something truly outside of the box.
Not having support from the OEMs is probably a net negative, but there are some upsides. Not to beat the "bring 2 strokes back" dead horse, but it is one example of something WSX could do to drive interest that SMX seemingly cannot (ostensibly due to OEM ties).
If they are going to keep the team concept, then they should lean all the way into it with MXON style scoring that emphasizes team results over individuals. It might not work without the nationalism/patriotism angle, but it would be interesting to see someone try it. This could also help balance out the problem of one or two elite riders making the racing boring as they dog-walk the rest of the field every race. If done right, it could potentially form some team allegiances among fans, similar to what really drives the success of stick-and-ball sports.
WSX was originally sold as being something radically different, but it has actually been the opposite in some ways (old broadcast team, old semi-retired riders). They really need to do something unique to draw in existing fans if they are going to make it.
WSX has nothing to offer established stand alone events like Paris, they would just be an extra mouth to feed.
They are doing new stuff this year with he super final. And removing the weirdly bizarre heat races from previous and replaced it with an all in qualifying session.
Seems alright format, I don’t like the different length races. But 3 x 10 laps plus a 15 lap super final would be Great.
But I’d prefer 2 x 12 plus a 20 laps super final
I don’t think you can build worse tracks in worse venues that SX and be considered anything relevant. I think the goal with suggestions would be to make them more grow in stature and success not drift to become a regional arenacross level series. Thats where they are now and should aim better not worse.
With all the video of everything available you can’t pull the wool over peoples eyes these days. If you ship a substandard fairground level product their will be no crowd… And no series.
WSX should aim to be both a feeder and a career lengthening career for SX only US riders and a MXGP riders looking to get some SX gate drops and test the waters in SX. I think that’s the niche it should fill.
An October to December series 6 rounds in 8 weeks. With the transport organised by the organizers like a mini F1 setup.
series should be IMHO
two rounds the Americas (alternate north and south each year)
Week off
To Aus round
Asia pacific (alternate NZ and INDO)
Week off
Middle East
India
Week off
Two euro rounds to finish off the series around the first weekend in December
That's good. Qualifying heats for a pre-set field of riders is just a boring waste of space in the program. That's one of those areas where it seems like they were just aping what AMA SX is doing even though it doesn't make sense to their own structure.
Didn’t realize this, just thought it’d be a cool idea if they could snag a round at the coliseum or MetLife or somewhere where it’s a major market
- Agreed about making it accessible to MXGP riders and stars. Ideally I’d like it to be 65-75% European rounds or destinations.
- agreed about doing away with team exclusivity, makes the barrier of entry for a young and up and coming rider to enter and see what they’re made out of.
- I think all the pageantry and show is a euro thing (like Bercy has the shame schtick, if not more so, I think it’s just a cultural thing) so I say keep it.
Idk, I’d like to think they’d like to have Tomac and Roczen there along with Webb and the Lawrence’s this year. I think it’d be great for them
- I think if the venue calls for an AX style track then go for it (like Abu Dahbi) and maybe 1-2 more rounds like that in smaller venues in premium European countries like Holland or France. But they do have stadiums that can support a conventionally sized and spec’d SX track like Cardiff or Sevilla or Perth. I think having a few tight and close AX style rounds could be fun and make for great racing.
- agreed on recruiting MXGP riders. Maybe those smaller AX style tracks would attract them more.
- the streaming idea is genius and would grow the sport/brand I think exponentially, but there’s no money in that and they’ll probably never do it, or see it for the long term gain that it would create. But great idea
- love the 6 rounds you proposed, great mix that makes it feel like a global SX series
It’d be cool if it was a strictly 2-strokes only series, but that would turn off I think any pro, or professional team for that matter, who regularly rides a 450 (so all of them) but that’d be a great idea for the sake of keeping 2-strokes alive.
Maybe have them as a separate developmental class for young riders, kind of like SX futures?
Pit Row
agreed about it being a career lengthener and a feeder class for premier SX
The travel aspect of the rounds you proposed is great, what places would you like to see them race?
I would take a long, hard look at the supply/demand for Supercross events in all the places I was trying to promote, then quietly close the series down so as not to continue wasting my sponsors' money.
Seems oddly negative, I love this sport and more of it isn’t a bad thing by any stretch
I would ban anyone who offered Grant Harlan a $2,000 bounty to take out Brayton. This series is a joke.
Well, you are right. More Supercross is great. However, I think that from a business perspective, this thing is doomed to fail. Someone felt like they could make a "world" championship out of Supercross, like it was the indoor version of MXGP. However, there is no such historical perspective from Supercross other than the AMA series, (or maybe Paris/Bercy,) and without getting a large buy-in from those riders, you don't truly have a top-level competition.
Bring back Tokyo or Osaka, and tap into Brazil. I thought Indonesia would be a.good way to not have to have an MXGP there because there would be a supercross there instead, but Eric Peronnard said on Gypsy Tales that there wouldn't be enough attendance there. Hopefully they get a lot of attention from the F1 paddock at Abu Dhabi. Maybe bring back Geneva too. And would it be easier for them to use bikes from a local dealer and bring over their parts in suitcases like they normally do with Paris instead of shipping the bikes all over the world?
The trouble is that the entirety of Europe plays football (soccer) August-May. 99% of the stadiums big enough to host a decent SX are in use every week and there’s no way they will let anyone in there to cover it and dump tonnes of dirt on it. Even if they did, domes are virtually non existent in Europe, and we don’t have the climate to race or even test/practice SX in the winter with uncovered tracks.
Off the top of my head there are probably 3 venues that could host a SX race in the winter in Europe. Cardiff, Paris and Veltins Arena.
Make it not interfere with existing MXGP, AMA Supercross, or AMA Nationals.
Make tracks closer to Daytona and the SMX races instead of traditional stadium Supercrosses.
Make the tracks less deathcross so that the GP riders can compete and develop SX skills at least a little bit easier than just showing up at an A1 race.
Race 1 event in Australia, 2 in Europe, and 2 in the US.
I'd punt.
New Zealand, we would get a big crowd, we have up and comers like Cole Davies and Levi Townley about to hit the big time.
Best they did was be gone with the old management.
Take it to Asia and Europe India and Middle East where the cash is new faces new fans is good for the sport
An afterparty at the Canadian round with these guys would help
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