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4996
Joined
2/2/2008
Location
Sydney
AU
Edited Date/Time
1/13/2012 11:06pm
Reduce it to 8 rounds. Teams wont need the big budgets from past years which arent available now anyway. It will help maintain the quality and intensity until the last round, whereas in past years we've seen significant drops after round 10.
The Shop
The economy is the only thing holding stuff back right now, and that will sort itself out, with no help from any of us...
I think there will be less events in future, but also more select and less standardized, like what the US Open does with a changing format, or "Invitationals" in order to try attract spectators and riders.
Pit Row
Less rounds is one idea. It have advantages and disadvantages. It needs to be discussed. Other ideas need to be raised. Things get discussed and people that matter may read and implement the ideas that come from any intelligent discussion.
Some traditions may need to pass into memory for the sport to survive next year and the one after. That'll hurt some people - but people are hurting out there !!
Some want to see the greats on TV racing the outdoors, some would be happy to have the sport small enough to enjoy the family picnic at turn one while their Aunt does her turn at flagging ...
You can't have it all when times are tough. Throw around ideas, debate the ideas
To me, more TV means more sponsor dollars and better riders lining up at the starts. If that means less rounds and a tighter series ... it has to be a benefit in the long term.
We've got plenty of tracks, all the teams are here already, and let's face it, California is bitchin', dude!
Did you catch it that time?
The truth hurts sometimes.
I thought it was funny too, I mean mine part not yours.
When I was a kid, here in Houston, there was a “Motorcycle Show” at the Astrohall on the same weekend as the SX was. We made a day of it. And it drew more fans than just motocross fans. Now the motorcycle show is in the fall and the SX is in the spring. And the attendance at both is poor. Why not have them on the same day again, with a carnival with rides and a pit area people can actually access (our pit pass situation is a joke here in Houston). i.e. make it more appealing to more people.
The outdoor MX’s could use a similar formula. Add a carnival atmosphere to the pit area , attract more casual fans, then more exhibitors will show up. Heck, end the MX event with a live band and you would have one heck of an event to go to. Thats what the Rodeo has been doing for years (1,000,000 spectators in 10 days/nights)
You get more people, the sponsors will follow, and so will the money.
All these "grow the sport" people with their "we just need a better TV package/updated venues/etc,etc,etc" completely miss the point. The sport won't grow for a very good reason. MX is a niche sport whose heyday was in the 1970s. It enjoyed a brief resurgence with the economy the way it was where money was come by easier. Now that things are correcting and there are fewer blue-collars with available credit lines, bike and ticket sales will be again based more on the die-hards. Sorry, but there aren't enough of those around to warrant TV shows, pro-rider purses and all the rest for the number of events we have currently.
What's happening right now with people staying home in the summer and top-5 pro riders struggling to find "good" contracts isn't the result of some general bad economic situation, it's actually just a return to reality after years of the sport's budgets being artificially inflated by easy money. Go back and look at TV programs from the '90s even--factory teams were operating out of vans. People will need to realize that as much as they want it to be, this isn't NASCAR, and they will need to do more with less.
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