More riders and way more fans - is the French SX Tour really bigger than MXGP?

What’s interesting (worrying) is that news article kind of depicts the racing as a support event to the freestyle.

It's also interesting to note that this ran the same day as France was playing in the World Cup and at the same time as the Le Mans 24 hour race

Ed Dole wrote:

So they're claiming 14,000 fans paid to watch round one of the French SX series and the evidence is strong in this video from ...more

Ed Dole wrote:

So they're claiming 14,000 fans paid to watch round one of the French SX series and the evidence is strong in this video from French TV so how does a niche national series outperform the motocross world championship in terms of number of riders wanting to do it and spectators wanting to see it?

...more

Entry fee probably 1/4 the price of a GP ticket, great locations, great weather pretty much guaranteed in Southern France...

Plus (this is going to sound dumb), but French people (especially in the South) are usually very interested in discovering and experiencing new things that they know nothing about. I can pretty much guarantee you that these types of races will have the largest percentage of non-hardcore moto fans anywhere in Europe, and that is great.

I think a ticket cost 35 euros.

That's an interesting point about the non-hardcore fans. The rugby team that normally use the stadium seem to be very proactive in the promotion

My local Enduro race everytime has 100-150 starters. Is it bigger than MXGP?

SX Tour does great marketing! They know that you can't fill a stadium with hardcore mx fans so they do a lot of promotion outside the sport.

And that's great if that money can be reinvested back into our sport...

no.

Ed Dole wrote:

So they're claiming 14,000 fans paid to watch round one of the French SX series and the evidence is strong in this video from ...more

Ed Dole wrote:

So they're claiming 14,000 fans paid to watch round one of the French SX series and the evidence is strong in this video from French TV so how does a niche national series outperform the motocross world championship in terms of number of riders wanting to do it and spectators wanting to see it?

...more

Fearo wrote:

Entry fee probably 1/4 the price of a GP ticket, great locations, great weather pretty much guaranteed in Southern France...

...more

Fearo wrote:

Entry fee probably 1/4 the price of a GP ticket, great locations, great weather pretty much guaranteed in Southern France...

Plus (this is going to sound dumb), but French people (especially in the South) are usually very interested in discovering and experiencing new things that they know nothing about. I can pretty much guarantee you that these types of races will have the largest percentage of non-hardcore moto fans anywhere in Europe, and that is great.

...more

How many people watch the French SX on the internet? TV? What's their advertiser/series-sponsor income worth?

I would imagine the GP series is killing it with all those sponsors and internet viewers worldwide, not to mention I've heard they get some cash from some of the countries they visit, and most (all?) of the race tracks.

I can't imagine anything in the sport except US Supercross is making more money than the GP series.