Wednesday, December 24, 2008

History of World Motocross Championship?

Motocross MX1 is publishing a short series of articles on the History of World Motocross Championship. Part 1 of the series is up now. Parts 2-4 will be published in the next few weeks.

If they are as poor as Part 1 there isn't much point in reading them. Not much history here — there are about 5 2-sentence paragraphs to cover the period from 1957-1972. Bummer.

Houston, TX - motocross mecca

Last night on Pit Pass Radio one of the guests was Larry Hughes, district manager for Parts Unlimited. Larry was on to talk about the upcoming Parts Unlimited AMA Allstars Amateur National and WMA Cup that will be held at the end of the month at Freestone MX in Wortham, TX.

One of the interesting things Larry said was that within a 1-hour drive of Houston there are 10 — count'em, 10 — motocross facilities, many with multiple tracks on the property. With the reopening of the legendary Rio Bravo facility early next year there will be 11.

To my knowledge, there are only three tracks within an hour of Atlanta, and that requires that you live on the same side of town as the track because it takes an hour to get from one side of the metro area to the other. If you live on the wrong side of town it's two hours to the closest track.

I've been planning a move back to Texas for a number of years. Now there's another good reason to get back to the Lone Star State.

Catch Larry's interview here.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Racing a Sportsman-class CZ 125

Let's hear it for Steve "Souper" Clark and the Sportsman-class 125 project code-named Lester! Owned by the infamous Giles Nelson and the subject of ongoing and endless modifications and improvements by "Dr. G" Larry Garcia and "CZ Guy" Lee Holth, this little beauty throws some dirt at the 2007 Chehalis Classic. Nice work, guys! Now let's see some more.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

What permanent indoor facilities mean for MX

The Boston Globe Online today is reporting that a new, indoor MX facility has been approved in Bellingham, southwest of Boston. R. J. Cobb Land Clearing Inc. of Bellingham has received approval to construct a 68,400 sq. ft. enclosed facility near I-495.

To date, Supercross has remained the domain of professional racers because there are very few places for grass roots amateurs to ride true SX, or Arenacross, tracks. But there is a growing trend to build enclosed, indoor facilities — especially in the northern parts of the US where the outdoor riding season is only a few months each year.

This trend has important implications for outdoor motocross. New riders almost universally come to the sport today through riding and racing on outdoor tracks and trails. This serves to keep them connected, at some level, to the history and meaning of the sport. But as land use and noise concerns grow, it's inevitable that indoor facilities will grow in popularity.

[More...]

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

MediaZone closes Moto Channel

Last week I got email notification that MediaZone is closing their Moto Channel. This is a big disappointment to me, as I just signed up for a 1-year subscription when I watched the MXdN on live video.

MediaZone will refund my subscription fee on a pro-rated basis, but the money isn't really the problem. I'm disappointed that what seemed to be a really good service for catching all the GPs has gone by the wayside.

I don't know anything about what motivated the closure, and the email gave no reason. But if you read my post on The right broadcast model for motocross you know I think full length video on the web is the right way forward for MX.

I suspect MediaZone lost their agreement with YouthStream, or the licensing fees went way up, or maybe there just weren't enough subscribers to pay the fees. I don't know. But I do know it's a loss.

Over on Eternal Two Stroke Derrick Harris is talking about the same topic in his post Which "M" is in?. Derrick points to this cool video highlight site for Australian Supercross.

Personally, I'm not happy with highlights. I want full race coverage. If not live, at least same day. And I'm willing to pay for it. Hopefully, MX Sports will be able to negotiate something along those lines in the near future. For now, we'll have to get by on the oddly structured SPEED TV coverage.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

MX Sports announces changes for 2009

The press conference this morning revealed the big changes coming for the 2009 season. 2009 is the first year that MX Sports will own the series. The big hitters are:

• New class names — 250 and 450. Imagine that. Somebody actually listens to Jody Weisel.
• Tracks — all the same tracks as 2008.
• Races — still two 30+2 motos, folks. 450 class will run first.
• TV — 3 live races on SPEED. All others broadcast same day at 10:00pm ET. 250 races on the following Tues. First motos, both classes, live and free on the internets.
• No. 1 plates — If you're a defending champ you have to run the Numero Uno. That's the way it should be.
• No Side plates — side numbers no longer required. Transponders have rendered them unnecessary and you can't read them anyway. So the riders are now free to add more "bold new graphics".

Also, the WMA gets a lot more coverage in 2009 with 8 National events, SPEED and internet coverage. You can infer from this announcement that two-stroke and four-stroke bikes of equal displacement will have to compete against each other. We'll have to see what this means in practice. Will there even be any two-strokes since all the MX manufacturers have pretty much given in to Honda's marketing assassination of the ring-dingers? We can hope.

Given all the wild rumors floating around about what would, and would not, happen I'd say this is a great start for rebirth of MX. I give Davey Coombs and the entire MX Sports organization an A+ for their first foray in the Pro Motocross management role.

Friday, October 10, 2008

MX Sports press conference Saturday

In today's Racerhead column Davey Combs announced a press conference to be held tomorrow morning at the MGM Grand Hotel. Coombs will announce some of MX Sports' plans for the 2009 Pro MX season. There have been a lot of discomfiting rumors flying about. Many sound far-fetched, to me. But you never know. Hopefully we'll get answers that put the worst of them to bed.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Monster Mountain MX Park for sale

The following was posted on RacerX today:

Monster Mountain MX Park, one of the premier facilities in the Southeast, is for sale. Built into the beautiful rolling hills of Central Alabama by MX legend Mark Barnett and Glen Bates, the facility offes MX, Lighted SX, GP, Pit Bike, and seven miles of trails spread over its 200 acres. Concession stand, bathrooms with showers, and a newly constructed 4000 square foot steel building containing a 1500 square foot residence. Serious inquiries only please. Contact us at 334-799-5931 or Andy@MonsterMX.com

This is a very cool facility. I've had the chance to ride a couple of vintage events there. I hate to see it go on the block again. I know it's changed hands a couple of times already since it was built. The maintenance costs of a facility like this are enormous and, being in the deep south and not close to a major population center (the greater Montgomery area has fewer than 350,000 people) I'm sure it's hard to make a go of it.

That's the tragedy of our time — you need to be close to a population center with about 1 million people to support a facility like this, but you can't find or afford the land in those areas. It's the kind of track where you could hold a national, but the facility would need lots of upgrades. And the population just isn't there.

I wish the owners good luck. I hate to see another fine facility bite the dust.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

The right broadcast model for motocross

Last weekend I got up early (too early, it turns out) to watch the MXdN live video feed via MediaZone. I really enjoyed it — well worth the $24.99 I paid for a year’s subscription that also buys me full coverage of the 2009 GP season and access to the archives for 2005–2008. If you want a recap of the coverage itself see Davey Coombs’ Racerhead #40 over at RacerX.

What I want to talk about is a realization I had while watching — that Internet video is the right medium for motocross. Not broadcast TV.

It’s no new idea that motocross is a niche sport. I think we all know this and, to my mind, it always will be. A big niche, perhaps, but a niche nonetheless. It’s a special sport. A different sport. It’s an extreme sport, but not a circus like Supercross. There is a history, a mind set, and a culture that are inherent in the way man and machine attack the terrain and the elements. There is an endurance aspect that simply doesn’t exist in other forms of closed course competition. It is not a complicated sport, yet it requires understanding.

None of this fits neatly into 1–hour, commercial-laden segments of American broadcast TV. The sport, at it’s core, does not match up well with normal, accepted TV practices for niche sports — 8 minutes of action punctuated by 1.5–2.5 minutes of commercials. Then repeat the cycle over and over.

[More...]

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Live Nation sells Supercross with motor sports division

No surprise here as Live Nation has sold off its entire motorsports division to Feld Entertainment in a deal valued at $205 million. The sale is the latest step in Live Nation's current corporate gin rummy hand — the predictable, cyclical business of first acquiring unrelated businesses to "leverage synergy for increased profits and growth" and then, a few years later, selling them off to "release pent up value for increased profits and growth." Funny, that.

We have stated here before our position that Live Nation had very little, if any, corporate commitment to Supercross and that believing otherwise was naive. At best there is only marginal synergy between motor sports events and music concerts. Live Nation have known this since their inception as a spin-off from media conglomerate Clear Channel at the end of 2005. In 2006 they began selling off everything that was not "core" to the music concert business — including theatrical shows, sports representation, and real estate. The company has now sold off more than $460 million in non-core businesses.

With Live Nation completely out of the Supercross business, who is in charge? Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus, Disney on Ice, Disney Live, and other live attractions.

What is most interesting about Feld is their description of themselves:

Feld Entertainment is the worldwide leader in producing and presenting live entertainment experiences that lift the human spirit and create indelible memories, with 30 million people in attendance at its shows each year.

This is clearly not Live Nation &mdash the company that promotes Fergie, Rob Zombie, and Madonna among dozens of others. I haven't seen a self-promo that corny in years. But maybe it's time we had someone in charge of Supercross that at least has a clue what the term "family entertainment" means.

The entire Clear Channel/Live Nation episode of Supercross history has been a gut-wrenching experience for true motocross fans, who watched as their beloved sport turned into a cartoon-like caricature, a frenzy of near-naked girls and violent crashes feverishly pitched at hormone-addled 18-year-old boys and pro wrestling fans.

Yes, the sport grew. Yes, it brought in more money. Yes, a handful of riders can now make contracts well into the 7-figure range and a good number more can make nice 6-figures. But yes, it also become "sports entertainment", just like monster truck racing and the WWE. I don't know that Feld intends anything differently, but I feel no loss for Live Nation.

For now, Feld says they will keep everything intact at the Aurora, IL HQ of the former Live Nation Motor Sports, including all management, schedules, partnerships, and structure. Changes will likely begin late 2009, as Feld gets a feel for what they do and do not like about the new business.

There are many, many possibilities for the future. Far too many to cover here, and at least as many bad as good. But one thing we can be sure of, nothing stays the same in these scenarios.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Edmondson responds to question on motorcycle road racing "disaster"

Late last week NASCAR announced it is acquiring the Grand-Am sports car racing series. This matters to professional motorcycle racing because Grand-Am is the racing series owned by Roger Edmondson and Jim France, the President and Chairman respectively of Daytona Motorsports Group which now owns AMA Pro Racing.

Last night Dave Despain had Edmondson on Wind Tunnel. The interview was via telephone and fairly short, as it was the last call of the program. Despain asked Edmondson two questions, the first about the NASCAR purchase, the second was (paraphrased), "Am I wrong to think the situation in professional motorcycle road racing is a disaster?"

[More...]