I check out your site and had some comments-
" The Professional racing associations in control, allowed rules to work for the wealthy and slowly started pushing the weekend family racer out of the picture. Costs for the purchase of the motorcycles, costs for repairs, costs for aftermarket parts are all rising at a rate that most riders could no longer afford. Thus, the industry that grew from family type riders, is now chasing those same types of riders away from the sport. At the same time, the professional racing associations were also allowing noise factors to hurt the industry. Local tracks are being closed more frequently due to noise pollution complaints, mainly because of the types of the motorcycles being promoted and the sound requirements they had in place.
Motorcycles like the 125 2 stroke class, that were once considered the stepping stone of professional motocross were now pushed aside to promote the 250cc 4 stroke motorcycle. With these larger, heavier motorcycles that the motocross racing associations were promoting, more and more riders are being injured, while safety was still left in the dark ages. Neck protection, back protection and other important parts of the body were still not being pushed as an important part of racing. It took injured riders like David Bailey to come out on his own and promote the neck brace. Most of the changes seemed to be focused on the preservation to the current OEM lineup and what product companies wanted, to make the most profit. "
-This is true stuff.
A lot of it is because the AMA (Pro and Sports) hasn't ever gotten it's shit together and has had no vision. They have relied too much on following the OEMs agenda, because they don't have much of one of their own.
The result in the pro side is SX ran off and left them in the dust. In outdoors they had one foot in amateur, one foot in pro, and if they didn't they would be smaller than they are now.
Pro outdoor events in the US are far different than championship events in Europe, for example. GP weekends are for GP racing and fans of GP racing. Outdoors in the US have been more like long MX weekends with a lot of fans riding too (amateur days) and these helped make the weekends profitable for tracks, because the pro racing alone isn't enough.
When the Nats moved to Saturday racing, this was nice for teams, but this hurt the tradition of long MX weekends with a lot of campers that want to ride too. They are making less money.
Since the economic crash, things have shrunk even more and opened the door for a better model. It won't come from the AMA or MX Spurts with a weakened empire to defend.
The base is shrinking. Costs are up, and people don't want to travel as far. Events can do just fine without using the label "national" and making room for more participation. MX in America is a family affair, and you don't have near as many GP-type race fans that just want to see a race.
People want to bring the family, camp, and ride.
I see this in the SE all over. GNCCs are like that too. There are at least 3 AX series you can drive to from where I live, and they have classes for all ages and skill levels-and they still draw good attendance and make money. Stuff like this is the base that needs to grow to make the sport less dependent on OEMs that have run out of money.
If I were planning what you are doing, I would not worry so much about calling it national or getting the best people away from SX/MX. I would think more in terms of building up something like you described that doesn't need the weak AMA or anyone else, and plan out the most fun you can have with dirt bikes on a weekend with everyone participating.
"One of our biggest problems in the industry, is that we’ve kept it in the industry. OEM manufactures of motorcycles, also manufacture cars, lawn mowers etc. Thus, we have been limited on who can sponsor the series and so forth. We will not be run by OEM’s, we will work with them."
Good point. SXMX has relied on OEMs too much, and now that they are out of money, it's fallen apart. SX is even having trouble finding enough riders.
"Finally, motocross racing has become a family sport. Why not represent it like that. We will have amateur youth racers as well as female racers competing together."
See above. This is what needs to happen. Build the base back up.
"Class structure"
That's cool but you want to stick with the same MX1/MX2 definitions they use in Europe. MX1 is the premier class, MX2 is lites, MX3 is more like "Open/Vets", etc..
On sponsors, you have to figure out TV and a way to share the wealth. This is what makes NFL/NASCAR work and what has kept SXMX in the minor leagues. SXMX promoters are stupid. They rob their own teams of sponsors, block them, and make them poor. Now they are paying for it.
The X Games easily eclipsed SXMX and can attract names, because it's already ESPN. Without that, you need to make the weekends interesting. No one is going to watch runaways all the time. Racing TV needs to be interesting. A few reality shows showed interest in SXMX, but the dumbshits running things treated them like crap and were defensive.
Find the right TV formula, ignore the AMA, and go for it.
