Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

§ Opinion ~ t to em R ICHARD CREED Beadingfora AMA PROFESSIONALMX If 1975 showed us anything at all, it's that AMA professional motocross In the United States is losing its popularity with the spectator. After five or SIX years o f bo oming g r o w th and ever-increasing crowds, it seems that the sport has finally reached its limit. This year 12 the Na tio nal circuit, the now defunct Inter-AMA Series, and the just completed Trans-AMA Series all had smaller cr owds in attendance than 1974. This was despite th e fact that the purses were bigger, all the top National riders raced in the same class, and the quality of the racing was the best it has e ver been. ' Wh ile racing on the Nat ional and Trans·AMA circuits has declined in sp ectator po pula rit y t his past year, the stadium type events continue to d raw bigger crowds each year. It seems t hat races like the Yamaha Sup er Series at Dal las, Da yto na, and Houston and the Superbo wl of Moto cross are the type of events th at the spectators want to see . Not one of the Trans-A.I\fA races this year had over 10,000 spectators, while stadium events like the Superbowl and Daytona drew in th e neighbo rhood of 50,000 people. It 's time for th e AMA, the promoters, and the profess ional riders 10 dec ide wh at d irecti o n th ey wan t motocross in th e U.S. to go. Do they want to st ic k with the tradit ional European sty le motocross wh ich is so popular in Eu rope but now seems t o be failing in th e United St ates , o r go with the slam-bang st yle of stadium rac in g which is similar to b ig time footb all and baseball? To understand why traditional European motocross is n o lon ger succeeding in American, you have to understand what it's like in Europe . Distances in Europe are small an d the population densities are high, so anywhere a big motocross is held the promoter can expect a large turnout of spectators. The average spectator there pays ab ou t a dollar to see a full day o f racing, and doesn't mind the dust, m ud , or poor facilities because he isn ' t used to anything better. In th e Un ite d State s for this year's Trans·AMAs and Nationals, most of the tracks were lo cated as far as two to three h ou rs from a major ci ty . T icke t pri ce s were as hi gh as ei ght dollars a person, and th e d ust, mud and poor facilities were included in the ad mission price. The real mo t ocross enthusiast do esn' t m ind spending 520 on gas oline, trac kside food and ga te ad mi ssio n to stand in the dust an d noise all day , but th e ave ra ge spectator won 't . The only way to in crease the populari ty of Americ an motocross is to give the American public what it i. ac cu st o m ed to. Stadium type even ts are eas ily wi th in reach of major population centers and offer decent facilitie s for the sp ec t at o r. They also offer adv antages that traditional motocross ca n ' t. Stadium events are easily televised, and the increased exposure to the general public brings in sponsorship fro m o utside the sport . Increased sponsorship and bigger crowds can only mean bigge r growth for motocross and more money for all th ose invol ved . Wit h the increase in purses and a start in g salary fo r all th e riders at each event, you can expect to see mo re top Eur ope an riders back in the United States. Some changes might have to be made in the presen t motocross fonnat to ma ke it easier to understand . Support class motos will have t o go , and probably the tw o 45 -minute mo to sy stem wo uld have to be revised to make it easier t o televise. It may be that the traditional European motocross in it s present fonn can no longer be successful in th e Un ited States. The AMA needs to recognize that the sport is ch an ging and heed its needs. Next y ear, with the increase in stadium races on th e 1976 AMA sched ule , being a stadium ch am pi o n will probably mean more to the public than being National Champion or Trans-AMA Champion. This needs t o be understood b y the AMA and the riders so t hat in the not too distant fu ture stadium events will become part of the National or Trans·AMA circuit. The AMA also needs to come up with a better professional motocross organization. Right now there are too few people in the AMA working with the motocross progra m. National Mo to cross Organizer Mike Deprie needs more people to help hi m out with th e excellent job he 's doing. National Motocross Referee Chuck McCall and head sco rekeeper Deni se Mc Call need to be put o n full -time salary to do their jobs mo re effect ively. Their jobs are just t oo detailed and impo rtan t to be treated by the AMA as p ar tt irn e work. In Am eri ca, the traditional fo nn of motocross is on the way o u t. If t he sport can ch an ge to co n for m to what the general spe ct at ing public wants , then it can co n tin ue to grow in the future. J im Gianatsis

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