Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·INTERVIEW PACE Motor Sports" Gary Becker and Charlie Mancuso o most outsiders, the 1996 AMA Supercross Series appeared to be the most successful stadium motocross tour ever. The crowds were up, television exposure was excellent and the level of professionalism was at an all-time high. But underneath the glam surface the series was struggling with an overwhelming feeling of dissatisfaction and ill communication. So when rumors started leaking through the industry last month that new blood was coming in to take over the sport starting right now, the general reception has been mixed - how can they fix it if we can't tell them what's wrong? With that in mind, new supercross bosses Gary Becker and Charlie Mancuso of PACE Motor Sports have set out to fix what's been broken in supercross for quite some time - the lines of communication. For their first exclusive interview since this major shake-up, Becker and Mancuso chose Cycle News to introduce themsel ves to the sport, discuss the recent turnover and tell us about their visions for the future of supercross in America. York and Off-Broadway all around the country. We have another division called the PACE Music Group, which has two companies - PACE Concerts and PACE Facilities, which is an amphitheater operator and developer. We have another musical division cal1ed PACE Touring which will start buying musical tours; instead of promoting regions or different markets around the country, we will be signing with artists to promote their entire tours. We are currently doing both Lollapalooza and HORDE alternative music events. The fourth division is PACE Motor Sports, which is where PACE started. Is that where you started? GB: No, I was in our music division for 15 years but got into PACE Motor Sports back at the same time that PACE got reinvolveli with supercross six or seven years ago, back when CE. Altman was still with us. I worked with CE. for . a number of years and as his health started to get worse and worse I became more involved. Now I'm the CEO of the company and I see my job now to be helping Charlie manage the growth of this business and improvement of the business, whether it's in financial num- company and that's a relationship we also want to maintain. Bill's been wanting to develop these other projects. for the last few years and if it wasn't for the death of CE. Altman in 1994 he would be two o~ three years further down the road, but being the good partner that he's always been, he stepped up to the plate and took over the operation of supercross in CE.'s place. At that time I myself was probably not ready to do it. Is that why the ad hoc capitol of supercross seemed to move from PACE's home in Houston to Bill West's office in 51. Petersburg. Florida? GB: For our company, that is correct. But at that time we only represented four supercrosses and 50 percent of two other supercrosses. Mickey Thompson still had three or four supercrosses and SRO had. the remaining four and a half. So how is it that PACE Motor Sports now has control of virtually the entire 1997 AMA Supercross Series, with Daytona being the only exception? GB: We purchased SRO and all of their assets, including supercross, from MSG (Madison Square Garden). Now Charlie will run this company. He will operate this company and initiate the which we are confident, but we are getting closer and closer. We're talking to different companies right now which range from beer companies to tool companies, from photography companies to soft drinks companies. Why did Camel and Coors leave? CM: I don't think tha t they left because supercross was getting weaker. On the contrary, supercross is stronger than it ever was. Our attendance figures for 1996 shattered any previous recorgs and television frequency and ratings on ESPN and ESPN2 are higher than they ever have been. Camel and C@ors left when they made a change in their marketing strategies, that's all. After so many years they each decided to pursue different sports. Camel' changed their marketing direction entirely to provide dkect team support with the Smekin' Joe's Racing road race team, NASCAR and Unlimited Hydroplanes. They no longer have direct series support under the Camel brand. As for Coors, the situation was much the same in that they were looking to expand their involvement in other types of sports marketing. We were left with nothing. It's just hard to understand why or how First of all, who are you guys? Gary Becker: I am CEO of PACE Motor Sports and my family is the prominent owner of PACE. I've been around the entertainment business ever since I was a little kid, and I've been going to supercross and motorcycle races since they started the Yamaha Gold Cup when I was nine. That was back in the early days of the Houston Astrodome, right? GB: I grew up around the Astrodome and around these events because that's what my father Allen did. He was an· insurance salesman until PACE started in 1966. They created the Yamaha Gold Cup a few years after that and he would drag me around the Astrodome. We used to do flat track one night and IT the second night. That was back when "Kenny Roberts was king. When did PACE do its first indoor motocros.s event? GB: That was 22 years ago that we produced our first supercross in the Houston Astrodome. What about you, Mr. Mancuso? Charlie Mancuso: I have been named p~sident of PACE Motor Sports, reporting to Gary as CEO. Prior tp that I was president of SRO Motorsports. I've been around supercross since 1988. I was born and raised in the arena and stadium business - my father ran a complex in Omaha, Nebraska, which consisted of an arena, an exhibition hall, a theater, and the stadium where the NCAA College Baseball World Series is still played. As far a's supercross goes, I went to a few more races this year than in years past because of the circumstances of the acquisition of SRO by PACE. Wltat exactly is going on with that? I mean, I hate to ask you in these terms, but who's in charge of supercross now,. anyway? GB: Let me answer that. First of all, I should give you an overview of what PACE is. PACE makes up four operating divisions. One is PACE Theatrical, in which we do Broadway shows in New bers or, in the case of supercross, better cpmmunications with the participants and the industry as a whole. We want to show everyone that we're not the bad guys. The promoters group of the past have had different agendas of a sort. We would tell everyone that we were a "promoters group," but when we got behind closed doors we each went out and tried to do our owp agenda. When you say "promoters group," are you speaking of the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group in California and Supersports in Florida? GB: Well, yes, even SRO in Chicago. We've all had a love/hate affair over the past few years. PACE, SRO, MTEG and (Supersports' boss) Bill West, prior to our merging, were not always on the same page. And with Mickey Thompson out on the West Coast, I'm not sure we were ever on the same page. As we represented ourselves to the manufacturers

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