Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AVIEW FROM THE FENCE BY ERIC JOHNSON emember the mythical character . who attempted to roll the big rock up the hill only to have it roll back down to the bottom? As a result, he would then shake off the disappointment,-wipe the sweat from his eyes, and start the process all over again - only to have the same thing happen. In the 1990s, the AMA Supercross promoters - and to a certain degree the ational MX organizers - appear to be experiencing their own "eternal struggle." Much like the aforementioned gentleman who couldn't get it together and get the boulder up the hill, the promoters, despite their best intentions, can't coerce a significant outside corporate sponsor to enter the sport. Every year it's the same story. The rumors begin to surface that a big sponsor is on the verge of signing a bigbucks marketing partnership with the AMA Supercross Series promoter group. However, when the season begins, the man-made circuits are completely bare of any type of corporate signage. While various aftermarket and distribution companies provide banners, hay bale covers, track ribbon and sponsorship dollars, the absence of any type of big-time outside-the-industry sponsorship leaves the sport of supercross with a bit of an insecurity complex. Enter television. It is no great shakes of a secret that television is the lifeblood of worldwide motorsports. In fact, if there wasn't TV, there would be no such thing as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, the CART Indy Car World Series or NHRA Drag Racing. In this day and age of multi-milliondollar racing budgets, there is no feasible way that a race team could afford to operate and compete on a professional level. The only way the aforementioned racing series - and each series has a multitude of individual race teams - can exist is through the infusion of huge amounts of money by corporate sponsors. Because of television, big companies are willing to pry open the coffers of the marketing division and hand over large amounts of promotional money to the promoters and race teams .in exchange for having their corporate logo plastered on the livery of race cars, transporters, walls, billboards and towers. As a result, these corporate "signs" are then picked up by the network video cameras and displayed to TV viewers nationwide by way of television broadcasts. R It all makes sense, doesn't it? The racers race, the tracks operate, draw big crowds and make money, the race fan gets to watch it all on TV, and the corporations are able to influence the buying decision process of the loyal race fan. This entire beautiful success story was brought to you in living color by television. So why isn't supercross getting in on the high-dollar marketing action? Good question. The television coverage of the AMA Supercross Series is certa.inly prolific, popular, polished and full of action. "Motorcycle coverage on ESP 2 is increasing dramatically," says Seals Communication Vice President of Marketing Scott Dewey. "Supercross and motocross in particular are doing great. ESPN2 is very happy with supercross. The sport continues to show strong ratings and strong ad support and it all really boils down to that. If you're doing well with ratings and ad dollars, the networks are happy with you." Dewey brings up a very interesting point: If ESP 2 is happy with the sport and people are tuned in, why aren't the corporations joining the party? Do they see it a a fad - a sport that is currently riding a popularity wave that may soon crest? The ESPN2 broadcast network certa.inly doesn't. "ESPN2 is looking at supercross and motocross as an integral part of their overall motors ports package," says Dewey who, through Seals, sells the sport to the ESP 2 network. "They definitely view supercross and motocross as a major part of the network's future." While supercross is a young, unique sport, it certa.inly has a lot going for it. The TV contract is there, the crowds are getting bigger and the people who show up - primarily males 18 to 34 years oldare among one of the most corporately attractive demographics possible. And as the sport continues to cross over into the mainstream, one has to wonder if the world of corpora te America is watching. Take a step back in time to provide some perspective on this matter, when NASCAR - now the most prolific and successful racing series in the world was still developing as a sport, they too also suffered growing pains. However, it all changed through television. When the major broadcast networks began airing the events in the late 70s and early '80s, NASCAR was viewed primarily as a regional, "redneck" sport. However, through television, the sport was ripped clean from its Southern roots and displayed to the entire nation. Slowly but surely, people began to watch and the TV ratings began to rise. Upon that happening, the corpora tions of America began to sniff around.. It wasn't long before major corporations were sold on the fledgling sport. As a result, the team owners, track operators and - most importantly - racers, pocketed large amounts of corporate money in the form of sponsorship. Supercross is now in the same situation NASCAR was some 20 years ago. Ripe for the picking, the sport of tadium motocross represents a total bargain to any corporation willing to gamble on it. If you don't believe me, let's take a look at the numbers. Roughly 360,000 American households view every two-hour supercross broadcast on ESPN2. This number is expected to rise dramatically over the summer when ESP 2's overall viewership universe is expected jump in size. For some explanation and clarification, a so-called utiniverse" is a term cooked up by U.S. advertising agencies and their partner in crime, the Nielsen company. A universe represents the total amount of homes that receive a particular network. For instance, CBS which is one of the original American broadcast networks - is received by approximately 100 million U.s. households. ESPN, however, is a cable network that does not go into as many homes due to the fact that cable TV is a consumer-paid service. That said, ESPN does quite well generating a "universe" of over 77 million U.S. households. ESP 2 is another story. The little'brother network to ESPN is a young entity that is still in its growing stage and is available in roughly 45 million American homes - and things are only going to get better. "The overall viewership of ESPN2 continues to increase," explains Dewey optimistically. "ESPN2 has gone from 32 million households this time last year, to 45 million as .we speak. In fact, as far as growth is concerned, there seems to be no end in sight. The network is growing by nearly one million U.s. households a month." • What this means is that as the ESPN2 network grows, so does the TV viewing popularity of supercross. The AMA Supercross promoters, who collectively decided to cast their lot with the ESPN2 network, now have a good thing on their hands. Moreover, and ever so important in the fickle world of advertising and marketing, is the great "ratings game." While a TV rating point may sound like complicated "voodoo math," it's the language spoken by the marketing decision makers of America. The concept of a rating point actually is pretty simple. In essence, it symbolizes a percentage point of a particular network's household universe. For instance: If ESPN2 has a viewership universe of 45 million American homes, and a broadcast of an AMA Supercross race generates a "1" rating, that rating translates to 1 percent of that universe - or 450,000 viewers. AS'a further example, the CBS broadcast of Sunday afternoon's NASCAR Daytona 500 pulled a dazzling "9" rating. That Nielsen rating number, when placed against the CBS universe of 100 million households, translates to over 9 million viewers. As a further testament to the amazing popularity - potential - of supercross, in 1996, the AMA Supercross Series drew over 650,000 spectators to its 15-event series, netting out to an average event attendance of .over 42,000 spectators. Thus far into the 1997 campaign, spectator attendance has been off the charts. Over 63,000 fans came out to watch the Phoenix Supercross, while 54,000 went through the turnstiles at the Seattle Kingdome. Another record crowd, some 51,000 enthusiasts, watched Saturday night in Indy. If a savvy marketing executive were to take a step back and apply logic to the sport - and factor in the aforementioned true-to-life, black-and-white research numbers - they would see that there is absolutely no reason to be avoiding it. If I were a management supervisor working in an ad agency, a marketing director calling the shots in a prolific corporation or a brand manager looking for "the next big thing" to shill their product, I would seriously enterta.in the idea of pulling out the corporate war chest and pumping a few greenbacks into the sport of supercross. (N 30 YEARS AGO... MARCH 2, 1967 Trailbike class over Jack Forlich, who were both on Hodaka 100s, and Cleve Thomas finished third on a Honda... Triumph-mounted C.H. Wheat won the Open Expert class at the Perris Valley MC Scrambles in California, and John Rice won the 250cc Expert class on a Husqvarna. new creation, the 250cc Desert Phantom, a cross between their motocrosser and Super Pioneer enduro...CN attacked California law enforcement and other areas for having police roundups of dirt bikers in popular, not necessarily legal, riding areas...CN conducted a candid interview with reigning 500cc World Road Racing Champion Barry Sheene...CN took a look at updating Suzuki's RM250 and RM370 motocrossers... Larry Roeseier won the Prospectors MC Hare Scrambles in Lucerne Valley, California, in a hotly contested race with Bruce Ogilve on a Harley-Davidson. Brian Wright finished third on a Husky. of the AMA Supercross Series in Miami, Florida. Kawasaki's Jeff Ward got third. Suzu~i's Ronnie Tichenor won the 125cc class over Kenneth Bollmeier on a Yamaha and Keith Turpin on a Suzuh .. Mike Healy, Rodney Smith and Brian Myerscough took home the 125, 250, and 500cc Pro wins, respectively, at . the final round of the CMC Golden State Nationals in California, but it was Doug D'ubach, Ty Davis and Mike Fisher who took home the series championships in the 125, 250, and 500cc Pro classes, respectively. Rex Staten won the Vet Pro class and championship... Steve Morehead dominated the first two rounds of the Wiseco-Spectro Dirt Track Series at ,the Florida State Fairgrounds, winning both Expert main events. Kevin Atherton won both ProAm mains while Bryan Villella won both Junior mains. (N MA executive Bill Berry was on the cover taking a ride around the Stardust Raceway in Las Vegas, evada, with the AFM's Reg Pridmore. and his sidecar. The two sanctioning bodies got together to help promote an AMA Sporstrnen Road Race. Pridmore and partner Ernie Caesar won the Sidehack class on a Triumph, Buddy Parriott won the 0-200cc class on a Bultaco, Tony Nicosia won .the 201cc-Open Production class on a Suzuki, Swede Savage won the 201-250cc GP-class win on a Kawasaki and Pq.rriott came back to win the 251cc-Open class on a Norton...BSA 500-mounted Larry Bergquist won the Coachella Valley MC Hare Scrambles in California over Bultaco's Bobby Ferro, and Triumph-mounted Gary Preston finished third. Jack Morgan won the A 84 20 YEARS AGO... MARCH 2, 1m ideo upops" Yoshimura was injured when a fire gutted the dyno room and the research and development section of Yoshimura R&D of America ... Yamaha's Bob Hannah won the 250cc Pro class at round three of the Florida Winter AMA MX series in Gainesville, Florida. Teammate Rick Burgett won the Open Pro class and Suzuki's Danny LaPorte won the 125cc Pro class...CN took a test ride'on OSSA's H 10 YEARS AGO... MARCH 4,1987 Honda's Rick Johnson held off a hard-charging Ron Lechien of Team Kawasaki to win round four TIS

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