Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128215
F'M World Supermoto Promoter Giuseppe Luongo JOIN THE HUNDREDS OF SUCCESSFUL, ACTIVE DEALERS WHO SELL CYCLE NEWS IN THEIR STORES motocross; before I sold to Dorna, our company wasn't making any profit because everything was invested. So after the work of Giuseppe Luongo, after the work of Dorna, this is the right time to think of what you mention in your question. But we have to look at that positively and learn from the last ten years' experience. Motocross is a beautiful sport. It is the best for its fans, but it occupies a certain level in the worldwide sports market, and we have to do all we can to stay there and keep it healthy. I've learnt it by watching from the outside, and I hope all the pieces of the puzzle will understand it because that would mean getting the stability you talk about. I myself dreamt and overestimate motocross potential, but I was helped by the people I had around and by my partners to dream. Nobody was telling me "no" when I offered to give motocross the key TV channels live coverage. They said, "great, go on," but then when I needed $50,000 to have it, nobody cared where I was gonna get them. I remember that in '97, which is not a century ago, when I started working on the MX GPs, the FIM would have been happy with only three minutes TV coverage per GP. But I signed a contract with Eurosport (popular free Paneuropean Sport Satellite Channel) and other networks, and we gave a lot more of exposure right away. Behind these successes there was a lot of desire, but that was close to the maximum for this sport even if we wanted much more. And even Dorna, that is 100 times more powerful than us, wasn't able to get more. We reached a level close to the top for motocross right away, but we believed we could go farther. That's way we'll operate very carefully in the Supermoto not to make the same mistake; we rather want to learn and understand what its top potential is. In a couple of three years we should be able to understand it and stabilize it because we don't want to waste our and our partners' money, and we do not want to let people believe that the Supermoto could be bigger than it can. In motocross also we have to reach the maximum and cruise at that level. If you were operating in America, you wouldn't probably say the same. In America motocross isn't better than the GPs - let me explain what I mean: In the USA, the circuits are probably better than in Europe, but the facilities are way worse. Professional pressrooms and professional TV productions like ours doen't exist in American motocross. On the other hand, in America there is more public at the races, and the bike market is bigger. So the base on which the American motocross lies is the big market they have. As everyone can see, Europe, as far as politics, doesn't exist as continent. The same happens in its marketplaces. 1 hope sometime in the future we will think as a continent. But now we think local, and that affects teams, riders and so on. The market is not European, it is German, Italian, Belgian and so on. In the U.S., the number of bikes sold is bigger than in Europe, therefore the teams have bigger budgets, probably 10 times bigger than over here, and that makes a big difference. Look at the American race standings: There are plenty of riders coming from the GPs. Even riders who were not successful over here are racing in America and make a lot of money, and especially dream, because the American MX planet lets you dream. Here, unfortunately, the rider who makes the good money makes five times less than the American. But that comes from the market. Supercross' case is different because it could work here as well, but it won't work in Europe because that's an American product, and the Americans do not want it to work in Europe - there is a lot of politics behind that. But here, supercross works also. A few years ago 1 organized the world championship round in France at the Stade de France, and we had 50,000 spectators right away at the first edition and for two years in a row. So that is not directly connected to the market. If in Europe you go with SX to the best stadiums with a local promoter that invests in promotion for real, the success is easy. Now, in Europe, there is not enough investment behind the supercross races. If you are successful again, are you going to sell motocross again in a few years? When I sold my company, there was a combination of favorable things. The sport was popular, and the world economy was doing good. I do not believe it will repeat easily or shortly. We have a long-term deal with the FIM, and our goal is to come back to stay. The same goes for the Supermoto - we'll need at least five years to cover the first two years of investment. I can't forecast the future, but selling again is not my intention. I've learned plenty of things in the last few years about the motorcycle industry, and this is where I see my future. CN _1& 40 MAV21,2003ยท cue I e n e _ s