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/1390385
IN THE WIND P52 the 2017 season. The cancelation and postponement of several events due to Covid-19 restric- tions has seen Feld Entertainment refocus their live events in North America, whilst adopting a watch- ing brief in terms of the demand in international markets returning to pre-pandemic levels. The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship contin- ues to attract the some of the best talent from all corners of its home nation and from across the world, including strong representation from Germany, France, Japan and Australia. Additionally, Feld Entertainment will also continue to expand its global partnerships and licensing agreements plus worldwide TV outreach including through its own viewing platform that now boasts subscribers in over 113 countries. Commenting on this announce- ment Jorge Viegas—FIM President said, "Firstly, I would like to say a huge thank you to Feld Enter- tainment not only for such a long and great partnership, but also for their immense work in making the Monster Energy AMA Super- cross Championship the wonderful product it is today. I firmly believe under normal circumstances that this is an agreement that would have been extended for a further period and that would have contin- ued to go from strength to strength. That said, we fully understand the current situation and respect the decision that has been taken. With the ongoing support of our nation- al federation in North America— the AMA—I am confident that the series will soon recover the levels it enjoyed before the pandemic and that in the future we will have the opportunity to explore a new agreement. In the meantime, on behalf of the FIM I would like to wish our American friends every success." The Feld release reads: Feld Motor Sports announced today they will not renew their in- ternational sanctioning agreement with the Federation International de Motocyclisme (FIM) for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) will continue in its current role as the domestic sanctioning body. AMA Supercross has operated under a dual-sanctioning agree- ment for 20 years and Feld Enter- tainment would like to thank Jorge Viegas and the FIM for their years of partnership and support. As a result of the impact of Covid-19, we have decided to focus on North America for our live events, as we wait to see how international markets return to normalcy in the post-pandemic environment. Supercross will continue to draw top riders from the U.S. as well as a diverse field of interna- tional athletes competing in the series that come from all corners of the globe, including Germany, France, Japan and Australia. We also continue other efforts to grow internationally to expand our global partnership and licensing agreements, and world-wide tele- vision contracts, which are seeing annual growth with our interna- tional, direct-to-consumer stream- ing platform that has subscribers in over 113 countries. Supercross is the most com- petitive and highest-profile two-wheeled off-road motorcycle racing championship in the world and will continue to be the global stage and racing destination for the most talented athletes both domestically and internationally. Founded in 1924, the AMA sanctions more motorcycle races than any other sanctioning body in the world and exclusively rec- ognizes all amateur and profes- sional national champions across every motorcycle racing discipline in the United States. So, what does this mean to the Supercross fan? Not a lot, other than don't expect any Supercross races being held outside North American borders anytime soon. It will be pretty much business as usual for Feld, the teams and the fans. The initial AMA and FIM mar- riage in Supercross came about when Supercross wanted to expand to new markets outside the U.S. and the FIM was more than happy to oblige. But the cost and complexity of the travel proved too much and Supercross ended up staying close to home, venturing regularly only to nearby Canada for a while, but Canada has not been on the Supercross schedule since 2017. CN