Is american superbike really this sad?

Oh ya, I def need to bring $$ to any team . Plenty of riders faster than me likely should do the same.

The problem is the proportion of that occurring in most paddocks. I think id be cool with <25% of entrants paying for their ride, for legit pro series like national SBK classes and all international classes. Unfortunately, I think only GP and WSBK accomplish that. I wouldn't be surprised if the avg for the other pro motorcycle racing series is >75%. MA SBK is a reasonably low percentage because it has most of the paying rides and there are only 13 riders

 

So this makes me ask... what is the essence of MA today? Back in the day with tobacco & alcohol $$ and the manufacturers showcasing their bikes by going to war against one another, there was money that made it into the riders bank account.

Now it seems the series exists to showcase the riders talent at the expense of the riders bank accounts. This works as long as you can find up n comers whose families still havent spent all their money to replace those that already went broke.

It seems to me that absent big advertising dollars going to the teams, the only other way for the series to be sustainable is for the series to generate enough revenue so that enough start money and purse money can flow to the teams to pay the bills & not bleed the riders dry.

 

u mean the car series that are rich-guy playgrounds? do we really want moto road racing to become that? I don't know specifics so thats about the extent of my opinion on that.

im not saying riders should sit there and wait to be paid. im saying the series won't really be healthy until a large portion of the pro entrants are paid by their teams.

you seem to be missing the shades of gray when it comes to riders paying teams. its all over the place, especially internationally. some have sponsors pay. some get their parents to pay. some seem to have governments pay. im fine with sponsors following riders and paying teams. but I don't know if thats the norm, especially in the US. however, I said previously why rider riders/sponsors paying teams isnt the best. this means that teams arent bringing in enough $$ to stay afloat. team sponsorship AND rider sponsorship is likely more $ than just rider sponsorship. its at least a sign that things are working as well as they should. this whole thread started with the idea that the US is lacking SBK entrants, and a lot of that comes down to the US lacking teams that can do that.

that is how it works. the promoter is the only one that has access to TV revenue. team subsidies are revenue sharing with that money, at least in successful sports/series. thats pretty much how it works for all stick and ball sports. its how it works in GP. even the constructors purse in F1 is revenue sharing with that money. I suspect this is true of many many more sports too.

if MA ups their subsidies for 2020, id bet a lot of that $$ came from the success of Live+.

 

How does tv work for sports like roadracing that get very little viewership? I know with the big sports the networks pay the leagues, is it the same with smaller sports? Does MA get anything out of whatever network they're on?

 

Unfortunately, that's how the rest of the working world works. Show up, be good at your job, get paid. That's why our rider quit, and I suspect it's at the root of the issues facing American roadracing. What attracts real young talent when similar efforts pay much bigger dividends in other endeavours?

 

I don't think that is a true statement. I think that the series will be healthy when there is enough money being brought into the teams, riders and MA by outside sponsors. It won't matter how that money comes in as long as all of the stakeholders get taken care of. There are multiple models of how to make that happen.
I also think it is wrong to think that a riders only job is to just show up and ride. That has never been the case in the top levels of racing. The riders have always had an obligation to go to dealerships, trade shows, press days and make commercials. That is all part of providing a good return on the investment of the sponsors. Even when AMA riders were being paid big bucks by the manufacturers, they also had sponsorship deals for leathers, helmets boots, etc and some of that money could trickle down to the team. In this environment, I contend that it is a big part of a professional racers job to be a social media presence, get individual sponsors and be part of the financial structure of the team. Just showing up to the track ready to ride is only doing the fun part of the job. In real life we all have (had) parts of our job that we were paid to do even if we didn't like it and if we didn't do that part there were consequences.
So, if you want to be a professional motorcycle racer, get out there and do the whole job.

 

Seems like there is a big disconnect between professional racing and what you consider Pro racing....

There really isn’t any pro car road race stuff in this country. It certainly isn’t a business model that will make motorcycle roadracing flourish. It is all just rich fuckers playing with their toys.

I’ll say again, DLM racing is still the best business model. Reasonable rules, no electronics, Purses from ticket and back gate sales are used to Draw competitors AND spectators. Competition is good and spectator turnout is good. That brings sponsors and allows the top teams to make a good profit doing it.

It is easy enough to Blame it all on the riders for not being able to pull in sponsorship, put together a deal and put it on the grid. Fact is right now there is very little possibility of reasonable success if they did. Imagine how good the racing would be if we had Hayden Gilliam, Bobby Fong, PJ and a few others on the grid in the premier class along with the ones already making it work. More sensible rules could made for a more level playing field could accomplish that. Not really saying cut the spec of the bike, just eliminate rider aides. They do absolutely nothing but add expense and hurt the racing.
It seems like we are stuck with basically with rules from 2005-2007 and just keep
Hoping things will change and they will start working. He’ll go back to the 1998 rules and make everyone do a reset. At least things were growing then.

 

No, there are multiple touring series for them that aren’t just local. Lucas Oil and WOO being the biggest. The top guys clear decent money with most races paying 10k to win and as much as 125k to win.
It is probably one of the few forms of racing that is actually growing. Mostly because it is still grassroots based and the old NASCAR fans connect with it.

 

Typically they run good locally, hit the big shows when they come to their area then progress from there. It is a progression that still has strong roots... Normally every big show has a couple of locals trying to make the show.
There aren’t many show up and drive drivers in that though. Most are heavily involved in the day to day of making sure stuff is ready and setup.

It should say something about RoadRacing that the top class has the least participation...

 

In a way, no.
In a way yes.

DLM works because it is not so far removed from the Local shows that hometown hero’s can’t Show up and run good if they get it right.

Superbike doesn’t work for the very same reason. The manufacturers have stacked the deck too much in their favor and all but eliminated the opportunity for someone they aren’t supplying support to to show up and run well.

 

Ehh, kinda. Sponsors always help but there is enough purse even locally to offset costs somewhat.
Most are running similar stuff that is a year or two old. Other than the motor. Still looking at a 25-30k car versus a 75-90k dollar car though. The real difference is the car builders don’t have the rules written for themselves and finance the entire sport.
The racing won’t fail if Longhorn, Rocket or Capitol stop supporting the sport because it is self sustainable and they aren’t paying the purses to start with.

That is my point, Roadracing needs a business model and economy that can survive solely on what it is selling. Entertainment. Currently it is ran like everyone has a million dollar budget and it is hurting every aspect of the sport.
JMO