Anyone hear about this?
The AMA has announced they are selling the rights to their racing properties. This is huge news, as the Association has always been both the sanctioning body and promoted the wide variety of racing disciplines, from amateur and hillclimb to Superbike racing and motocross.
The model for the change is the Supercross series. The AMA sells the rights to Supercross to Live Nation. The AMA sanctions the series while Live Nation handles promotion. Most people consider Supercross to be the most successful of the AMA's racing properties. Why not use the model for the others?
It's been a long-term relationship going back to the 1970s and Live Nation owns the rights to Supercross until 2019.
Why the change? Robert Dingman, the AMA President, decided it was the right thing to do.
It's a bold move, but it falls in line with the way other series work. The FIM sells the promotional rights to World Superbike to the Flammini Group (which does business as FG Sport) and MotoGP to Dorna, a Spanish conglomerate.
How does it work? Basically, the promoter pays a fee to the sanctioning body and is the organizer for the series, holding the events, working with the tracks and television, et cetera. The AMA would be the sanctioning body, making the technical rules decisions.
The new arrangement can be good for the AMA in my opinion. It would narrow the focus of the AMA and tax their resources less. Sometimes it is easy for race fans to look past the fact that AMA is more than just a racing group. The organization has nearly 300,000 members and protects the rights of motorcyclists, too, and not just in Washington but all over the country. If the Association can find some partners willing to take on the risk and promote the different series, it will help the important lobbying efforts.
The AMA has announced they are selling the rights to their racing properties. This is huge news, as the Association has always been both the sanctioning body and promoted the wide variety of racing disciplines, from amateur and hillclimb to Superbike racing and motocross.
The model for the change is the Supercross series. The AMA sells the rights to Supercross to Live Nation. The AMA sanctions the series while Live Nation handles promotion. Most people consider Supercross to be the most successful of the AMA's racing properties. Why not use the model for the others?
It's been a long-term relationship going back to the 1970s and Live Nation owns the rights to Supercross until 2019.
Why the change? Robert Dingman, the AMA President, decided it was the right thing to do.
It's a bold move, but it falls in line with the way other series work. The FIM sells the promotional rights to World Superbike to the Flammini Group (which does business as FG Sport) and MotoGP to Dorna, a Spanish conglomerate.
How does it work? Basically, the promoter pays a fee to the sanctioning body and is the organizer for the series, holding the events, working with the tracks and television, et cetera. The AMA would be the sanctioning body, making the technical rules decisions.
The new arrangement can be good for the AMA in my opinion. It would narrow the focus of the AMA and tax their resources less. Sometimes it is easy for race fans to look past the fact that AMA is more than just a racing group. The organization has nearly 300,000 members and protects the rights of motorcyclists, too, and not just in Washington but all over the country. If the Association can find some partners willing to take on the risk and promote the different series, it will help the important lobbying efforts.
