Australian Supercross is rebuilding from a near total collapse and Adam Bailey believes he has the team, with the vision, to bring it back to life . As we approach the 2019 Monster Energy Aus-X Open, we spoke with Adam to get his take on the sport and it’s progress.
This is a broad statement, but would it be safe to say that Supercross is back in Australia?
We like to think so. I remember in 2014 a story going out speculating that the Australian Supercross Championship may be finished and won’t exist in 2015, and now in 2019 we’re going to have the biggest cumulative attendance in many years. We’re proud of the venues the series is going to this year and after two rounds, there has been a distinct increase in entries and the depth of competition is the strongest it’s been in years. We truly have a world class series to be proud of. Not to say there isn’t a huge amount of work to do, but we are definitely heading in the right direction.
In your opinion, what went wrong in Australia? Super X seemed to be onto a good thing, was it too big too soon? Was making Kevin Windham run with his bike too ridiculous for success?
Great question and not one that can be answered easily. It’s possible that SuperX as good as it was, was too much too soon for our sport. The truth is they did an amazing job in so many ways, but the industry and fan base just couldn’t sustain so many high expense events in capital city locations in such a short period of time and commercially it just didn’t add up.
I don’t think the race formats at all are to blame for this, in fact I think they were one of the saviours. That series had great and diverse formats that have influenced what we’re doing at our own events such as Superpole and the Triple Header back-to-back format we created last year.
Much of what we’ve been trying to do now is to rebuild to a sustainable level of growth, slowly and incrementally, to build awareness for Supercross, so that we can build for the future and build the quality of events and the depth of the series over time.
There are many other factors also aside from the events themselves that created an issue that rippled over a long period of time. In our opinion, the Australian Junior Motocross Championships running at the same time as Supercross, as it has for the past eight years, has created a major shortage of Supercross talent, as young riders have not been able to prepare for Supercross properly and therefore decide to skip it all together. This needs to change, if we’re going to have a solid base of Supercross talent and with that, if we’re going to give young riders the opportunity to be true ‘professionals’ in Motocross and Supercross, they really need to be able to ride Supercross also. I believe we’re going to see a change in this schedule next year, which I think will support our entire growth plan and see us feeding the younger generations back into Supercross again, as will initiatives like the YZ65 Cup and KTM Junior Supercross, which help give young kids experience to continue on with. Supercross isn’t the kind of thing you can just pick up at 16 and expect to be competing against the best in the world a couple of years later. It’s a long process.
It’s possible that SuperX, as good as it was, was too much too soon for our sport.
Supercross Masters was successful, for a long time, you raced it for many years Adam. There is some obvious influence pulled from these events, but modified to suit the modern generation, how much do you look at the past to help determine the success in the future?
We’re always looking to these events (and others) for inspiration and learnings. In fact, whilst working on the AUS-X Open in 2014, we took Phil Christensen out for dinner in Sydney to chat through all of his learnings over the years and to understand exactly what worked and didn’t (in the end) for that series. We also travelled to Paris for the Bercy Supercross in 2013, as well as countless US races to learn from them.
The riders have a huge responsibility and I think this is going to be a key factor as to whether the sport succeeds or not.
The most common thing we’re pulling from these events, is an understanding of the fan and entertainment. I distinctly remember the energy within the ‘room’ of the Supercross Masters events and felt that had been missing for a long time, including during the SuperX days. Our number one goal when kicking off the AUS-X Open was a focus on true entertainment and sensory overload for everyone in the room. That way, regardless of if you’re a Supercross fan or not, you’ll have an awesome time and leave feeling you got fantastic value for money. This is and always must be number one.
How much responsibility falls on the shoulders of the riders to help the sport succeed? Some are great at promoting themselves and the sport, others, not so much.
The riders have a huge responsibility and I think this is going to be a key factor as to whether the sport succeeds or not. Ironically, the way they do or don’t use their own channels to promote the ‘sport’ and showcase our series in a positive light and literally help sell tickets, sponsorships and attract eyeballs, I believe could ultimately decide whether they have a job in the future. I genuinely hope they embrace this fact and we can work together collaboratively. Some are fantastic at this, but there are many that do the opposite, or just wait for others to grow the sport for them. If we work together, I’m positive we can do amazing things with the sport in the future but we certainly need the riders and teams to get on board (some are) with this notion and accept that the success of the series rests with all of us, not just a couple of individual Promoters.
In our opinion, the Australian Junior Motocross Championships running at the same time as Supercross, as it has for the past eight years, has created a major shortage of Supercross talent,
How do you show the general public that this is a sport worthy of their time next to the barrage of ball sports we get all year?
By entertaining them better than any other event they’ve been to! It’s really simple. They have to see our events as fantastic value and walk away having had a blast, regardless if they’re into Supercross or not. As I said previously, this means looking at the sport through their eyes, not as a pure hard core fan that has followed the sport since day one, but instead as someone that might pop their head in, or bring the family for something to do for the first time. They have to feel that the event as great value and worthy of their limited time and money. You can buy a ticket to the AUS-X Open for as little $40 and be entertained for over 6 hours. We think that’s amazing value, so it’s our job to get as many people as possible there to experience that and hopefully they tell all their mates and the sport will build.
There are no overnight fixes, but we certainly feel that this year is the strongest the series has been in a decade, so we’re on the right track. We just need to keep pushing the same direction I think before long, we’ll see the sport we love, get the recognition it deserves.
We currently have former V8 Supercars Founder – Tony Cochrane advising Ryan and I on how to enrich the entertainment side of the sport, as well as our production company AME Management to help provide unique content to attract new fans to the sport. We’ve currently got our Supercross LIfe series running on Fox Sports and Kayo which is helping push the sport through mainstream eyeballs in a storytelling way that we hope will attract more sports fans in general.
It’s our responsibility to ensure that every single person leaves that night feeling that they got fantastic value for money
The Monster Energy AUS-X Open Melbourne will have over 33,000 people there on November 30, which will be absolutely incredible. It’s our responsibility to ensure that every single person leaves that night feeling that they got fantastic value for money and not only that they want to return, but they want to tell their mates about it. That is our number one priority and what our entire team is focused on, coming into November. We can’t wait to show them what we have in store!
The Monster Energy AUS-X Open Melbourne will have over 33,000 people there on November 30, which will be absolutely incredible. It’s our responsibility to ensure that every single person leaves that night feeling that they got fantastic value for money and not only that they want to return, but they want to tell their mates about it. That is our number one priority and what our entire team is focused on, coming into November. We can’t wait to show them what we have in store!
To read the rest of our interview with Adam, pick up a copy of issue #233 on sale December 5th.
Tickets to the Monster Energy AUS-X Open Melbourne are available and selling FAST via Ticketmaster AUS. Don’t miss World Supercross Champions go against the best Australia have to offer this November.
Click the link below to purchase tickets to the Monster Energy AUS-X Open November 30 – Marvel Stadium
https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/aus-x-open-tickets/artist/2272366