FIM World Supercross Championship Announced

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SX Global announced details on the future of the FIM World Supercross Championship. (SX Global/)

There’s a new FIM World Supercross Championship on the horizon, set to kick off late 2022. Many casual supercross fans may experience some confusion upon hearing that statement, as Monster Energy AMA Supercross has technically been the world championship of supercross, with both the AMA and FIM sanctioning the series promoted and run by Feld Entertainment. But in June 2021, Feld Motor Sports announced, in pretty much as many words, that they would not renew their international sanctioning agreement with the Federation International de Motocyclisme (FIM) regarding the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. Most fans didn’t even notice the removal of FIM logos and verbiage from anything having to do with Monster Energy AMA Supercross, but technically, it’s no longer the world championship.

In September 2021, Australian-based international motorsports promoter SX Global announced that it had secured the rights to the FIM World Supercross Championship. Under this agreement, SX Global would manage and promote the series for the next decade. As it sits, the AMA series is thought of as the de facto world championship, even without FIM sanctioning; SX Global, therefore, has basically announced its plans to change that.

And those plans are big, with big dollars to back them. SX Global’s announcement includes plans for a series with an independent ownership model, much like Formula1 and NASCAR. The series would award the largest prize purses in supercross history. Its planned race schedule runs September through November in its 2022 pilot season; subsequent years will see events from June to November.

It’s an ambitious venture, but SX Global’s three key players have plenty of motorsports experience and accomplishments under their belts. SX Global president Tony Cochrane spearheaded the development of V8 Supercars, one of Australia’s most successful motorsports properties. Cochrane took the series from a 1997 valuation of $52,300 to a $305 million sale in 2012. Adam Bailey (Managing Director-Motorsport) and Ryan Sanderson (Managing Director-Commercial)  have promoted the highly successful AUS-X open supercross events. The team would appear to have the chops and ability to promote a global supercross series. So what about funding?

SX Global bosses, left to right: Adam Bailey, Ryan Sanderson, Tony Cochrane. (SX Global /)

Mubadala Capital, the asset management arm of Mubadala Investment Company, which is basically the capital investment arm of the nation of Abu Dhabi, has invested in SX Global. Mubadala Investment Company has, at an extremely conservative estimate, $243 billion in assets and has allocated $50 million financial support and development resources to the FIM Supercross World Championship. This will allow the championship to not only offer the largest prize purse in supercross, but also impressive infrastructure and team logistical support.

Each  FIM World Supercross Championship round will have a $250,000 prize purse. According to Bailey, the prize money will be paid to the team rather than the rider. There will also be seed money and appearance fees for each event. On top of that, SX Global will coordinate the movement and travel of each team’s assets. This will be similar to an “away” race in MotoGP, where pit boxes or containers are used to transport the bikes and pit set-ups wholesale. The resulting independent team model, which would be unique to supercross, would emphasize the value of the 10 available team licenses. Bailey claims that the goal is for the teams to grow in value as the series grows; this places high value on early adopters, as they will naturally realize greater gains.

Each team will consist of a pair of 450cc-class riders plus a pair in the 25cc class. To make a full gate of 22 riders, there will also be two wild card entries in each round for each class; these wild card entries will be for local riders and sponsor-driven exemptions. The actual structure of the racing is yet to be announced, but with a fully seeded start gate, we would expect heats, semis, and last chance qualifiers will not be in the cards. Perhaps two motos, similar to the structure of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship?

With SX Global’s plan for racing to commence in the second half of this year, there is a question of exactly where the riding talent will come from. Both the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship and the FIM MXGP run during that same time frame. There have been SX-only specialist racers in the past; certainly the lure of big bucks from SX Global could lure some of the high-profile riders from the two established summertime series.

Speaking to MX Sports President Davey Coombs, founder of Racer X magazine and current promoter of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, seemed to demonstrate that there is some skepticism but no ill will towards the FIM World Supercross Championship.

“Anything that offers riders more opportunity is a good thing,” Coombs said. “However, I wish they would try this without announcing on top of our dates. If I had $50M of Mubadala’s money, I might try it, but within and with the established framework of series and championships "

SX Global says, “The FIM Supercross World Championship will annually take place in the second half of the year, ensuring a complementary relationship to the Monster Energy Supercross Series in America.”

However, it’s clear the series will compete for talent from June on. It will be interesting to see how that affects the current manufacturer-sponsored team model in SX and MX. Usually a rider is locked into a contract that requires participation in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship in the US, or a FIM MXGP contract with a handful of SX races in Europe.

SX Global plans to bring the FIM World Supercross Championship to new audiences beginning in 2022. (SX Global/)

Manufacturer teams in supercross are currently used to bolster brand awareness, and eventually sales. Budgets are sometimes controlled by the manufacturer and sometimes by manufacturer subsidiaries in the US. Honda and Kawasaki supercross racing budgets are US-based decisions, while KTM, Husqvarna, Gas Gas, and Yamaha have global budgets. This highlights the importance of SX Global’s independent team model, as there is no need for the teams to be owned and operated by the manufacturer. F1′s Red Bull Racing is a perfect example of how these teams could work; RBR used Honda powerplants until the end of the 2021 season, but was not a “factory” team. It’s easy to imagine energy drink or telecommunications companies as main sponsors for teams using whatever brand of motorcycle they regard as most competitive.

“Our aim is to take the amazing sport of supercross global and reveal its greatness to millions of new fans all over the world,” Sanderson said.

And just like Coombs said, anything that gives more opportunities to riders and fans is a good thing. There are millions and millions of people around the globe who haven’t had the opportunity to see a supercross race in person. SX Global with the FIM World Supercross Championship is aiming to give them just that.

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