Adam Bailey, Managing Director of SX Global, promoters of the new World Supercross Championship, was in Cardiff recently giving the Principality Stadium the once over before the series kicks off there on the 8th October, so we took the opportunity to have a chat with him to find more on how the UK fits into their future plans, how everything for the series is coming together and where he sees the championship expanding into the future…
Dirt Hub: Hi Adam, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. The fact that you’re coming to the UK, and it’s the first round, is pretty exciting for everyone here. How did you come to the decision that the UK was the number one port of call?
Adam: A number of reasons. We’ve done a lot of research, and we know that the UK has a huge and passionate Supercross fan base, which is really exciting to learn. And there are some regions around the world, similar, but the fact is there is a huge amount of interest for Supercross here and a lot of fans that have never had the opportunity to see Supercross in person. So that coupled with the fact that there’s a fantastic stadium here in Cardiff with a roof, to protect us from the weather and make it for a great entertainment spectacle. Those two things really are the main drivers for selecting the UK to come as the very first one, which is really exciting.
DH: Going backwards a bit, how did running the World Supercross Championship come about for you and what is your background within the sport?
Adam: I grew up Racing motocross myself and did a bit of Supercross as well in Australia. So I started off as a fan, you know, checking out Supercross in Melbourne from 10 or 11 years old and sort of dreamed of racing myself, and I raced motocross, like I said, at a national sort of level in Australia. But then my sort of career progressed within the sport and from all different aspects. But essentially, with my business partner, Ryan Sanderson, we started running the AusX Supercross in Sydney in 2015. And thankfully, that was really successful, and we grew that event into Melbourne in 2019, in what’s known as Marvel Stadium, which is the biggest Indoor Stadium in Australia, and we had 35,000 people there. That was 2019. Soon after, obviously, the world shut down with COVID, and we weren’t able to have the event in 2020, or 2021. But midway through 2021 we sort of got whispers that Feld in the US, we’re going to hand back the FIM World Championship rights to the FIM and were not going to renew those. And essentially, we sprung on it, soon as we learned that those rights were going to be available. We had been looking at international expansion for Supercross out of Australia previously. And we’d done two events in Auckland, New Zealand as well, and we’d been looking in Asia and Singapore and Japan and Thailand, Indonesia and regions like that, so when those World Champion rights became available, it was for us, the perfect opportunity, so we jumped on it straight away.
DH: It must have been a bit of a roller coaster ride because it seems like everything’s coming together really fast?
Adam: Yeah, it’s definitely a roller coaster ride, and we knew that trying to get events up this year was always going to be a stretch which is which is why we’ve called it a pilot season because it is just that. We don’t have the time to do a full season this year. But we still wanted to hit the ground running, and you know, show the world what we can do, obviously, bringing the sport to fans here in the UK and Australia in particular, with the plan that next year in 2023 and beyond, the championship will continue to grow. So it has been a roller coaster; it’s a ridiculously short timeframe to try and pull a world championship together. But our eyes are focused on getting through a fantastic season this year, and then to 2023 and beyond and taking the championship around the world.
DH: From a British angle, we know that 2022 is a shortened calendar but with the series getting bigger next year, is Cardiff already on your radar for 2023?
Adam: We’d love to come back. I mean, we obviously hope the fans enjoy it and embrace it, and if we can fill a stadium here on October 8th, we’ll certainly be back next year. But that’s really what our plan is to bring Supercross to UK for the first time in a world championship sense like this, and we’ll start to roll out into other regions in the future as well, where we believe there’s strong Supercross audiences and if the fans want us to come back, we’ll be back for sure.
DH: Superb; how have ticket sales gone? Because from what I’ve seen, there are quite a few tiers sold out. Have the sales surpassed your expectations?
Adam: It’s been strong. I mean, it obviously shows that there’s a passionate audience here in the UK, which our research told us and something that we’re obviously excited to bring the sport there for those passionate, hardcore fans, but we’re also wanting to expand beyond that. To fill the stadium, we really need to get a mainstream audience and to introduce Supercross to new fans. So to do that, we brought in AJ Tracy, who is a huge international music artist and will obviously have other forms of entertainment, freestyle motocross and DJs and things throughout the night to make it something that appeals to not just the hardcore Supercross fans, who we think are going to have an incredible night, but others that just want to come out for a fun night out. So to try and broaden that audience is really key to to fill the stadium.
DH: Yeah, I think it’s certainly not gone unnoticed that we have seen adverts for it on terrestrial TV. For people within the sport, that is exciting for everyone to see. And it shows you guys mean business as well.
Adam: Yeah, thanks. I think like, we want to help break down the barriers of people perceiving us as niche because, you know, as kids, we all sort of grew up, making noises riding BMX bikes around or, pretending we’re riding motorbikes and doing jumps and things like that, whether you become a motocross rider or not, and we feel like the entertainment spectacle that Supercross provides and the night out it provides, it’s something that everyone can enjoy whether you’re into Supercross or not.
Our experience has shown that a lot of people come along to Supercross events and are blown away and really love it, whether they care about the actual racing or not. They really enjoy it and get on board with it. So that’s why we think Supercross is a huge opportunity for our sport is because it’s the best way to introduce people to dirt bikes in a comfortable environment where you can bring your partner along, and their shoes don’t even have to get dirty, and you can get great food, you’re undercover, all those things that make a great night of entertainment. And a running public transport system as well, all those factors, you know, make it a lot easier to introduce someone to dirt bikes, than potentially a motocross event in a regional area.
DH: Yeah, absolutely. And obviously, Cardiff being right in the city, you’ve got the social element. I think I read a stat from an interview you did where you said at your Australian Supercross, 75% of the audience didn’t race dirtbikes, is that right?
Adam: Exactly. That’s right. And it’s only 20 or 25%, as you said, that actually actively already participate. But then of that 75% that don’t, at least half of them said that coming to them made them want to. So you know, that’s something that’s really important for us and, I know I was converted to motocross, at a young age from going to a Supercross event seeing and thinking wow, this is really cool. I want to do it. That’s why Supercross is such an important vehicle for our industry to really fuel growth and fuel new fans.
DH: From a British angle, it’s awesome to see Max (Anstie) and Deano (Dean Wilson) in the lineup, but we have seen at the recent Airborne Gunner Supercross that we have some great riders like Dylan Woodcock, Jack Brunell and Joe Clayton who have been now in the States but are based here. Will there be a chance for a wildcard space for those guys? Or is there an option that they can qualify through going forward?
Adam: Yeah, we’re taking applications for wildcards as we speak, so we’ve asked them to go through the ACU to apply for those that are interested in racing, and Dylan Woodcock’s name has come up a number of times already as have a couple of others, so we would love to get the best of the domestic racers here to come and compete as well. So that will give them a chance to compete on the world stage and give the local fans someone else to cheer for, as well as obviously Max and Dean.
DH: Talking of the recent Airborne Gunner Supercross, you supported the event by offering VIP tickets to the winning youth riders, so going forward, when you look to expand into different markets, are you looking to hone into the grassroots element of the sport in each country and looking to nurture the sport from the ground up in each nation?
Adam: Yeah, absolutely. And so, at the Australian GP this year, we’ve got the Australian domestic championship competing on the Friday night. And that’s something that’s a kind of a test case for how we can roll that out in all regions.
Ideally, the ultimate goal would be that in each region that we go to, there’s a domestic championship with domestic athletes competing, as well as to try and use that as an opportunity to show us what they can do and step up into the world championship level. So that’s the long-term goal, and is how we feed domestic racing into the World Championship. Because currently, you know, previously, the way Supercross exists in the US, it’s basically America feeds itself, and everyone else has to try and get their way in there. And it’s very, very difficult. There’s no sort of real feeder system, into that series, whereas we need to help create that, so that we’ve got world champions, from all around the world, and they race to the domestic level, all the way up and up into the World Championship. That’s the ultimate goal.
DH: In the UK we have seen stacked line up’s in the Autos and 65’s, as well as some really talented kids in the Small Wheel and Big Wheel 85’s and the Rookies at Airborne Gunner, which bodes well for the future as within three or four years’ time some of those will be knocking on the door of the Adult ranks and maybe progression into your series…
Adam: It’s definitely what we hope. We constantly say, “the rising tide floats all boats”, and we need this to help lift the level and the profile of the sport and to obviously fuel participation. I know that kids get engaged and get excited about competing in Motocross when they come to a Supercross event and see where it can take them, and it can take them around the world with this championship, which is something we’re really proud of and excited for because that hasn’t really been an option before.
DH: Interestingly, we had some of the kids who rode the Airborne Gunner Supercross saying that they want to be Supercross riders, which I don’t think was probably on their radar six months ago as it is now. I think youngsters can already see there is a chance that they can progress their career from a UK base and into a World Supercross Championship, so that’s cool…
Adam: Yeah, that’s really cool. And I appreciate you saying that. I mean, that really is the goal, right? To make it feel like there’s an opportunity and that they can be world Supercross champions, no matter where they’re from; we honestly hope that there are young riders in, you know, abstract countries around the world, and maybe there’s one in Johannesburg in South Africa, thinking I could be a world Supercross champion now, which they had never thought about that before.
You know, and if we do this, right, and we create the feeder system over time, then there’s nothing to say, that this can’t happen. And that’s really the goal. Whereas currently, as you said, to be at the top level of professional Supercross rider, you’ve had to be in the US. And we hope this changes that.
DH: For those who can’t get to the event, will there be live streaming options and TV packages and stuff like that?
Adam: There will be. We will have live broadcasts, as well as streaming through our own platform, which will be announced very shortly, but there will be options and ways to watch no matter where you are in the world for sure.
DH: Ok, that’s great to hear. I can imagine putting this all together hasn’t been without challenges, and with the AMA always having a tight reign on the Sport in the US how have you found signing riders up and have you been surprised how receptive they have been to come and race with you?
Adam: There have definitely been challenges. Riders have been incredibly receptive. I mean, there’s no rider in the world; honestly, that has said they’re not interested. They all want to do it. I think what’s been disappointing and challenging is that the teams within the US have restricted the riders from participating. You know, I mean, Cooper Webb as an example, we had a contract for him to race in this year’s championship. And unfortunately, KTM in the US put a stop to that. And that’s happened a number of times, there are probably five great riders that have been stopped by the US-based teams, which we expected, but we’re still disappointed by because, ultimately, it restricts opportunities for those riders to make money and see the world but also for the fans to see them. I think that part was disappointing and challenging. But you know, we understand it, protecting a turf, and over time we have to break down those barriers.
DH: So you are in Cardiff now. Is this the first time you have visited the stadium?
Adam: It is my first visit to the stadium. I’ve been to Cardiff though, as I’ve got a lot of family here. So I haven’t been here since I was only 12 years old. But I have been to Cardiff before, but it’s my first time at the stadium, and she’s a beauty!
DH: Is it exactly what you expected, or has it exceeded your expectations?
Adam: It is what I expected, and it’s amazing. It’s perfect for Supercross. It’s absolutely perfect. The closable roof means you can control the environment and makes sure it’s an incredible spectacle no matter what the weather is doing outside, which is something we always love that’s for sure.
DH: Thanks for your time Adam, and we hope you have a good time here in the UK and look forward to seeing you in October.
You can get all of the info and purchase tickets for the opening round of the World Supercross Championship at Cardiff on the 8th October here >> https://wsxchampionship.com/
