Cycle News Staff | June 29, 2021
No longer will you see the words “an FIM World Championship” after Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, now that Supercross and the FIM have officially parted ways.
FIM is no longer associated with Monster Energy AMA Supercross.
The FIM first made the announcement with a release issued earlier today, June 29, which was followed by a release from Feld Entertainment, the organizers of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.
The FIM release reads:
As a direct result on the impact of the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Feld Motors Sports – the promoters of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship have today confirmed that they unfortunately will not renew their international sanctioning agreement with the FIM, as the series reverts back to a domestic series from next season onward, under the control of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA).
The long standing dual sanctioning agreement has been in place for the last two-decades and has seen a strong and successful relationship forged between the FIM, Feld Entertainment and the AMA. The FIM’s involvement started early in the new millennium, at a time when the international expansion of events was seen as the next growth area for the sport. From 2002 through to 2006, the series started in December and visited Switzerland, Holland, Spain and Canada before settling into a recurring domestic schedule.
From 2008, Toronto – Canada became a regular stop on the tour and served as the lone international round through until the 2017 season. The cancellation and postponement of several events due to COVID-19 restrictions has seen Feld Entertainment refocus their live events in North America, whilst adopting a watching brief in terms of the demand in international markets returning to pre-pandemic levels.
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship continues to attract the some of the best talent from all corners of its home nation and from across the World, including strong representation from Germany, France, Japan and Australia. Additionally, Feld Entertainment will also continue to expand its global partnerships and licensing agreements plus world-wide TV outreach including through its own viewing platform that now boasts subscribers in over one hundred and thirteen countries.
Commenting on this announcement Jorge Viegas – FIM President said. “Firstly, I would like to say a huge thank you to Feld Entertainment not only for such a long and great partnership, but also for their immense work in making the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship the wonderful product it is today. I firmly believe under normal circumstances that this is an agreement that would have been extended for a further period and that would have continued to go from strength to strength. That said we fully understand the current situation and respect the decision that has been taken. With the ongoing support of our national federation in North America – the AMA – I am confident that the series will soon recover the levels it enjoyed before the pandemic and that in the future we will have the opportunity to explore a new agreement. In the meantime, on behalf of the FIM I would like to wish our American friends every success.”
-FIM Communications
The Feld release reads:
Feld Motor Sports announced today they will not renew their international sanctioning agreement with the Federation International de Motocyclisme (FIM) for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) will continue in its current role as the domestic sanctioning body.
AMA Supercross has operated under a dual sanctioning agreement for 20 years and Feld Entertainment would like to thank Jorge Viegas and the FIM for their years of partnership and support. As a result of the impact of Covid-19, we have decided to focus on North America for our live events, as we wait to see how international markets return to normalcy in the post-pandemic environment.
Supercross will continue to draw top riders from the U.S. as well as a diverse field of international athletes competing in the series that come from all corners of the globe, including Germany, France, Japan and Australia. We also continue other efforts to grow internationally to expand our global partnership and licensing agreements, and world-wide television contracts, which are seeing annual growth with our international, direct to consumer streaming platform that has subscribers in over 113 countries.
Supercross is the most competitive and highest-profile two-wheeled off-road motorcycle racing championship in the world and will continue to be the global stage and racing destination for the most talented athletes both domestically and internationally.
Founded in 1924, the AMA sanctions more motorcycle races than any other sanctioning body in the world and exclusively recognizes all amateur and professional national champions across every motorcycle racing discipline in the United States.
So, what does this mean to the Supercross fan? Not a lot, other than don’t expect any Supercross races being held outside North American borders anytime soon. It will be pretty much business as usual for Feld, the teams, and the fans.
The initial AMA and FIM marriage in Supercross came about when Supercross wanted to expand to new markets outside the U.S. and the FIM was more than happy to oblige. But the cost and complexity of the travel proved too much and Supercross ended up staying close to home, venturing regularly only to nearby Canada for a while, but Canada has not been on the Supercross schedule since 2017.
