With control of their American superbike racing series now in the KRAVE Group’s hands, the AMA says they plan to renew their focus on hillclimb and flat track racing, with live Internet broadcasts of the flat track schedule for 2015.
A press release the AMA sent out today says they plan on reorganizing their racing staff, and that some motorsports bigwigs will be moved around or have job titles change.
“We are excited for the future of AMA Pro Flat Track and AMA Pro Hillclimb,” said Michael Gentry, Chief Operating Officer of AMA Pro Racing. “These changes will allow us to better focus our resources and, in that regard, we see this as a very positive change moving forward. With a full flat track schedule nearly complete for 2015 and every round set to be broadcast live in high definition and free of charge online at FansChoice.tv, we feel there is a lot of positive momentum and we know we have a great staff in place to maximize exposure and marketability for our racing properties.”
The announcement that the flat track webcasts would be free for 2015 is very interesting. It’s hard to find good motorcycle racing on North American television; most race fans are paying Dorna to watch MotoGP or World Superbike through their computers. Now that the AMA will be offering top-level flat track races for free, they might actually get people interested in the sport again.
A bit more puzzling is the renewed focus on hillclimb. Hillclimb racing was big in North America in the past, but it has been mired in decline for decades. It will be interesting to chart AMA’s attempts to revive interest in the sport.
Of course, the AMA also added they plan to continue their long relationship with motocross-based series. Even if the flat track and hillclimb ventures go bust, their motorsports arm isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
As in the 70s they should combine Flat Track with the Superbike series. Makes for better rounded riders.
With Steve McLaughlin on staff as their marketing/promotion guy, DMG/AMA might actually bring dirt track back to where it was in the 70s and 80s. Let’s hope so.