Revving Up

The Nitro Bomb, a 20-person freestyle motocross stunt during Nitro Circus.

Attention motor sports fans — 2014 is going to be your year.

Four new or revamped motor sports shows are slated for runs of North American venues in 2014, including a redesigned Nuclear Cowboyz — the post apocalyptic freestyle motocross show produced by Feld Motor Sports.

The world’s most high profile motor sports athlete Travis Pastrana is bringing his wildly popular Nitro Circus to North America, while two of the largest independent monster truck promoters in the U.S. have teamed up for a tertiary market tour with Team Big Foot. And with several TV deals in the works, new markets and a historic outdoor Supercross event at MetLife Stadium, motor sports fans will have more options than ever to get their high-octane fix.

Nitro Circus Comes To America 

After several successful runs in Australia, New Zealand and Europe, MTV action sports star Pastrana is teaming up with Venue Coalition and Australian promoter Mike Porro for a 15-date arena run kicking off Jan. 3 at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.

“We try to capture the essence of the TV show – highly skilled but completely crazy athletes doing insane stunts with lots of humor and laughs,” said Porro of Pastrana’s MTV2 show that combines traditional extreme sports with unique contraptions and feats specifically designed by the Nitro Circus team. 

“It’s essentially choreographed mayhem and lots of unexpected things happen, especially on the Giganta Ramp,” Porro said.

At 50 feet in height, the Giganta Ramp is terrifying enough for experienced freestyle motocross riders, but Pastrana and his crew make big air attempts on kid’s tricycles, skis, tandem bikes, a Barbie car and even a cooler. One part of the show has motorbike riders ditch their bikes mid-air and attempt to land inside a Zorb ball, which they then roll down the landing ramp.

“We’ve had a couple injuries with that one,” said Porro, an advertiser turned promoter who got his start with the Australian “Iron Man” surfing contests before creating and promoting the popular Crusty Demons tour from 2003 to 2010 through his firm Global Action Sports. In 2010 he teamed up with American producer Gregg Godfrey to create Nitro Circus Live.

The motor sports spectacular has twice toured Australia and New Zealand, once in 2010 and again in 2012, along with a European run in 2012. Nitro Circus scored some impressive grosses along the way, banking $2.1 million with a pair of back-to-back dates at Allphones Arena in Sydney in June 2012.

“It’s a risky show because our break-evens are very high,” said Porro, noting the show travels with four semi trucks, a 100-person crew and 45 athletes. Jeff Apregan of Venue Coalition helped Porro book his 2014 dates, which include a Jan. 5 show at the TD Garden in Boston, a Jan. 14 show at Target Center in Minneapolis, a Jan. 22 show at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., and a Jan. 26 show at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

And the tour will return to MGM Grand in Las Vegas, site of the only U.S. show for Nitro Circus during the 2011 filming for the Nitro Circus 3D movie. The 2014 date for Nitro Circus at the MGM Grand Garden Arena is Jan. 25.

“That show is eight months out and already sold 10,000 tickets during its presale,” Porro said, noting the global demand remains strong for Pastrana, a 10-time X Games gold medalist in Freestyle Motocross who has also become a fixture on the NASCAR, Supercross and rally racing circuits.

Marketing for Nitro Circus includes continual plugs on Pastrana’s MTV2 show, which has 46 million viewers, and Extreme Sports media sites. Porro said Nitro Circus is not asking buildings to co-promote the tour. 

“When we did Europe, we worked with all the big promoters. We decided in going forward we would self-promote all our own dates,” he said. “A lot of local promoters called us a pain in the ass, but we refused to be treated like a rock concert coming to town.”

New look for the Apocalypse

After three years on the road, Feld Entertainment is revamping its popular Nuclear Cowboyz arena show. Set during the end of the world with dozens of freestyle motocross riders, special effects and an outrageously loud sound track, the show is being updated by Feld Producer Juliette Feld with a new story line and revamped production values.

“The show is going to look completely different from when we first launched in 2009,” said Kenneth Feld, CEO of Feld Entertainment. “It’s going to be the most high-tech, immersive motor sports tour we’ve ever done.”

And for the first time, Feld’s other motocross tour, the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross, will stop at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on April 26. It’s the only New York-area stop for Feld Motor Sports that year.

The move east is a first for Feld — since buying the motor sports division from Live Nation in 2009, the only events Supercross held on the East Coast have been at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Giants and Jets’ old home, The Meadowlands, did host races for a five-year stretch in the late 80s and early 90s. 

“The stadiums we already go to are big and when we get sellouts, it’s great. But the surrounding area is usually nothing compared to MetLife,” said 10-year race veteran and 2013 second place winner Davi Millsaps. “We’re going to the media capital of the world. It’s a great opportunity to get the Supercross’ name out there.”

The announcement of the new schedule comes on the heels of the closure of the 2013 season that drew 848,480 fans — more than 50,000 per event — a two-percent increase in attendance from 2012. Feld said the fast-paced environment of races has become more and more appealing to modern sports fans.

“Supercross is a sport that is made for the way our attention spans are today,” Juliette Feld said. “There are a series of qualifying races leading up to the main event, then the main event is 20 laps and about 20 minutes. So as opposed to watching a game that’s two or three hours, you are really only focusing for 20 minutes, even though our total event goes around three hours. It goes far in terms of keeping fans’ attention.”

While Supercross has been advancing since the famous 1972 Super Bowl of Motocross at the Los Angeles Coliseum, it is still a regional sport. Millsaps said he expects 2014 to be a springboard for bringing motor sports more popularity on the East Coast. 

“I think the biggest step for the sport since I’ve been around will be next year,” he said. “It’s been mostly the same venues since I started back in 2004. So going to New York will be huge for us.” 

AMP Merges with Monster X 

Scott Hart’s AMP Live Events merged with Danny Torgerson’s Monster X Tour in 2012 to create one of the largest independent motorsports promotions companies. The merger combines AMP’s Rolling Thunder Monster Truck Challenge with the seven-year-old Medford, Ore., based Monster Truck Entertainment LLC.

The company’s 2013 tour includes Monster Truck Mafia, FMX and Team Kid KJ along with 26 trucks including six Team Bigfoot trucks and female driver Cassie Berry, who races as the Demolition Diva. While the 2014 tour has not yet been announced, Monster X’s 2013 tour runs June 14 to Aug. 17 with bookings in seven markets including the Spanish Fork (Utah) Arena, Germain Arena in Estero, Fla., the Redwood Acres Fairgrounds in Eureka, Calif., and Norris-Penrose Events Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Interviewed for this story: Mike Porro, +61 411 194 511; Kenneth and Juliette Feld, (703) 448-4000; Davi Millsaps, (630) 566-6305