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dont know if aba has ever done anything like this before but i remember back like 5-6 yrs ago espn partnered with the nbl and they telavised races like south park
ABA has had two programs on cable, Pump and Crank. Both were in a series format and covered all sorts of racing coverage.
The problem today in getting on TV is $$. ESPN will not talk to you unless you are bringing advertisers to the table. This can probably be attributed to the sucess of the X Games. Extreme sports TV is big business and ESPN like other networks wants ad dollars. The content is not a factor. That explains why lawn tractor racing, food eating and other odd sports broadcast. They appeal to a demographic that draws corporate advertisers.
Its a chicken/egg thing. You need TV to draw audience and be of interest to advertisers but you need ad money to reach TV. Unless a BMXer has Bill Gates as his dad, BMX is a tough sell on TV. ESPN dropped BMX racing because they don’t understand it and how to film it.
In the meantime, ABA is doing a live video webcast of the Blackjack National this weekend. Check it out.
http://www.ababmx.com/index.php?page=default/newsview&newsid=44
Rob Vargo has really made a go of Cedar up in Clarks Summit, with flyers that he has been putting everywhere and anywhere!!!
Rob called me tonight, he had 170 riders today…in the pouring rain!
Another thing, ABA track operators have 7 day a week access to the ABA staff if they ever have a problem or question.
The NBLs bring a buddy campaign is a step in the right direction
The ABA ran a “Recruiter card” program for 10 years. It didn’t work. The NBL’s Bring a Buddy program is surprisingly similar to the defunct ABA recruiter card program.
So it appears the ABA is rewarding one of their own instead of going out and getting an outside expert on promotions.
Brad Fanshaw left ABA over 20 years ago. He has strong credentials in marketing and bonspeedMedia is his new company.
Neither is actively trying to bring new people in. They simply rely on word of mouth and people stumbling across BMX tracks to keep BMX going.
Major Market advertising costs millions. Have you seen youth soccer or little league baseball advertise recently? Advertising nationally is a quick way to put a company out of business if they don’t have the millions to spend at that level. The type of advertising that is working in BMX is local market targeting. It maximizes the return for the local track.
ABA offers all their tracks an ad coop program. A track can apply for match that reimburses them for money spent in major media advertising.
Pacific Cycles is the largest bicycle company in the United States. They sell more units than many companies combined. Their bikes are found in every single mass retailer and in many bike shops.
We have a free membership program with Pacific. Every single Pacific brand (Schwinn, GT, and Mongoose) BMX type bicycle comes with a free 30 day ABA membership. These are found on bikes sold in every Wal-Mart in the United States. We also have a similar deal with Redline, Diamondback, Felt and Inten$e Cycles.
Those brands cover the majority of every single every BMX bike sold in the United States. Each bike has a similar membership offer, this is a $25 value that we are giving away on hundreds of thousands of bicycles. A person holding one of these only needs to bring it to a track and receive a free 30-day membership
ABA also has a one-day free membership available for promotions. It allows a rider to try BMX with no expense except getting to the track. This is a sucessful tool in trying to bring in new riders.
they will tell what ever you want to hear to get you home with them. But the next day after the deed is done the story changes.
I can think of Whip City BMX in MA. They were the largest track in the NBL when they switched to ABA. Please contact the track operator about his feelings regarding the switch and the support that ABA provides to him.
ABA is dedicated to support for the local track. We have a website for ABA track operators http://www.abatracks.com/ that was built for our family of track operators. The site is loaded with promotional ideas, downloadable supplies and a full service shopping cart for tracks to reorder supplies after business hours. ABA has a 10,000 sq ft print shop that provides free of charge, printed promotional material to our tracks. We design, print and ship at no cost.
The tools available to ABA track operators are unmatched in the BMX sanctioning business. Yes, it is a business. The track and the members are our customers. ABA has to provide a quality consistent product (racing) for our customers. We only succeed if our tracks succeed.
I invite anyone to contact me if you have any questions and all communication will be in strict confidence if you fear reprisals from the “Draculas†of BMX.
For those of you who have never been to the ABA Grands. You’ve got quite a surprise coming.
Hi Guys,
I received an email with a couple of questions about track administration.
This might help to dispell any propaganda that circulates about the ABA organization and the relationship with its tracks.
1. The Transfer System vs Total Points (3 moto)
An ABA track operator has the option of running the transfer system or running total points. Its done with an easy option dropdown in the Motomaker race mangement software. They won’t need ABA approval to do this.
The only events that ABA would require a track to run the tranfer system are multipoint races. The reason behind this is that under the ABA program, riders earn district points from every single race they paricipate in. Riders have the incentive to travel for said points and if you were to get riders from another track who have never raced a total points event, it might confuse them. In total, we are talking about three or four races out of a season, the SCR(state Championship Race), Race For Life (applies to double pointer’s), an Earned Double, or a Redline Cup Qualifier. Also if the track wins the State Championship Final (SCF), The transfer system would apply to that weekend.
2. Can we be allowed to run our organization as we see fit?
Absolutely. ABA has NO REQUIREMENT on how your organization is run. It can be a nonprofit association, yes, I said NONPROFIT. AS a matter of fact, the majority of ABA tracks are run as nonprofit associations. The tax advantages for nonprofits is that they can garner donations and the ease for those donations to be a tax write off for the donors. I’d recommend any track setup as a non-profit. It takes some paperwork and possibly the use of an account/and or tax lawyer. THe benfits outweigh the effort in most cases.
We also have tracks that are run as a for profit. From the riders perspective, in most cases, they are run the same as a nonprofit.
Bottom line, ABA views the track and riders as our customers and it is imperative for us to provide quality service and a product which is BMX. The tools that are available to ABA tracks are unmatched and if a track uses those tools, they can very successful.
Ask anyone who has been to an ABA National about their experience. ABA strives to be “The Best in BMX”, not just say it. Action speaks louder than words.
ABA provides the windows based Motomaker Race Management software to all their tracks free of charge. In the below screen capture, I’ve highlighted the option dropdown to set a race for Total Points. Its that easy to change.
A track can also customize the motosheets by inserting their track logo to print on the motosheets as indicated. It adds nothing for function but it gives a track additional brand identity.
When running total points, if the class has four or more riders, you’ll run four times on the track. ABA runs mains for all classes except a three rider class which only runs three rounds. Larger classes will run three rounds plus a main at all local races running total points.
Hello Gentlemen,
I spoke with Brett yesterday and we had a great time chatting. I sent him some info and he should have it in his hands later today. If any of you have questions, you can reach me at 480-961-1903 x103.
I loved racing in Jersey, here is a shot of me racing at the Ironman in 1995.
I had #122 that year. The next year I was #29 and the final year that Carol ran it, 1997, I had the #1 on my plate.
I found out from the track operator, Doug Shoener(sp) that they took registrations as early as August so I called Carol in March of 1997 and asked if I could prereg for the December race. She laughed and said OK. There was quite a puzzled people who wondered how I had the #1 plate.
I went up to Carol as soon as the race was over in 1997 and slapped my money on the counter to sign up for the 1998 race. I had #1 lined up for 1998 but Carol contacted me a few months later and explained that they had sold the business and were no longer going to be running the track.
I had the privilege of running the #1 at the Ironman Classic. New Jersey has an incredible BMX history from the days of Leapin’ Litsky to the Ironman to Bob Warnicke. I wish you guys the best and if I can be of help, just let me know.