New FIM World Supercross Championship to be run by Australian promoters in 2022

The International Federation of Motorcycling (FIM) has announced a new World Supercross Championship with an Australian promoter at the helm.

SX Global, an Australian-based company responsible for the popular AUS-X Open event, will manage and promote the new FIM World Supercross Championship for the next decade. It will be the first time that a FIM World Championship has been conducted by an Australian company.

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Previously, the premier AMA Supercross Championship was run as an FIM World Championship, however the series promoters, Feld Entertainment, opted to end the twenty-year agreement. This means that, from 2022, the AMA Supercross series will be run entirely by the American Motorcycling Association as a domestic competition.

While the AMA Supercross series has always been based solely in North America, SX Global and the FIM are promising that the new FIM World Supercross Championship will be a true international competition, with rounds held in countries and territories around the globe.

According to the official website, the new World Supercross Championship will feature world-class stadiums, revolutionary race formats, and concert level production and entertainment.

While exact details of the series are yet to be announced, it is likely that the AUS-X Open event at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium in 2019, will serve as a benchmark for the promoters.

That event featured an AMA-size track and attracted world-renowned riders such as Chad Reed, Jason Anderson, Joey Savatgy and Jett Lawrence. It also featured an appearance from Ricky Carmichael, and include world-class pyrotechnics and musical performances.

An FIM statement said that the series will “gradually expand” to include a number of countries, however a promotional video possibly give hints at locations for 2022. As well as Marvel Stadium, the video shows images of Manchester’s Etihad Stadium, Singapore’s Sports Hub Stadium and a fourth, unidentified stadium.

The SX Global teams consists of the creators of AUS-X Open concept, Adam Bailey and Ryan Sanderson, as well as former Supercars executive, Tony Cochrane. Together, this team ran the successful AUS-X Open and the FIM Oceania Championship.

“It’s been a tremendous journey over the past five months to bring our team together,” said Cochrane. “We would very much like to thank the FIM for their strong support of our vision and plan. Fans have been demanding world class Supercross in so many countries – it’s a special day for all of those fans.”

A press release also revealed that SX Global is being supported by “one of the world’s leading financial powerhouses”, which has an “established track record of investment in global sport properties”. This investor will be revealed when SX Global officially launches the series in early 2022.