WMX Moving to Amateur Days in 2013

My Facebook just blew up with my female motocross friends sharing THIS IMAGE posted by Chix MX, a page advocating female amateur riders. Officials announced at a managers meeting that the WMX series would be moved to Sundays following the races. Yes, the womens' races will now be on a day initially intended for amateurs.

Let me first start off with a note about the email from Davey Coombs shown in the picture. That email is from 2011 and is purely the views of Davey. From what I read, he is by no means saying that women don't deserve to ride. He is only saying that he thinks they shouldn't be on the same day ast the 450 and 250 professional classes.

Now, it's my turn to give my point of view on the whole thing. I respect the women who ride professionally. I think that they are great riders and definitely deserve to have a professional class. That being said, I agree with Davey that it shouldn't be on the same day as the men's classes. Simply put, the outdoor nationals are just as much a business as they are an event. Each spectator is a paying customer. And customers pay more if they are happier.

I have read and heard my fair share of complaints about the women's class. It seems like the general consensus is that, while no one thinks that these ladies should stop riding all together, it's not something that should take place on national day.

Also, think about this. So many fans, women included, complain about how motocross is not broadcast as one live chunk. Here's a solid fact from a journalism major: if Southwick would have been broadcast 100 percent live, the portion where the WMX race would lose a massive amount of viewers.

Alli Sports, who live streams every first moto, does not hire their commentators Jason Weigandt and Jeff Emig to announce the WMX first moto. Instead, they transfer the audio over to the track commentators. That's killing two birds with one stone if I ever saw it.

I think that WMX fans are blowing this change out of proporton. Women are still riding. There is still a WMX class. It's even still being counted as the professional ranks. But, simply put, the business came first for MX Sports and they are being moved to a different day. I'm not quite sure what the big deal is. The only thing that is being changed is the day they ride. And who knows. Maybe more people will actually watch the races on Sunday.