Privateer Standing Up

Michael

Michael

PR Addict
I saw one of the best things I've seen posted by a privateer on social media this evening. Coming from Jesse Wentland on his Facebook page Jesse Wentland Racing. Naturally, I gave him a big thumbs up and a supportive response while urging him to reach out to other riders and get it to happen where a gate of less than 22 lines up.

"Sad to say, but I will not be competing in anymore Feld or MXSports organized events. Until these organizations decide to offer us racers what we deserve. Until a union is formed and every rider sticks together on the situation. Everyone complains about how unfair the pay outs are, how expensive it is for privateers, how jacked around you get in the sport, so many promises and false hopes. Its all risk and no reward with the sport for a majority of racers lined up on the gate. Im done feeding these people my money, blood, sweat and tears. Im done begging for opportunities with teams and sponsors. Ive felt that ive put in countless good races to get a chance/ try out ride with a factory team. No greater opportunities have come my way and the sport is not going to change overnight so I've decided to move on from professional racing for now. Love or hate what I have to say. Its the truth, and almost every privateer or small team rider will agree with me. Just a reminder to every racer We are the show we control the future of the sport. Without us on the line there is no show for 60,000 plus fans to watch. Why should some one else make money off us risking our lives."
 
I agree with what he said... BUT. How many of those 60,000 came to see Jesse Wetlands? 250 field filler guys are LESS than a dime a dozen. Guess a nickel a dozen??? Is that a thing ?
There are like 80 guys showing up at Arenacross races just to get a chance to fill his spot.
Until someone crates a competitive series then Feld will continue status quo. No need to pay more when they are the only show in town. OR the big name guy say they are not showing up. Which ofcourse they can’t since they have a contract.

Oh, and you mean to tell me that running 14th in a east coast 250 race does not get you a factory ride???? Come on Wetlands. Your not good enough for a factory ride. If you were, you would get one. I would not give you a pair of googles for a 14th.
Enjoy your second career. And yes, I want fries with my Big Mac.
 
Sit on the gate when it drops. Let 5 people race each other. See what happens. Ain’t getting paid anyway.

Reed bangs the drum on this union every few years and it dies. Dc will come on vital and spew out it’s not feasible. We can’t afford etc...maybe that’s the case. They form up a union. Wages go up and feld turns those slots into monster jam.

Now how much are monster jam WWE drivers getting paid?

How much does a pro wrestler get paid ? They’re putting on shows.....

Just wondering.


As far as them not getting paid....last place in every event pulls around 24k a year. Median income for a salary worker in the USA is 50ish. My first job when I was of pro racing age 16-24 I was making between $8.60-14/hr but limited to 13-21 hours per week. Say at my top rate I maxed my hours out that was only $14k a year. And I never maxed my hours, and my top rate was the last year I worked at UPS. Wasn’t close to 24k a year. And I was in an environment that I hated. Throwing boxes in extreme heat and cold. The other 60 hours a week I was studying, in class and on site doing clinical hours at hospitals for FREE. Now IN nurse practitioner school IM PAYING HOSPITALS TO DO CLINICAL HOURS. BUT back to my first job I did have health insurance and was making less than 10k a year. Feld could offer these guys health insurance. But what insurance company would insure a bundle of extreme atheletes for affordable price? Probably no company.

They’re getting paid. Maybe they need to sell stickers and merchandise to boost their income. Or....find something you can do to be gainfully employed. Or start winning.

https://motocrossactionmag.com/ask-the-mxperts-what-is-the-actual-supercross-purse/

Riders got a 0.9% raise last year. I got a 0.6% raise and I’m slamming on people’s chest and blasting in epinephrine in an effort to give them another day of life. I kinda don’t have sympathy for them saying they’re not getting paid. But it’s there right to demand more. And so they should if they believe it’s just.
 
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The 450 purse at a1 was $86,807. The average ticket price is $40-50 dollars. FELD only has to sell around 2500 tickets to make the 450 purse. The 250 purse is much less I doubt 13th place pays more then $900. Do you think Tom Brady has to pay the NFL $200 dollars every game just to play? So why should the riders have to pay the almost motorcycle association to race?
 
weaver658 said:
The 450 purse at a1 was $86,807. The average ticket price is $40-50 dollars. FELD only has to sell around 2500 tickets to make the 450 purse. The 250 purse is much less I doubt 13th place pays more then $900. Do you think Tom Brady has to pay the NFL $200 dollars every game just to play? So why should the riders have to pay the almost motorcycle association to race?
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Stadium rental for Giants Stadium is about $280k for a three day deal, then on top of that the stadium gets about $5 per ticket. So that's Feld getting $35 a ticket. That's 8000 seats to be filled to pay for the stadium rental. They also have to carry a minimum $5 million liability policy, I have no idea the actual cost but proportionally increasing the numbers I could find it would be $37.5k, or about another 1000 seats. Another 2500 seats for the 450 purse and about 1000 seats for the 250 purse. We're up to 12,500 seats, and that's without paying anyone. You get the idea though, costs add up quick. While there are substantial expenses, they're still making a very good amount of money.

If Feld bumped the purses by 25% (a whopping 875 seats), last place would go from $24k to $30k which isn't a bad wage for working 4 months.
 
Does anyone know why privater of the year, several times, Nick Schmidt from Cali is not racing supercross this year?
 
Zman said:
Does anyone know why privater of the year, several times, Nick Schmidt from Cali is not racing supercross this year?
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He was racing the German series and a few other over seas series. But i think those are finished now so if he isn't in AZ i would be surprised.
 
I like what this kid is doing. He is making a stand and not participating in their skewed, biased system any longer. While I get the points made by the experts above let's look at it from a different perspective. Ya, I agree that I am not paying to see Jesse race but why is this? Its because in most cases there are about 10-15 guys that make any real money and about the same for those that have any real backing. So, for these privateers its only going to last until they burn out asking for handouts and trying to do it on their own or mom and dad finally say enough is enough. But this is no way to create and treat the people who are going out risking life and limb to put on a show for the people. If the manufactures were made to have to support a total of 6 to 7 riders at a minimum so that some of that support and specialized training and equipment (bikes) would be spread out amongst the top 42 riders and would be a system to see who really has what it takes to rise to the top. Before you get your panties in a bunch this is not socialism or a trophy for everyone, it is a way to level the field and actually have a real attainable goal for those riders that want to make this "part" of their career. And with this approach, the Felds (should have to supply some sort of health care for these 42 riders and a small education or retirement account based on their purse earnings or years of making it on the list of 42 riders. (I don't want to go to deep into specifics but some variation of this). This goes on in the NFL, NBA, baseball etc. Yes, mx doesn't have the following of these pro sports but from what I've seen since we have been in it, is that our beloved sport keeps shrinking. Something has to change.
Why?
Well at a local level it's too expensive just to get into it, no scholarships for college etc., but the other factor is no one pays attention to it because there is no future or pay off to the typical person, it's not even on the radar screen.
Now, I know for some of our careers we have to pay for special schooling but "most" of us aren't putting ourselves in the kind of danger that "Professional MX Racers" are putting themselves in, on daily bases. Not to mention most of these up and comers (besides the hand-picked ones) are putting most of their money into their bikes, facilities to workout and possibly live and places to ride. To me, this is very similiar to us spending money on our schooling or sharpening our trade skills.
Until this sport starts to take care of the guys and their families that are taking care of it, this sport on a local and national level, it is not going to grow. There just isn't any real incentive other than the love of riding their bikes to keep risking their health and life. I haven't found a way to pay for riding through my son's love of the sport.
Until they figure out a way to give true incentive to those that want to go down the MX/SX road this sport is on a downward spiral. Kids and their parents will keep choosing any sport that minimizes the risk of injury, reduces their expenditures and maximizes there future opportunities such as a college scholarship, trade school opportunities or some other opportunity within the sport. I just don't see where this sport is really reinvesting in their assets, which is the "riders."
One other thing if they had more teams/riders (as I mentioned above 42 supported riders) to fill each gate this should also produce more jobs within this industry and give some of the riders that are getting out something to do that they have great knowledge about and experience in. 42 supported riders and each team have to support each rider equally from bikes, trainers, housing, mechanics, everything. Financially it would be based on performance as a percentage of where they come in and the purse money they make based on where they place.
 
Alex186 said:
I've got a message for Mr. Wentland... it's about the love... Let the Gibb brothers teach you something.

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Great way to show EXACTLY how the AMA and Feld feel about riders. This is why you have members and people saying the AMA is worthless. Obviously we see you couldnt care any less about the pro riders and in turn the remaining MX members including all of us.
 
If not for the "gate fillers" there would be 15 guys on the gate, and no heat races. I agree these guys spend a lot of money to make little to nothing. They are 1099's though, so no reason to offer them health benefits. Now if the government changes the laws, which this is probably going to be changing, you will be able to have association plans. This is a way perhaps that many of these guys could get health insurance. I am just guessing, but 99% of these guys are under 26, so are probably hanging around on a parents health insurance plan.

If a guy makes a main event though, he should be able to cover his expenses to the race and make some money, and that is not currently happening.

I've said it many times. Some of these fast guys would be better off skipping the nationals, and SXs. Travel around the country racing the bigger regional events with a decent purse. Your expenses are a lot less, and your probably going to make more money.
 
GeorgiePorgie said:
As far as them not getting paid....last place in every event pulls around 24k a year. Median income for a salary worker in the USA is 50ish. My first job when I was of pro racing age 16-24 I was making between $8.60-14/hr but limited to 13-21 hours per week. Say at my top rate I maxed my hours out that was only $14k a year. And I never maxed my hours, and my top rate was the last year I worked at UPS. Wasn’t close to 24k a year. And I was in an environment that I hated. Throwing boxes in extreme heat and cold. The other 60 hours a week I was studying, in class and on site doing clinical hours at hospitals for FREE. Now IN nurse practitioner school IM PAYING HOSPITALS TO DO CLINICAL HOURS. BUT back to my first job I did have health insurance and was making less than 10k a year. Feld could offer these guys health insurance. But what insurance company would insure a bundle of extreme atheletes for affordable price? Probably no company.

They’re getting paid. Maybe they need to sell stickers and merchandise to boost their income. Or....find something you can do to be gainfully employed. Or start winning.
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And there expenses are well over 24k a year. Thats the point silly, you dont have to pay for the way you make your money every day. Without heavy duty sponsorship these guys wouldnt have a chance.

They pay for (depending on the rider)

Bikes
Parts
Gear
Training
Transport (massive esxpense)
Logistics
Hotel
Mechanic
Entry fees
AMA membership (worthless shown by Alex's comments)
 
hershey said:
Great way to show EXACTLY how the AMA and Feld feel about riders. This is why you have members and people saying the AMA is worthless. Obviously we see you couldnt care any less about the pro riders and in turn the remaining MX members including all of us.
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I thought the same thing. Lets be honest the manufacturers , Feld and MXsports run our sport. For 20 years I've wondered what the AMA actual does.
 
hershey said:
And there expenses are well over 24k a year. Thats the point silly, you dont have to pay for the way you make your money every day. Without heavy duty sponsorship these guys wouldnt have a chance.

They pay for (depending on the rider)

Bikes
Parts
Gear
Training
Transport (massive esxpense)
Logistics
Hotel
Mechanic
Entry fees
AMA membership (worthless shown by Alex's comments)
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Without student loans (let’s compare this to sponsor) then the average person couldn’t go to college.
I agree that they can’t make it without sponsors. but I was going to college....so I was living in the same boat....sort of. I was going into debt everyday and working. He’s doin the same thing except there’s no light at the end of his tunnel unless he really starts winning.

.... So, ok I get it he’s racing to try and make living. But at some point if I’m trying to get a degree in rocket science and I’m not cutting it, I better either start cutting it or try something else.



Sociology 101 $310
Pharmacology book $295
Rent: $525
Tuition 1500-4000 per semester.....or let me compare it how you’re stating it:


Bikes (tuition)
Parts (books)
Gear (clothes)
Training (studying)
Transport (car, insurance and fuel)
Logistics (upkeep on old crumby car)
Hotel (rent)
Mechanic (tutor)
Entry fees (general school fee every semester)

School fees. School fees. More school fees......


So right now I have as much sympathy and empathy for Wentland as I do someone that’s getting a masters degree in women’s studies.....there’s no job market for it unless you make it a job in The market. Small percentage will make it.

He sounds like someone who demands the government give him free college education in an area that won’t keep him gainfully employed for profit. But this is America baby.

I was afraid to be uninsured in college...so I worked at ups to get insurance. I can’t imagine picking a field to work in that could cripple me but doesn’t offer health insurance.......

And with risk reaps reward...but I’m too much of a chicken to stick my neck out like wentland is doing. The kids got balls. And good for him for sticking up for himself if he thinks that’s what needs to be done.
 
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Stankdog I’m sure makes a decent living racing AX and the nationals. Why do these guys HAVE to race supercross? I think these privateer guys would be able make the night show in AX pretty easily.


Sent from my iPhone using PitRacer mobile app
 
Jack Bierbower said:
Stankdog I’m sure makes a decent living racing AX and the nationals. Why do these guys HAVE to race supercross? I think these privateer guys would be able make the night show in AX pretty easily.


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I hear AX gives IOU’s at the payout window from time to time.
 
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