the series to where it needs to be. We’ve got to grow our fan base, we have to grow our brand. We’ve only been doing this for two years, and everybody in our paddock appreciates what we’ve done, and we’re all in it together to make this work. We need them to continue to support, to push it and to strive to make it better not just every year, but at each and every race.” Despite decades of experience in motor-
cycle racing, Rainey admits that running an entire racing series isn’t easy. He says, “As a racer, I showed up to race, and I was so focused I didn’t pay much attention to things like how the races were actually run. Now I know and I can tell you first hand it’s a big job with many different facets. I think getting the series up to speed so the racing was top-notch, the rules were fair and well received, and the paddock was a good place for people to work again wasn’t easy, but it may be the easiest part. The promotion of the events, the marketing, etc. is what’s dif- ficult. There’s a big push now to try to get our series more exposure and to bring more fans to our races. Once we get them there,
we’re confident they will like it and come back the next year, hopefully bringing their friends. As a racer, you wouldn’t even think about that. You’d have a schedule and you’d go out on track, and then you were done. But there’s much more to it than that. This job never stops. It’s seven days a week and 15 hours a day, and it will continue to be that way. That’s the way it works. From where we started, we know where we want to be, and it’s going to take three to five years to make all this happen. We want riders from everywhere to come to our series because it’s the best national series in the world—as it once was.” One thing that has eased MotoAmerica’s
path is extensive coverage of every race in 2016 from beIN Sports, a sports-oriented network that started in France in 2012 and is broadcast in about 30 countries in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. beIN shows soccer, rugby, handball, tennis and basketball games worldwide, but in North America the focus skews more towards motorsports, including rights to MotoGP, World Superbike and MotoAmerica as well
as the World Rallycross Championship. Of MotoAmerica’s relationship with
beIN, Rainey says, “Our partnership with beIN Sports is one we are really proud of. The TV package turned out to be extremely popular with both our fans, our teams and riders because they did such a great job of showcasing our sport to a growing audi- ence. The benefit to the racers and teams— from top to bottom—is huge because of the exposure to potential sponsors. This TV package can help make them stars and that will lead to bigger and better things for the series and everyone involved in it. The rela- tionship with beIN is important for us, but also for beIN as they want to grow their net- work into the network where you go to watch MotoGP, World Superbike and now MotoAmerica. We are lined up with the exact championships we want to be lined up with. The fans can go to one place and watch all of those and that’s rare to have that sort of collaboration with a network. “I think you appeal to general motorcy-
clists by not only offering great racing, but also a great day or weekend of activities for
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