Back in business!
By TMX Archives on 17th Jul 03
the man behind the successful - but now sadly defunct - UK Supercross series is back in business with a five-round SX championship kicking off later this year.As dbr was going to press, the ACU were meeting to decide whether to MATT BATES, the man behind the successful - but now sadly defunct - UK Supercross series is back in business with a five-round SX championship kicking off later this year.As dbr was going to press, the ACU were meeting to decide whether to give the series full national championship billing. "I'm very confident the series will get full British championship status," says Matt, "but, regardless, we'll be affiliated to ACU."Matt's signed a multi-year deal with entertainment giants SMG to exclusively organise and promote events at all of their venues - including Belfast Odyssey, Newcastle Telewest and Manchester MEN Arenas."My plan is to definitely run a five-round series," explains Matt, "starting with three nights in Belfast on October 24/25/26 and I'll then take in Newcastle on January 10 and Manchester on January 17. And later on in '04 we'll also be going to London and Glasgow and hit out to a much-wider audience."The more people that go to SX the more people go to MX and the more people get involved in the sport and that's in everyone's interest."Matt recently acquired Events 22 Ltd - the company that promoted last year's Odyssey SX - and has clinched exclusive deals with Irish favourites Gordon Crockard, Adam Lyons, Brian Steele and Phil McCullough for the opening three nights of the new series, virtually ensuring sell-out crowds."I'm very optimistic," adds Matt. "Our country's a major force in motocross and we need and deserves a major domestic supercross series as well." Matt's first event under the Events 22 banner will be the FMX-fest Extreme Air Jam at the Odyssey on August 23. For tickets hook up to www.ticketmaster.ie