I think there is no doubt, supercross has captured the attention of us all, with the very popular AMA supercross championship, which began more than 50 years ago, and has grown into a monster of a series.

For me though, I start to question just how big supercross is worldwide. With the recent cancellation of the 2026 world supercross championship, yet another failure to make this series work, you have to ask questions.

It seems maybe the biggest problem is the huge fees that the top riders are getting to make a world series work. Past rounds of the WSX have had big crowds, and countries willing to run the events, but something still isn’t working.

The days of major supercross events running around the world now are gone, with just the Paris supercross and the AusX Open in Australia being those two events, outside of the American series. I remember a time when the worlds best riders races all over the world and on many occasions.

I am not talking about two or three, like we had with Ken Roczen, Cooper Webb, Eli Tomac or Haiden Deegan doing the WSX in recent times, but ALL the best American riders, often taking on many of the best European GP riders.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, the sport of supercross really set Europe alive in the winter months. You could find yourself attending two or three major international events in a week, with spectacular names and events, but it wasn’t just Europe that saw the bright lights of supercross. Many events were run in Japan, Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

As AMA supercross really took off, leading riders like Ricky Johnson, Jeff Ward, Johnny O’Mara, David Bailey, Danny Chandler, Mike Bell, Jeremy McGrath, Jeff Stanton, Jeff Emig and so many others became worldwide stars and would pack their suitcases and head overseas for a few months.

While the hard miles of the AMA championship was where they made a lot of their money, Europe, Japan and Australia saw a lot of cash changing hands and I remember Ricky Johnson once mentioned that he earn nearly as much in Europe one year, as his Honda contract in USA. For Johnson, it wasn't just about the racing though, as he broadened his knowledge of different cultures.

“I liked every place that I travelled to,” Johnson told us a few years ago. “I love Italy for a lot of reasons. The food is amazing, and the people are passionate. They don’t pull any punches. If an Italian person doesn’t like you, then you’ll know. If they like you, then they are very welcoming. I love Paris, because it’s so crazy and foreign to me, and also because of the history. I’ve enjoyed going to Belgium and Holland to see all of the castles. England was cool, because it’s like the light version of Europe. They speak English, and though it’s different, it’s not too different from what I’ve known. Japan has such deep history, and the fans are very polite. The fans in America wanted everything from me, but in Japan, the fans actually brought me gifts!”

For me, as an Aussie, I remember names like Rex Staten, Mike Bell, Marty Smith, Ricky Johnson, Danny Chandler, Jim Holley, Jeremy McGrath, Broc Glover, and many others racing major international events down under and taking away the large victory cheques. It grew the sport in Australia to new levels and gave the young Australian riders something to aim for.

I also remember one of the first major supercross races in Europe at the Olympic stadium in Amsterdam in 1981 and the Nijmegen supercross, south of Amsterdam in the oldest city in The Netherlands, Nijmegen.

Every year before or after the Motocross des Nations, all the MXdN riders would line up at these events, making for an amazing off-season. Unlike now, where you see Team USA do just the Nations, back in the 1980s, the whole American team would race several major events.

“To be able to race in Europe was huge for me and the sport,” Bell said after his victories in Amsterdam. “We all made some good money and also got to see parts of the world we might never have seen. I remember going to Australia for the first time and not really understanding how cool that was. Racing in America was our job, and we all earnt a good living from it, but racing around the world was something else altogether.”

Of course there was also the Masters of Motocross series, run by Giuseppe Luongo, which was until now, probably the most exciting series in the history of the sport. Luongo, who had amazing relationships with the riders would invite all the top American riders and all the leading GP riders. I was fortunate enough to attend one in Belgium in 1988, and it was as close to the MXdN as anything else run.

Now, as we sit in 2026, again, a handful will do Paris, three or four will do the AusX Open, and that is it. That alone tells me, big time supercross just won’t work worldwide and not even companies like Feld or Infront could make it work.

There is a huge lack of coverage of the AMA supercross championship worldwide, with very little in televisions deals around the world and you might be surprised how much bigger MXGP is when it comes to live television and worldwide coverage and a good reason, why MXGP can survive worldwide and supercross cannot.

AMA Supercross series depends mainly on their American television coverage and their very good online service, that gives great coverage of the series. Worldwide though, the numbers, but not what they could be.

In Europe, we now depend on ADAC supercross rounds, or the UK Arenacross series, which are nowhere near big enough to attract worldwide interest. For those not old enough to remember the 1980s and 90s, I feel for you, because it was week after week after week of top level indoor racing.

When AMA supercross was at it's peak, Team USA at the Motocross des Nations was in full swing and they were unbeatable and Europeans were hungry to see these guys. With a lack of interest from American rider in the MXoN, you have to wonder if that has also made the rest of the World less interested in these riders and their series. Of course, totally impossible to know, but it cannot help.

Important moments of Supercross

• Buffalo Stadium (1948): The first recorded closed-course stadium motorcycle race took place at Buffalo Stadium just outside Paris, France, featuring short tracks and small jumps.

• Czechoslovakia (1956): Prague's Strahov Stadium hosted the annual "Great Victory Race," drawing massive crowds of up to 150,000 spectators on a roughly 1,000-meter man-made obstacle track.

• The American Shift (1972): While Europe pioneered the concept, promoter Michael Goodwin commercialized and popularized modern "Supercross" at the Los Angeles Coliseum, shifting the focus to tight, rhythm-heavy indoor stadium entertainment.

• Amsterdam SX (1981): Widely considered the first major modern indoor supercross in Europe, held at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam and won by American Mike Bell.

• Paris-Bercy Supercross (1984): Launched in March 1984 at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy (won by David Bailey). It quickly became the "temple" of European Supercross, drawing top U.S. and European stars.

• Rodil Cup / FIM World Supercross (1985–1992): The Rodil Trophy started in 1985 (won by Jim Holley), upgraded to FIM World Championship status in 1987 (with champions like Leif Niklasson), and evolved into the official FIM World Supercross Championship by 1992.