As a dedicated follower of the MotoGP and the SuperMotocross series, I have a great fondness for December when both series are quiet. As sprawling as these two series have become, they end up taking over many weekends during the year.
There are 22 MotoGP rounds scheduled for 2025, and 31 SuperMotocross events (17 Supercross, 11 Pro Motocross, and 3 SMX Playoff). You don’t have to be a math wizard to know that totals 53 rounds of intense viewing.
You have to set aside three hours for each round of Supercross, and another couple of hours if you want to watch Race Day Live (RDL). That means about 85 hours to watch the entire SX season.
Pro Motocross is a four-hour affair on Saturdays, plus an hour or so of Race Day Live. Total that up, and it’s a 55-hour investment.
The three SuperMotocross playoff races are three hours long. However, RDL adds another three hours to that. So, those three races are another 18 hours of viewing time.
So, just to keep up with dirt bike racing, it’s 158 hours—almost four work weeks!
Moving over to MotoGP, it gets even more time consuming. With all the coverage, you could dedicate your entire life to watching everything the MotoGP VideoPass offers. I watch MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto 3, so it adds up quickly, even before getting into qualifying, free practice, warm up, press conferences, rider parade (always fun), Before the Flag, After the Flag, and the rest.
MotoGP coverage is about 2.5 hours long, as are Moto2 and Moto3 combined. That’s five hours per round for 22 rounds—110 hours of racing. Add another hour per round for the Sprint races and we’re up to 122 hours. I consider qualifying essential, and that’s another hour per class per round. So, tack on another 66 hours.
Without watching anything other than the races and qualifying, the three MotoGP classes rack up 188 hours of viewing time per season. Add in the 158 hours of SuperMotocross, and the grand total is a staggering 346 hours spent—about two work months per year.
Now I know why I never added this up before writing this column. I also understand why I had to stop watching MXGP (including Motocross of Nations) and World Superbike—both of which I love. It simply became too overwhelming. If all four are happening on the same weekend, well, I don’t want to think about it.
Someday, hopefully in the distant future, when I’m retired, I plan to watch all four championships—MotoGP, SuperMotocross, MXGP, and World Superbike. Even with that, my MotoAmerica-dedicated friends will insist I need to watch even more motorcycle racing.
If a MotoGP and a SuperMotocross round happen on the same weekend, that usually eliminates riding, which is not ideal. Saturday is dominated by SuperMotocross, the MotoGP Sprint race, and the three classes of qualifying. MotoGP takes care of Sunday with five hours of racing. I do like the Asian rounds, though, as they end up being Saturday Night Live, which is always exciting.
Looking ahead to 2025, I see one particularly busy Saturday. The Daytona Supercross and the Grand Prix of Thailand are on the same day—March 1—adjusted for my Pacific Time Zone. On the upside, Sunday will be free for riding with my friends who can’t ride during the week.
This is technically referred to as “an embarrassment of riches.” Compared to the pre-streaming era when coverage was delayed or spotty, I have absolutely nothing to complain about. ABC’s Wide World of Sports used to show the USGP at Carlsbad six months after the race, and that was the only motorcycle racing you saw on TV all year long! If you love watching motorcycle racing, as I do, it’s a great time to be alive.
Still, when I think about my favorite month in the motorcycle racing schedule, it will continue to be December. Just a reminder, Supercross kicks off with Race Day Live at 11:30 a.m. local time on January 11 from Anaheim Stadium. Don’t miss it!
