NBC Sports Network Screws MotoGP Fans, Again

Once again NBC Sports Network is sticking it to MotoGP fans. The opening event is March 28 in Qatar, with an evening race scheduled for 8 PM Qatar time, 1 PM EDT. Never mind the fact that once again NBC Sports will only cover the MotoGP race with no coverage of qualifying, Moto3 or Moto2. Now they've decided to delay broadcast until 11:30 PM EDT Sunday night. The MotoGP VideoPass, while pricey, is looking better and better.

Maybe they just think everyone has a DVR?
OM

kthutchinson said:

The MotoGP VideoPass, while pricey, is looking better and better.

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For MotoGP fans its the best thing since sliced bread. All races, practice and qualifying for all classes. You can watch it all live or at your leisure. Make sure you save the "no spoiler" link so you dont accidentally find out results when you go to the home page. Treat yourself - you deserve it !

Yeah, I've been a VideoPass subscriber for 5 years, don't care at all what NBC does and really enjoy just seeing everything offered on my own time with no commercials.

I don't have the season pass and consider myself lucky that I get to see Moto GP at all on. It's just not that popular in the US.

At least NBC is hosting something. I hated when it was with BeIn, as it all ran together. I do Video Pass, so watch when I get to it.

My thoughts:

Alas, no matter what time NBC airs it, US MotoGP will attract fewer viewers in the US than "Real Housewives of Duluth" and "Celebrity Lawn Mowing" until it's made easily accessible.

It's a chicken and egg conundrum. MotoGP won't be popular and followed in the US until it's easily and widely available and it won't be widely available until it's more popular.

MotoGP is a very TV-friendly product; it's relatively short (good for USA folks with a limited attention span) and there's a lot of action. There are commonly more lead changes in a couple laps of MotoGP than there are in an entire race, if not an entire season of 2-hour F1 races. Although it would surely mean charging a network less in the short term for coverage, an expanded viewership would ultimately increase everybody's profits.

A second race in the US would be a very good thing; even more so if it were held on a track that didn't resemble a parking lot (e.g., Indianapolis). Laguna Seca, Barber, Road Atlanta would be among my nominees.

Sorry for the doom and gloom mood of my comments. All of the above aside, I'm looking forward to watching as much MotoGP, WSBK, and MotoAmerica as I can this year.

We all know that the Real Housewives of Duluth will never, ever, live up to the dynamic adventures of the Real Housewives of Fargo. Never, ever!

stooie said:

A second race in the US would be a very good thing; even more so if it were held on a track that didn't resemble a parking lot (e.g., Indianapolis). Laguna Seca, Barber, Road Atlanta would be among my nominees.

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Laguna ran for years. Fans loved it for the ability to see most of the track from the top of Turn 1. I know I did. Racers hated it - too short and too tight. Indy outdrew Laguna from an attendance perspective and racers liked the track, especially after the last turn was modified. I quite enjoyed the different vantage points available. COTA is a spectacular course which is loved by both fans and racers - especially Marquez!

Road Atlanta would make a great venue - especially if they reverted to the old track without the chicane-like T3 and T3A. Barber, in my less-than-humble opinion, is a track which doesn't know what it wants to be - tight or fast. So it ends up being neither.

Again, one's opinion may vary.

BC1100S said:

Laguna ran for years. Fans loved it for the ability to see most of the track from the top of Turn 1. I know I did. Racers hated it - too short and too tight. Indy outdrew Laguna from an attendance perspective and racers liked the track, especially after the last turn was modified. I quite enjoyed the different vantage points available. COTA is a spectacular course which is loved by both fans and racers - especially Marquez!

Road Atlanta would make a great venue - especially if they reverted to the old track without the chicane-like T3 and T3A. Barber, in my less-than-humble opinion, is a track which doesn't know what it wants to be - tight or fast. So it ends up being neither.

Again, one's opinion may vary.

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Opinions do vary; I appreciate yours.

Yeah, I get your point about Laguna. It was built in the late 1950s and is probably better suited to the relatively modest-performing cars and bikes of that era. It's still fun to watch there but I would agree with the racers that I like tracks where they get to show a turn of speed.

This will probably be considered MotoGP heresy: not withstanding and with complete admiration for Mr. Marquez's considerable talents, it was fun to watch the season unfold after he was hurt when one never knew who was going to win from one race to the next.

Similarly in MotoGP last year it was so one-sided that I was of the opinion that they should have had a separate trophy for Cam(eron Baubier) and the Yam(aha) and declared the first finisher after him to be the race winner.

stooie said:

This will probably be considered MotoGP heresy: not withstanding and with complete admiration for Mr. Marquez's considerable talents, it was fun to watch the season unfold after he was hurt when one never knew who was going to win from one race to the next.

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I wholeheartedly agree. And I'm quite looking forward to this season. MM isn't 100% and who knows when he will be. I understand he's cleared to race now. We'll see if he can moderate himself to tolerate anything less than winning until he is fully fit.

On the other hand, the rest of the field are no slouches .

Aprilia seems to have found something to make their bikes competitive and the Ducatis are stupid fast - 357 km/h on the straight at Qatar last week. We could have a replay of last year. My money is on Franco "I need a haircut" Morbidelli or Jack "I'm 'ere for a laugh" Miller - but there are 5 or 6 guys who could end up on top by the time the season finishes.

First practice starts at 10:00am (local time) March 26th !

BC1100S said:

On the other hand, the rest of the field are no slouches .

Aprilia seems to have found something to make their bikes competitive and the Ducatis are stupid fast - 357 km/h on the straight at Qatar last week.

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By my calculation 357 kph = 222 mph. That's faster than the Never Exceed Speed of my gone but still beloved Piper Cherokee!

Laguna Seca WAS a fast track back in the Seventys before they lengthened the track by putting in the Andretii hairpin and all that infield slow stuff. There were only two SLIGHT lifts (the old turn two and turn 3) between the turn 11 hairpin and up under the bridge before going behind the hill. The old course went from where the Andrettii hairpin is now to the bridge with just one slight kink. Just a slight lift to rotate the car and then back to full throttle. It was fun!

But they were trying to attract F1 at the time and the track didn't meet their minimum length.


Moto GP is on Sunday at 8:30pm out here. Just like Monday Night Football, we get to see things at a reasonable hour. Helps balance out the high cost of living and high taxes I guess.

As a kid I recall watching a televised sidecar race from Laguna. They had a helicopter shot of the "straightaway" from the current T6 up to the Corkscrew. The commentator mentioned how fast the rigs got going here. Back then it seemed to take 30 seconds to run that uphill section. Not today!

98lee said:

Laguna Seca WAS a fast track back in the Seventys before they lengthened the track by putting in the Andretii hairpin and all that infield slow stuff. There were only two SLIGHT lifts (the old turn two and turn 3) between the turn 11 hairpin and up under the bridge before going behind the hill. The old course went from where the Andrettii hairpin is now to the bridge with just one slight kink. Just a slight lift to rotate the car and then back to full throttle. It was fun!

But they were trying to attract F1 at the time and the track didn't meet their minimum length.


Moto GP is on Sunday at 8:30pm out here. Just like Monday Night Football, we get to see things at a reasonable hour. Helps balance out the high cost of living and high taxes I guess.

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I worked at Laguna Seca as a volunteer from 79-82 for motorcycle and CanAm events. For the motorcycle races I, along with a buddy, drove the bike retrieval truck. After every practice, qualification session or race we would make a lap with a pick-up truck with a hydraulic lift on the back. This was during the time when Kenny Roberts was winning the 500cc world championships. There was a race at LS during the summer break in the GP season and he was back and competed in the race. So in a single race we got to see Roberts, Lawson, Mamola, Schwantz and Spencer. I do not recall seeing him, but I think Wayne Rainey was probably in the race as well. That was a bunch of future world championships riding around in that race. I believe Roberts won two of the three races I saw and Lawson won the other.

The corkscrew was a hoot back then. No seating, just people on blankets drinking, smoking (generally both) and not always fully dressed. Can't say I ever met any of the future champs but I was in their pits a few times. They learn not to encourage conversation with fans when they are working. We had pretty much unfettered access to the team pits and did not want to screw things up by being noticeable. When somebody like Spencer wrecked he would be long gone when we got there. Picked up by his team in a golf cart or car, he was already sorting out his back-up bike. So these expensive factory bikes were put in the back laying on their side with maybe a couple of other bikes in there as well. I always wondered why the factory teams didn't drop off a team member to stay with the bike until we delivered it to the pits. The privateers, the guys riding older bikes that they brought to the track in a U-Haul trailer behind their Ford Country Squire station wagon, were normally with their bike and supervised loading it on the truck and then rode in the bed supporting the bike.

Just get Video Pass.

I don't know all modern TV jargon and systems, but I have an Apple TV (which is a little box, not a TV) and with iPhone or iPad I can select Airplay - Apple TV and there it is on my main 55-in TV. A home wifi process

I can watch
FP1, FP2, FP3, FP4, warmup, race ... for Moto3, Moto2, MotoGP ... live ... or any time you choose later
After the Race shows
Test sessions ... just watched Qatar
Previous years races back to early 2000s or earlier
Off season tech sessions, major breaking news, etc.

IMHO you're screwed if you're only watching time delayed MotoGP (and never seeing Moto3, Moto2, and the after race comments and interviews)

Regarding live: since this is all coming from Europe, Africa, or Western Pacific countries, there are occasional signal dropouts ... I'd say it's 95% perfect. Wait an hour until they've gotten it catalogued (or whatever the word is) and it's perfect. I watched something like 10 years of prior races at the beginning of pandemic quarantine and they were perfect ... some recent viewing of past races had audio commentary trailing video action by about 3 laps. Tech problems I suppose. Oh, and the all time coolest race is Assen 2018.

More live: of course the iPad works wherever there's wifi, so I can watch live at the Bavarian Mountain Weekend up at the Lodge. Those European races are live in Mountain time zone at 6 am

^^
What he said. Works equally well on Android. Casting to Google Chromecast is supported (from PC/web or app on a device). I figure someday there will be a native app on my Samsung TV. Casting (or watching on device) also allows camera choice, and whether to listen to commentary or not.

MM is back on track. Looks pretty slow.

https://www.superbikeplanet.com/marquez-rides-motogp-bike-dramatic-music-plays/

Qualifying Today For the Qatar GP

Outright top speed ever at a GP set on the Qatar circuit. 225 MPH by Zarco on a Ducati in FP4.

Second and third outright top speeds also set.

Ducati and Yamaha dominate qualifying. Lap record broken by top qualifier.

Rossi near the front of the grid.

Read all about it: https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2021...sail-lap-record-for-maiden-motogp-pole/364969

akbeemer said:

Qualifying Today For the Qatar GP

Outright top speed ever at a GP set on the Qatar circuit. 225 MPH by Zarco on a Ducati in FP4.

Second and third outright top speeds also set.

Ducati and Yamaha dominate qualifying. Lap record broken by top qualifier.

Rossi near the front of the grid.

Read all about it: https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2021...sail-lap-record-for-maiden-motogp-pole/364969

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Watching it was absolutely spectacular.