Coming off back-to-back mega weekends that included both the Monster Energy Supercross Finals in Las Vegas two weekends ago and the Monster Jam World Finals XX out of Orlando this past week, Feld Entertainment continues to build audiences for its “live touring family entertainment experiences “ that bring people together and uplift the human spirit and have now hit more than 75 countries and on six continents. Cynopsis Sports asked Juliette Feld Grossman, COO of Feld Entertainment, about the company’s growth, strategy and challenges ahead.
Feld on goals: We are constantly innovating to exceed fans’ expectations by bringing immersive and interactive live family entertainment experiences closer than ever before. We see across all of our brands that fans nowadays value engaging experiences with their children that make larger-than-life memories. We knew we had to build those into our motor sport properties, which is where ideas like Supercross FanFest and our Monster Jam Pit Parties were born. For example, at both, prior to the event, fans are able to interact with our athletes and get autographs. In addition, fans can ride in a Monster Jam truck or sit on our virtual reality Supercross bike, allowing them to get the feeling of competing on the track.
On challenges: When you’re in the live entertainment and sports business, you are bidding for families’ time, and everything becomes your competition, from Netflix to travel soccer to broadway. Our biggest advantage is having non-replicable can’t be missed motorsports properties with something for every family member to enjoy, no matter the age. We also continue to expand our audiences. For Supercross, we are introducing ourselves to audiences beyond the action-sports fanbase. With Monster Jam, our focus on driver training at Monster Jam University has allowed us to increase the inclusiveness of our driver roster and show fans that regardless of who they are, we have someone on the track that they can connect with. We are on the only sport in the world where men and women are competing on the same track in the same competitions. I’m most proud of the opportunities we’ve provided new Monster Jam athletes through this program because it directly correlates to the increased performance skill level and quality of our fan experience.
On partnering: At Feld Entertainment, we’ve grown over time by integrating more capabilities into our company from initial concept development through fabrication and production and continuing with routing & booking, logistics management, marketing and on-the-road quality control. We offer this full suite of capabilities, including complete corporate activation services, to our partners which makes us a fully turnkey operation. Our focus is on providing the best solutions for our partners, whether its increasing their retail distribution, maximizing consumer engagement or entertaining B2B clients – and we use our expertise in reaching audiences to tailor a custom program for each partner. In fact, over the past 3 years, our Corporate Activation practice is even delivering consumer engagement activities outside of Feld operated live events. Current clients relying on Feld Activation include Spin Master, America’s Best Eyewear & Contact, BKT Tires and Kawasaki.
On the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross season: Weather is a major factor in outdoor stadiums and we faced some challenges this season with the torrential downpour in Anaheim, the historic rain in San Diego and snow in Denver. Like the weather can be, Monster Energy Supercross is completely unpredictable. Everyone had eyes on our past champion Jason Anderson and front-runners Marvin Musquin, Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen at the start of the 2019 season. However, the season quickly took a turn and Cooper Webb, who was not considered a contender for the championship, ended up leading the season and becoming our Supercross 450SX Class champion. It was only his third year racing in the premier class, proving that experience is only one factor of many in winning Supercross.
