Inside MXGP: Industry Perspectives | Hans Corvers – “Without team owners, there is no World Championship”

Hans Corvers, owner of the official Yamaha MXGP team, has offered a candid assessment of the current challenges facing the MXGP World Championship, particularly in terms of its commercial appeal and sustainability. Drawing on over 30 years of experience, Corvers emphasises the crucial role that team owners play in keeping the championship alive, warning that without their financial backing, the sport as it stands would not exist. He highlights the heavy financial burden on teams, which are increasingly struggling to sustain their operations amid rising costs and limited external support. A significant part of the problem, according to Corvers, lies in the sport’s media exposure and event format. He notes that motocross once enjoyed regular television coverage in countries like Belgium during the era of stars such as Stefan Everts and Joël Smets, but this presence has since diminished drastically. Corvers has personally funded broadcasts of MXGP and MX2 races in Belgium to fill this gap, a situation he believes is unsustainable and should instead be the responsibility of the sport’s organisers and broadcasters like Infront Moto Racing. He also advocates for a more compact, one-day event format to reduce costs and better accommodate younger riders’ schedules, arguing that MXGP should not try to emulate the longer, more complex formats of MotoGP or Formula 1. Despite acknowledging the efforts and progress made by Infront Moto Racing in promoting the sport, Corvers stresses that the current system is too costly and cumbersome for teams to maintain. He points out that only a handful of team owners remain willing or able to fund their operations at the required level, making the championship vulnerable. Corvers calls on the FIM and Infront to take greater responsibility for enhancing the sport’s appeal to media and fans, suggesting that growth cannot be achieved without significant structural changes and external investment. Looking ahead, Corvers identifies attracting a major international sponsor as a key to the sport’s future viability. He reveals that his team is actively seeking multinational companies outside Europe to provide substantial financial backing, noting that smaller local sponsors, while appreciated, cannot cover the high costs involved. Corvers believes that securing such partnerships would not only stabilise team finances but also help elevate MXGP’s global profile, enabling it to move beyond its current niche status and develop a more sustainable commercial model.