Why is MotoGP no longer interesting? The absence of Rossi and Márquez, the pandemic, pay TV... "It's a perfect storm"

• Classification An arm in rehabilitation, the worst bike... Marc Márquez achieves pole position in Japan and remembers that he is the fastest

It was in Cheste, in 2015. Crazy scenes were experienced in the stands and in Spanish houses, almost six million spectators gave themselves over to MotoGP.

Regards.

Of that fever unleashed by the war between

and

, only memories remain.

The reality of the World Cup today is very different.

Suddenly, MotoGP is a niche sport, losing interest among the general public, lacking stars and offering less spectacle.

What has happened in just seven years?

"Several things have come together. First of all, the pandemic. This 2022 we are experiencing the first World Cup without restrictions, but there are circuit promoters who have gone through difficulties, in some places there has been uncertainty about how many tickets could be sold... Secondly, there has been a lack of heroes. Valentino Rossi has retired and in Italy it has been noticeable, Marc [Márquez] has missed many races and in Spain it has been noticeable. The fans have dropped a bit, but we know the causes. We cannot talking about a crisis, it's a readjustment, MotoGP is in good health", analyzes

, sports director of the championship, in conversation with EL MUNDO, after months of work to turn the tide.

Because although the message is optimistic-"We are not living in a bad moment", he insists- the organization of the World Cup has prepared radical changes to recover what was lost.

Next year, for example, MotoGP will have short races on Saturdays to attract a young crowd.

It will be enough?

Will have to see.

Be that as it may, the comeback must come from below.

Because, despite the fact that fans have increased in France thanks to Fabio Quartararo, MotoGP has fallen in its main markets, Spain and Italy.

This year in Jerez, Montmeló, Alcañiz, Mugello and Misano, between 15,000 and 40,000 fans were lost in the stands compared to 2019, with figures that had not been seen since the beginning of the century, and television audiences followed the same path.

DAZN, the owner of the rights in Spain, only offers data on its viewers through Movistar and on that platform each race attracts between 150,000 and 200,000 followers, about 100,000 less than last year and a third of those that Formula 1 brings together The last test in Alcañiz, broadcast openly by La 1, only had 820,000 viewers, far from the previous year (950.

000) and light years from the usual two million five years ago.

Some worrying numbers.

Other motives

As the organization points out, the pandemic, Rossi's withdrawal and Márquez's injury are the main reasons for this loss of interest, but there is more.

For example, the transition to pay television.

Or the 'boom' in aerodynamics, which has made overtaking increasingly difficult and dangerous.

Or even the character of current pilots.

Marc Márquez himself named him, recently questioned about the MotoGP slump: "It has been a perfect storm. Rossi's withdrawal affected, like those of

,

,

... A sport engages when there are icons and rivalries. Now

already has a name and

It's going fast, but it's still missing.

Good-naturedness is fine, but people like morbidity."

The truth is that those who fight for this World Cup are not capable of moving masses like those who preceded them did.

Quartararo has managed to open the way in his country, a remarkable success, but Bagnaia has not inherited the fans that followed Rossi and the good moment of

moves few in Spain.

Stars are missing.

And to try to create them next year MotoGP will open the paddock to fans on Sundays.

That the pilots talk to the fans, that they take photos, that they 'humanize' themselves.

"Any story needs the characters to know each other. And we don't have to invent anything, we just show the character of each one. That's why we want the pilots to better invest their time in that sense, to make them grow as icons, to get closer to the fans", explains Ezpeleta in a historical mission.

That the MotoGP World Championship recovers the show, that creates references, that is of interest again.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• valentino rossi

• Marc Márquez

• Daniel Pedrosa

• Aleix Espargaro

• Jorge Lorenzo