MX Sports Pro Racing Appoints Long-Serving Industry Figurehead Roy Janson as Commissioner of Motocross

Newly Created Position Will Serve as a Conduit
for the Continued Progression of American Motocross

MX Sports Pro Racing, organizers and producers of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, announced today the appointment of long-time industry figurehead Roy Janson as Commissioner of Motocross. This newly created position will align within the overall structure of MX Sports Pro Racing and American motocross as a whole.

The Commissioner of Motocross will serve as an invaluable liaison between MX Sports Pro Racing and the various entities that constitute the overall structure of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, including AMA Pro Racing, the event organizers that comprise the championship calendar, and the community of commercial entities that participate in the series. The Commissioner will take on specific assignments working within the existing management structure of MX Sports Pro Racing, including planning and operational matters that range outside the issues of competition and race officiating. The role of Commissioner will also include supporting the efforts of existing MX Sports Pro Racing staff members and will allow the Commissioner to identify and support future staff members who will help shepherd American motocross into its next half century of competition. The AMA Pro Motocross Championship is recognized worldwide as the sport's premier competition for professional motocross.

“The promotion to such a prestigious position as Commissioner of Motocross allows me the opportunity to complete my journey within this business in a wonderful role and at the same time allows me the opportunity to be part of this remarkable sport as it begins a new and exciting future with the creation of the SuperMotocross League,” explained Janson. “The new SuperMotocross World Championship and the cooperative structure that brings together the entities and resources of Feld Motor Sports and MX Sports Pro Racing will allow the sport to protect and promote the individual integrity of the disciplines of Supercross and Pro Motocross, while adding the people’s championship at the culmination of each season. Each year, the SuperMotocross World Championship will answer the question that all of us as fans ask ourselves each season–who is the best of the best? While I’ve been blessed to have enjoyed a lifetime career in the sport of motorcycle racing, I’m pleased to be here as our sport begins its next chapter and I’m a believer that our future has never been brighter.”

Janson, who has worked as a director with MX Sports Pro Racing since its establishment in 2009, began his career in the sport and industry of motorcycling nearly 60 years ago as a young employee of a local motorcycle dealer in his hometown of Rochester, New York, and since 1964 has been involved as a lifetime motorcycle racer, event worker, and event organizer. While briefly holding an AMA Professional Motocross License in the early 1970’s, Janson has stated that he recognized early in his racing experience that if he were to enjoy a career in the sport it would likely need to be off the track rather than on it.

After serving in the United States Marine Corps following his graduation from high school, Janson returned to Rochester to pursue Bachelor and Master’s Degrees from the State University of New York at Geneseo and the University of Rochester, while continuing to work at local dealerships and competing in local motocross, enduro, and trials events. Upon graduation, Janson embarked on his lifelong commitment to the sport, which began in 1980 with his tenure as an employee of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), where he worked in a variety of positions, ultimately ascending to Director of Professional Racing.

Following his time with the AMA, Janson went on to work for PACE Entertainment in 1994, where he served as Vice President of Operations, overseeing the company’s vast array of motorsports properties, including Supercross. He continued with the company as it evolved through a series of ownership changes over the next two decades, which culminated as Live Nation Motorsports until its sale to Feld Entertainment / Feld Motor Sports. Janson then went on to work with the Daytona Motorsports Group following its acquisition of AMA Pro Racing and helped organize the transfer of AMA Pro Racing to its current structure, which segued to his current upper management position with MX Sports Pro Racing. The change in the management structure of the sport of professional motorcycle racing allowed Janson the opportunity to return to his roots with Pro Motocross, as one of the early group of employees who made up MX Sports Pro Racing. He has relished his role as Event Director for every event dating back to 2009, when MX Sports Pro Racing assumed its role as organizer of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

"Roy probably knows more about motocross than any of us. He has been a friend and mentor for countless people in motocross, going back to the 1980s when he first began working with the American Motorcyclists Association,” said Davey Coombs, President, MX Sports Pro Racing. “He has held numerous positions in the industry, everything from race official to series organizer to sponsorship coordinator. Roy was even Team USA Manager for two wins in the annual FIM Motocross of Nations (‘92-‘93). He's also still the defending AMA National Enduro Champion in sidehack racing, a largely ceremonial honor dating back to the late 1960s, but that's a story for another time.

"Whether it's event production or television production, rulebook questions or safety issues, Roy has a comprehensive understanding of how it all works. He has been invaluable to AMA Pro Motocross, as well as Monster Energy Supercross, Loretta Lynn's AMA Amateur National Championships, and the Motocross of Nations. There is no individual more suited to be named the first Commissioner of Motocross than Roy Janson."

Tickets to each round of the 2023 AMA Pro Motocross Championship can be purchased online. Ticket pricing options are unique for each event, with general admission, specialty seating, pit passes, and camping available. Availability will vary by venue.