The broadcast and streaming schedule has been announced for the new 2023 SuperMotocross World Championship on NBC Sports.
The series’ record 31 events (including a three-race playoff to decide the overall champion from the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and Pro Motocross Championship) will feature exclusive live coverage of Main Event races, qualifiers, and heats.
The events will be presented on Peacock, NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and NBC Sports digital platforms.
Peacock will become the home of the SuperMotocross World Championship series in 2023 with live coverage of all races, qualifying, and heats from January to October. There will be 23 races livestreamed exclusively on Peacock, including a SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff event. The platform also will provide on-demand replays of every race.
This will mark the first season of SuperMotocross, which unifies Supercross and Pro Motocross and presents the season-ending world championship that will meld the best of indoor stadium and outdoor motocross.
A SuperMotocross World Championship one-hour preview special will air Jan. 1, at 5 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock
The Supercross season opener at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, will take place Jan. 7 at 10 p.m. ET on Peacock and USA with a Jan. 8 encore presentation on NBC at 2 p.m. ET. There also will be an encore on CNBC, which will have next-day presentations for all 31 races.
The 2023 Pro Motocross season will begin May 27 at Fox Raceway National in Pala, California, with coverage at 4 p.m. ET exclusively on Peacock.
The inaugural playoffs will begin with the first round Sept. 9 at 3 p.m. ET on Peacock and USA Network and the second event held Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. ET on Peacock.
The first SuperMotocross World Championship finale will be held Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Los Angeles Coliseum with coverage on USA Network and Peacock starting at 10 p.m. ET.
The broadcast team across 31 events will include play-by-play announcers Leigh Diffey, Todd Harris, Daniel Blair, and Jason Weigandt. Legendary Supercross and motocross champions Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart will serve as analysts with Blair, Will Christien and Jason Thomas providing on-track reports.
The “Race Day Live” prerace show will expand to cover all 31 events exclusively on Peacock. Dan Hubbard and Daniel Blair will be hosts of the program.
All SuperMotocross events on NBC, USA Network and CNBC also will be streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.
Below is the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship broadcast and streaming schedule:
*Encore presentation
The 2023 Pro Motocross Championship broadcast and streaming schedule:
*Encore presentation
The inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship Playoffs and Final broadcast and streaming schedule:
*Encore presentation
In the opening round of the SuperMotocross World Championship, a crash for Malcom Stewart while racing for the lead in the 450 Main, Austin Forkner as he came out of the gate in the 250 Main and in the 250 West Heat 2 for Pierce Brown caused those three riders to earn minimal points in the new 31-race season that will crown a new unified champion.
Stewart was one of four leaders at Anaheim 1 when he took the top spot from eventual winner Eli Tomac as that rider made a mistake on the tunnel jump on Lap 9. When Tomac hit the ground, Chase Sexton followed the new leader and applied pressure to Stewart on a deeply rutted track.
On Lap 13, an aggressive pass pushed Stewart off course. Four laps later an accident put an end to a 20-race streak of top-10 Supercross finishes. Stewart entered Anaheim 1 focused on continuing his consistent run.
“Wow what a night,” Stewart posted on Instagram. “Led some laps and unfortunately went over the bars with under two minutes to go and got banged up but I’m all good! Wanna thank the team for being there for me and all the fans who were cheering throughout the race, it got loud! Got a taste and ready for more.”
A post shared by Malcolm Stewart (@malcolmstewart)
Forkner entered the weekend healthy and determined to get back to his accustomed style of racing. In a preseason press conference, the normally aggressive rider said he was a little tentative at the start of the season.
Forkner finished third in his heat, but was nearly 18 seconds behind race winner Cameron McAdoo. When the gate dropped, he got squeezed by McAdoo and RJ Hampshire. His bike turned sideways on the gate straight and pitched him over the handlebars.
“Like McAdoo, it had been three years since Forkner lined up for a race in Anaheim and showed his excitement with a great qualifying lap that put him on top of the board,” Monster Energy / Pro Circuit Kawasaki reported in a post-race recap posted at RacerX.com. “The pole position had him in the same heat as his teammate, but Forkner had to work through the pack after a small mistake in the opening laps. He would regain the positions to finish third in the heat race.
“Forkner was lined up to the inside of his teammate, but didn’t get the jump at the gate drop and trailed McAdoo down the start straight. His wheel ended up getting tangled with another rider and the impact caused a crash that forced Forkner to sit out the main event. He will be getting further evaluation from his doctors this week to determine if he can line up for Oakland.”
In the post-race press conference, McAdoo said he felt the impact on his back tire.
GasGas factory rider Pierce Brown suffered the biggest setback with a crash in his heat.
“Rider error cost me the night.” Brown said on his Instagram account. “Thankfully came out with no serious injuries just gonna be sore for a little bit. Past behind us onwards and upwards from here.”
RacerX.com reports team manager Max Lee says he could be questionable for Oakland, however.