You never know for sure when the ownership of a company changes exactly what’s in store until the new team takes over, and that was exactly the case when Feld Entertainment purchased Monster Jam over a year ago. All it takes, though, is one chance to talk with Kenneth Feld and you quickly see that the new owner purchased Monster Jam not just because it’s a great fit to add to and expand his incredibly successful entertainment company, but because he really loves the sport and he loves the excitement and thrills that Monster Jam brings to millions of fans each year. Now Mr. Feld shows us just how much he enjoys that excitement factor with his newest idea, creating a new format for an event that is based on the most spectacular moments that bring so many cheering fans to their feet at each and every Monster Jam, an expansion of freestyle into the new Freestyle Mania which will debut in the Mobile Civic Center July 24th and 25th.

Personally, getting to announce this new format has me fired up as well. I feel like I’ll really be in there as a fan as well as an announcer, just to see how this new concept comes together. You know it’s going to be two nights jam packed with thrills ever y minute. In case you didn’t read the announcement on this site about the debut of Freestyle Mania, the program will include the largest field of Monster Jam trucks ever brought to the Mobile Civic Center, but not for the standard racing and freestyle event. This is all about freestyle, and the likes of Grave Digger and former World Freestyle Champion Taz will be burning up the Alabama event in the most extensive set of freestyle based competitions ever created. The superstars of the sport won’t be setting up for racing, just for the spectacle of a wide open freestyle battle, plus expanded wheelie and donut competitions. And something new that I can’t wait to see is how the talented drivers in this field will hand the new compulsories where they’ll be required to conquer a challenging obstacle course in the timed portion of this all freestyle show.

Along with this ultimate freestyle test for the Monster Jam stars Freestyle Mania will also include the “Jam Session”, with Quad-FMXers, Freestyle Superbikers, Freestyle Motocrossers, and Freestyle BMXers performing simultaneously on the course all at the same time. There is just no doubt that the Jam Session will be absolutely wild.

When you think about it, this is such a sensational idea you wonder why we didn’t come up with it years ago. When the first World Finals was contested in 2000 we moved into a new era where the major winter Monster Jams led to one mega event for each season’s championships, and then with the magnitude of the Speed TV series over the past several years, the sport has really divided its year into two portions. The annual trek week after week of the best racing and freestyle competitions that lead up to the crowning of the new World Champions has become the major season for Monster Jam competition, wrapping up in March. But the trucks don’t get stuffed into the shop for the rest of the year waiting for the annual Minneapolis kick off to the new winter season. Especially with the expansion of the Monster Jam World Tour into Europe and Central America, the teams and drivers stay busy year ‘round. Just because the focus is so channeled towards world titles in the winter doesn’t mean that every driver isn’t all out for a win in their events after March, but with the championship pressure off at those events, be they Summer Heat shows in this country or battles in places like Sweden or Costa Rica, they have clearly allowed the drivers to just cut it all loose for the fans without the concerns of trying to get a highly coveted TV win or a World Championship. The spring and summer events, many with traditions that stretch back decades, have always been so much fun for the drivers and so thrilling for the fans that now this new concept becomes reality in Mobile where the entire night is not so much about competition (although everyone still wants to be the best every time out), but instead every move has only one goal – to blow the fans away with amazing freestyle moves, one right after another. I think it promises to be one of the most exciting events ever and the fans in ‘Bama are in for a huge treat. I know I can’t wait to see it.

The creation of Freestyle Mania, especially since it is the brainchild of the company’s owner, just further magnifies what a great time it is to be a part of Monster Jam. Sure, the sport has been selling out the biggest venues in North America for years now, becoming the biggest event on the winter sports and entrainment schedules for some of the biggest cities on the continent. But make no mistake about it, no one is just sitting back and resting on the laurels of the sport’s recent success. To the contrary, as great as Monster Jam has become, the commitment from Feld Motor Sports is for bigger and better, to grow the sport even more. Clearly much of the recent growth has centered around the amazing success of Monster Jam overseas and the World Tour continues to expand into new countries with amazing results. Just check how incredible the debut events in Panama and Poland were this year for proof of that. And now, add to all that success Freestyle Mania, this new type of Monster Jam event. In the media release announcing the first ever Freestyle  Mania Monster Jam official Bill Easterly was quoted as saying “the idea is to bring more entertainment and more of what the fans want than ever before,” and to me, that’s the bottom line. Giving the fans more of what they want is always the goal, and Freestyle Mania looks like it will fill the bill big time, and frankly, I can see this concept growing like wildfire as a perfect complement to the major stadium racing and freestyle events that push the Monster Jam engine forward every winter.

I’m looking as forward to getting to Mobile for this event as any I can remember, because I can’t wait to be a part of a new event that is so clearly designed with just one purpose – to thrill the fans like never before. If you’re reading this column and have any chance to get to the Mobile Civic Center on July 24th or 25th you need to make sure you get your tickets to be a part of this historic debut, Freestyle Mania, for the first time ever, in the Mobile Civic Center. The mantra “go big or go home” has never seemed more appropriate.