That’s how I looked at last week’s official announcement that Monster Jam will be televised live on Speed TV for the first time ever January 9, 2010, when a huge line-up of the sport’s best rock what has annually been a sold out house in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome – like a great early Christmas present.
The decision to take what has become one of the biggest annual events on the winter series and let fans from everywhere have the chance to experience this mega-night live is one of the biggest steps forward we’ve ever seen in Monster Jam. As successful as Monster Jam has become on Speed TV all year long thanks to the incredible loyal support of so many fans who not only tune in to the new shows on Saturdays, but who watch the replays, in many cases on a daily basis, the step into live TV is a huge undertaking with tremendous importance. Most readers here are aware of how the sports industry these days is fueled by its live television coverage from the NFL to NASCAR, and on January 9th in Atlanta Monster Jam steps onto that same stage. The greatest benefit of all of this though, as big as it is for those in the industry, is for the millions of Monster Jam fans who watch Speed TV and who attend live events throughout the year. On January 9th it’ll be the first time that fans in Vancouver, and Miami, and San Diego, and Bangor, and everywhere in between will be able to join the more than 60,000 fervent fans who will sell out the Georgia Dome in advance again to witness live what has become one of the highest profile events on the yearly Monster Jam Schedule.
Choosing the Atlanta event for this historic step forward makes lots of sense. It’s early in the year, a real send off that gets the great action off and crushing on the way to the NGK Spark Plugs World Finals. The Peachtree State event has more than a decade of history that includes some of the most spectacular moments we’ve seen. The building is great for the trucks to have the space needed to go big, and the Georgia Dome is loud, loud, loud. Sure it’s got great acoustics, but it’s the fans in the A-T-L that blow the decibel meters through the roof. It has been that way for years. The event is a feeding frenzy. The stars of Monster Jam have turned in unbelievable performances in the past which makes the fans in Atlanta go even crazier. And the louder that they get the bigger the superstars go. It’s an incredible formula that guarantees a night full of the spectacular. It will be again this time, but now millions more fans have the same opportunity that the fans in Atlanta have. Just turn on Speed TV January 9, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. eastern time and live it live!
Monster Jam planners have booked an all-star line-up to compete in this first ever live Speed TV foray including one of the only times on the 2010 winter schedule where both Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction and Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger will compete together. That will certainly be one of the major story lines. You’ve got Meents coming in as the reigning World Racing Champion, but coming off of a year where he had more struggles than usual. Anderson rolls in not as a reigning champ, but fresh from a 2009 year that start to finish may have been his best ever. Their rivalry in the Georgia Dome has several riveting chapters all ready in the books, so this next match-up promises to be even more intense. Remember that while Anderson may have had the best of their showdowns lately, Meents has been dominant in Atlanta. As this event was being elevated into an annual sell-out over the past decade or so, a must see Monster Jam on an annual basis, many started referring to the Georgia Dome as “the house that Tom Meents built”. Make no mistake about it. Some of Tom’s greatest performances have come on that Georgia clay, and he’ll be looking for his best ever in front of the live Speed TV cameras. Dennis knows that there can be no greater feather in his cap this side of Las Vegas than beating Meents in his special city, so it will be “game on” between the sport’s two all-time greats and every Monster Jam fan will get the chance to witness it live.
Of course it is more than just Maximum Destruction vs. Grave Digger with an incredible roster of the world’s best talent scheduled to compete January 9, so while Tom and Dennis figure to focus on each other they can’t take their eyes off of the rest of the field. Just look at Minneapolis earlier this month when the focus was on the Max-D vs. Digger rivalry, but when the dust settled the freestyle winner was Linsey Weenk in the Built Ford Tough Blue Thunder. It will be wide open and every star will bring their “A” game to Atlanta in a few short weeks. They do every year anyway, but the pressure and intensity figure to be off the charts this time with the added significance of the live Speed TV audience. I mean think about it. Add to the 60,000 in the Georgia Dome the at home TV audience and this event will be seen live by more fans than any event in Monster Jam history. It doesn’t get any bigger than that, and I can tell you that every driver in this field is already planning for that moment which will be the highest profile spotlight that they have ever appeared under. I can only imagine how amazing each performance is going to be and it is going to be extremely interesting to see who best handles this brand new pressure added to one of the sport’s signature events.
Personally, I get fired up at each and every Monster Jam event that I have the pleasure to announce at, whether it’s live, on television, or both. But I too am already at a super charged level to get to be a part of this historic night of Monster Jam. By the way for those of you who pay attention to such things, you’ll notice some changes with our broadcast/announce team in our attempts to make this the best television and live event coverage of an event ever. While everything is of course still subject to change, the intense planning is underway right now from both the officials that will produce the event live on the floor as well as the team that will be putting the event on Speed TV. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to handle the host/play-by-play duties on the live TV broadcast, but the down side is that I’ll have to relinquish my duties that night to the house, and I’ve always enjoyed the excitement of working that event on the floor with the fantastic Atlanta fans. One of Monster Jam’s best rising stars in the announcing business, Mike Williams, will be handling the house public address and he’ll be awesome. As for the TV side the producers plan to take advantage of Mark Schroeder’s expertise, I think, better than ever by taking the Devastator driver out of the broadcast booth and putting him in the pits. Mark’s understanding of the trucks and his knowledge of the sport and its personalities will allow us to have someone in the middle of the action who can immediately figure out where teams are having problems and whose got the best handle on the event and to report that to the fans watching instantly so we are all right in the middle of the action whether it is on the track or in the pits. Having Schroeder as the pit reporter will use his unique abilities to understand what is happening and communicate it to the rest of us as well as they’ve ever been used on a broadcast. With Schroeder on the floor I’ll be reunited in the booth with Ken Stout, and I know Ken is jacked to be a part of this night of history and will, as he always does, bring great enthusiasm and analysis to his role. And there may be even more surprises for the actual broadcast – stay tuned!
So Monster Jam fans, here’s wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! After all of those celebrations of the holidays are complete you can start planning for Monster Jam festivities, enjoying the first ever live Speed TV broadcast of Monster Jam, part of six hours of live coverage on Speed TV with Supercross from Anaheim to hit the air live right after the Atlanta freestyle winner is crowned. Start planning now, have the popcorn and special treats ready for the greatest night of television for Monster Jam ever. Better yet, plan a Monster Jam party January 9th. Right after the holidays you’re friends are looking for fun things to do, so have them over, tune in to Speed TV, and be a part of Monster Jam history!
