Motocross racers' riskiest ride: Developing new event in Reno

Marketers, Matt Knesek says, despair of reaching men aged 18-34.

"The only way to speak to them? You have to impact them. You have to stand their hair up," says Knesek, who gave up a promising career in residential real estate to specialize in getting hairs to stand up.

Joining with longtime buddies Dustin Miller and Mike Mason their friendship extends from first grade in Minden through careers as freestyle motocross athletes the 26-year-old Knesek these days is promoting "Raise the Stakes," a motocross event in Reno on August 22.

The business plan is the soul of simplicity:

First, invest somewhere between $375,000 and $450,000 in a venue, insurance, and preparation that includes hauling 200 truckloads of dirt to shape a court in the Reno Livestock Events Center.

Then, recoup those costs and turn a profit by selling seats and nailing down partnerships with companies that want to reach the motocross demographic.

Easy as it may look, the trio that formed Low Identity Entertainment LLC made a series of decisions that makes the company's first event more challenging.

For one, they're paying a purse of $100,000 to competitors cash prizes that may be the largest ever in a sport where riders often make as little as $1,000 for a prize-winning ride.

And they've decided to create the event for the audience of 8,000 or so at the Livestock Events Center rather than shaping it for television viewers.

That's a model that's common in Europe, Knesek says, but it's rare in the United States where promoters build their financial statements around the sale of television rights.

Pitching potential corporate sponsors has proven equally challenging.

Young business owners such as 25-year-old Paul Dunham, the owner of Pita Pit franchises in the area, were quick to sign up. Older business owners who haven't seen the love of younger men for freestyle motocross or worry about affiliating themselves with a first-time event have been slower to act.

"Raise the Stakes" is scheduled during the first night of the Nevada State Fair, and ticket sales begin this month.

Knesek says packages 10 box seats complete with service by a waiter, for instance will be heavily promoted.

Because the partners are financing the event out of their own pockets, Knesek thinks nothing of working until midnight, then arising at 5 a.m. to start again.

"I'm competitive at heart," he says. "I'm willing to take a risk that very few are willing to take."

And he remains unflappable despite the heavy workload and big bets that the three partners have made on the success of the event.

"I'm not nervous," he says. "If you are nervous, there's doubt."