Three years after the SMX World Championship postseason launched, the concept is established and accepted as part of the United States' off-road culture. It was easy for the industry to stomach. Whilst different, the format did not stray far enough from the norm to disrupt the status quo.

Complementary to the indoor and outdoor championships, the postseason was never created simply to fall into line. It was meant to disrupt, elevate and provide a platform for innovation. Three years in, it has yet to fulfill any of those ambitions.

For the SMX postseason to deviate successfully from Supercross' blueprint appears a near-impossible task. Monster Energy AMA Supercross has been the reference point for off-road – and, in some instances, motorsports – for the best part of two decades. Its rapid-fire format is easily digestible online, its younger demographic is valuable and its established model is built to survive the intelligence age.

Taking motocross into the confines of a stadium was already a quantum leap, one that most other continents have found difficult to replicate. Now Feld Entertainment wants to recreate and evolve that formula once more, but what is left to change? More importantly, what could be done to make SuperMotocross distinct from Supercross? The challenge now falls to Dave Prater, Vice President.

"These are some crazy ideas that did not make it very far but we will still continue with them," Prater stated from across his desk in Palmetto, Florida. "We have looked at locations from abandoned golf courses to airports, city streets and whatnot. When you get down to it, you want the very best fan experience and some of these do not necessarily cater to that. I'm not saying that they cannot, but that's what we are looking for. 

"I do not want to put any constraints on us," he continued. "It's cliché, but true: We want to think outside of the box. Where can we race dirt bikes that will be super cool that no one has considered before? I think Branson is very close to that. No one thought of doing SMX in that venue. When we first had that meeting with them, they were like 'what do you want to do?' Now they have come around to it."

That search for a 'wow factor' is central to what SMX can offer. If the Columbus and Carson races are to become the standard, there may as well be nineteen stops of Supercross. Golf courses – abandoned or not – and downtown city streets would offer SMX the kind of spectacle that makes the concept worthy of its existence. Tradition must be contested.

Evidently, that's easier said than done. Otherwise, one of those landscapes would have been used by the fourth year. One reason those concepts did not come to fruition was that they could not replicate the in-person experience of a Supercross. The challenge, once again, is trying to improve upon a near-bulletproof formula.

Should attention therefore turn to expansion, rather than enhancement?

An international SMX World Championship would offer a clear distinction from Supercross, a unique reason for its existence, meaning to its name, and an opportunity to utilize the same recipe that has led to such success in the United States.

"We work on deadlines – deadlines don't scare me – so I'll be disappointed if we have not traveled internationally in the next four years," Prater stated. "That has always been our goal. In 2002 to 2004, we ran in Geneva, Arnhem and Seville. Those were great events and we loved it, but those were Supercross. We are looking at taking things international at some point."

Prater's drive is obvious, but will the stakeholders in the United States share it? Simply, the bottom line makes the concept a difficult sell. SMX's factory efforts receive financial compensation from North American subsidiaries, so their reason for existence is to race (and promote) models within the United States' borders. The debate centers around the cost of overseas travel and the fact that it serves them no additional benefit.

"It's obviously super expensive to travel everyone in the sport overseas," Prater affirmed. "The teams, as we have talked about before, and the OEMs have domestic budgets. They focus solely on the United States and that's a challenge. As the sport grows overall, not only SMX but MXGP and around the world, there is opportunity there, for sure. That will be the plan."

International scope could offer SMX the distinction it has yet to establish, but only if the commercial model allows it. Fortunately, a truncated entry list and the ability to attract government funding allow for some different solutions to these problems. With the announcement that AUSX Supercross will feature an SMX Next Australia division, it's clear that small steps are already being taken towards international expansion.

Going international would give the SMX World Championship an identity beyond Monster Energy AMA Supercross. The balance that Dave Prater must strike, however, is to make SMX different without making it unrecognizable to teams.