Monster Jam Freestyle Mania rolls into downtown Orlando this Saturday and Sunday, August 8-9, pairing 12,000-pound monster trucks with freestyle motocross bikes on the floor of the Kia Center at 400 W. Church St. Tickets for the two-day run range from $37 to $135, with several show times scheduled across the weekend.
The show pairs Monster Jam's trucks with FMX bikes built specifically for the competition, several of which are styled to resemble familiar names from the truck circuit like Grave Digger and El Toro Loco, according to Orlando Weekly. Fans looking to upgrade their weekend can also add VIP extras, including a jumbotron message and a driver meet-and-greet, the outlet reports.
Pit Party Access and Meet-and-Greet Timing
A Pit Party takes place before each performance, giving fans a floor-level look at the trucks and a chance to meet drivers, but it requires both a standard show ticket and an additional pit pass, per Kia Center. A separate driver meet-and-greet begins roughly 15 minutes after each performance ends, the venue notes.
A Downtown Arena With a New Name
The arena hosting this weekend's show spent 13 years as the Amway Center before being renamed Kia Center in December 2023 under a multiyear partnership with Kia America, according to WKMG. The building itself first opened in downtown Orlando in October 2010, the station reports.
The venue is also home to the NBA's Orlando Magic and the ECHL's Orlando Solar Bears. It's owned and operated by the City of Orlando through its Orlando Venues department, which oversees roughly 225 events and more than 1.3 million visitors at the arena each year.
Under the Hood of a 12,000-Pound Truck
Standard Monster Jam trucks stand roughly 10.5 to 12 feet tall, weigh about 12,000 pounds, and run on supercharged methanol V8 engines that produce around 1,500 horsepower, according to Monster Jam. Those engines burn methanol at roughly three gallons per minute during a performance, per the same source.
Cushioning the trucks' landings are custom tires measuring 66 inches tall and 43 inches wide, each weighing more than 440 pounds and inflated to about 23 psi, according to BKT Tires, which has worked with Feld Motor Sports on the specialized design for more than a decade.
Feld Entertainment's Florida Roots and a New Toy Deal
Monster Jam's parent company, Feld Entertainment, keeps its global headquarters in Palmetto, Florida, about 100 miles southwest of Orlando, having relocated its production operations to Manatee County in late 2013, according to Wikipedia. The company produces more than 3,500 live touring shows a year across more than 75 countries on six continents, a portfolio that also includes Disney On Ice, Supercross, and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, per Feld Entertainment.
Presenting sponsor Spin Master renewed its global master toy licensing agreement with Feld Motor Sports in April, extending the deal another 10 years through 2036, Spin Master announced. The toy company has sold more than 75 million Monster Jam toy trucks since first partnering with Feld in 2019.
Arena Show Now, Stadium Spectacle Later
Freestyle Mania represents Monster Jam's compact arena format, staged on the floor of venues like the Kia Center, while the touring brand's larger events unfold outdoors at the 60,000-seat Camping World Stadium.
Orlando previously hosted Monster Jam's World Finals championship at Camping World Stadium in May 2022, and the flagship tournament has since moved on to other host cities, Hoodline has reported. This year's finals took over Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City in July, as detailed in Salt Lake Set To Shake, and the championship is scheduled to move to Indianapolis in July 2027, per World Finals Heads To Indianapolis. This weekend's Freestyle Mania stop offers a smaller-scale taste of the same trucks and stunts without the championship stakes on the line.
.jpg){kind=link}