SVG All-Stars: Michael Reiners, Coordinating Producer, FloRacing

The Illinois State grad steers a vast schedule of motorsports events at tracks across the country

As the pace of change in sports production shows no signs of slowing, a new class of innovators and decision-makers is shaping the industry’s future. Now in its second season, our SVG All-Stars series spotlights the rising leaders driving that transformation, offering a look at their career paths, leadership philosophies, creative and technological contributions, and vision for what comes next. Each conversation introduces you to the people redefining the workflows, culture, and possibilities of live sports production.

It’s a massive week across the motorsports world, and that means a busy slate for the team at FloRacing, a FloSports brand. Four of short-track racing’s premier events — the Kubota High Limit Racing finale at Texas Motor Speedway, the KKM Giveback Classic at Port City Raceway, the CARS Tour and SMART Championships at North Wilkesboro Speedway, and the Dirt Track World Championship at Eldora Speedway — are all on the schedule, and all stream live on FloSports simultaneously on Oct. 17-18.

Steering that nonstop slate of productions is Michael Reiners, coordinating producer, FloRacing, FloSports, whose team delivers live coverage of more than 500 motorsports events each year. He oversees a 10-person team of road producers and manages FloRacing’s fleet of four production trailers, which serve as the backbone of the platform’s onsite and remote workflows. His leadership has been instrumental in helping FloRacing embrace REMI production models to increase efficiency, control costs, and navigate the connectivity challenges of racetrack environments across the country.

A longtime motorsports devotee who got his start filming highlights for Illinois State University’s campus station before joining DirtonDirt.com, Reiners has spent his career at the intersection of passion and production. Whether managing budgets, balancing schedules, or solving the unpredictable technical puzzles of live streaming, he leads with a simple philosophy: learn from your mistakes and always make the next broadcast your best one.

In this edition of SVG All-Stars, Reiners shares how FloRacing scales hundreds of live events each year, the creative problem-solving behind its REMI workflows, and why staying hungry for improvement is key to success in live production.

Michael Reiners graduated from Illinois State in 2015 and has worked in motorsports ever since. (Photos: FloSports)

What are the key responsibilities of your current role?
I build production budgets and manage a team of 10 road producers who work on 500+ motorsports events across the U.S. FloRacing is a top destination for motorsports fans. With live events scheduled almost every day of the week, there is a lot to manage throughout the year. For our marquee events like The Chili Bowl Nationals, Gateway Dirt Nationals, World 100, and Snowball Derby, I’ll supervise onsite and remotely. I also manage and maintain FloRacing’s fleet of four production trailers, which are essential to bringing premium streams to our customers.

What is one key industry trend that you believe is having a major impact on your organization right now?
REMI is becoming an integral piece of our motorsports productions. I think this trend is popular because you can do a number of things: saving on travel budget, creating a controllable production environment with a reliable network, and booking more shows on a tighter turnaround. We are still growing and learning in this area, but we continue to invest in ways to improve our remote productions. We face a challenging environment onsite when venue bandwidth and cellular bandwidth are extremely limited. This challenge has pushed us to find innovative ways to reliably produce motorsports events from a remote control room.

What is one core philosophy you try to live by when managing your team/operation?
Learn from your mistakes and always try to make your next broadcast your best one. If you aren’t improving, you are regressing. There is no such thing in this industry as staying the same or maintaining. If you aren’t constantly striving for improvement, you will get overtaken by your competitors.

What is your favorite event(s) you’ve ever worked?
The Gateway Dirt Nationals is probably my favorite event to work each year. It is a super dirt late-model race in the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis each December. It is as close to literal jets in a gymnasium as you can get. The atmosphere with the fans, the great racing, and the challenging technical setup make it one of my favorite events. The early years were particularly challenging as we didn’t have the equipment options that we have today.

Reiners leads a team of 10 road producers delivering more than 500 motorsports events to FloSports each year.

How did you get started in sports production? What was your first job in the business?
I went to Illinois State University and worked at the campus news station, TV10. I helped with different projects, including filming highlights of the Illinois State football team. I had always loved motorsports, and my professor was able to connect me with Michael Rigsby, the founder of DirtonDirt.com and now GM of FloRacing at FloSports. Rigsby brought me in as an intern; I filmed and edited highlights and video packages of the DIRTcar SummerNationals, also known as the “Hell Tour,” a Midwestern late-model tour that consisted of 25 races in 28 days all at different racetracks. From there, I was hired full-time, and my role transitioned into the live-production world, where we produced PPV events all across the country.

What’s one piece of advice you have for someone just starting their career in this industry?
My best advice to someone wanting to get into the industry is to just get your foot in the door. Look for contractor roles if full-time opportunities aren’t available and build relationships. The connections I have made over the last decade plus working in this industry were vital to get me where I am today. Once you prove you are a hard worker and show your passion for what you are doing, the opportunities will come.

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