Hello Vital MTB Visitor,
We’re conducting a survey and would appreciate your input. Your answers will help Vital and the MTB industry better understand what riders like you want. Survey results will be used to recognize top brands. Make your voice heard!
Five lucky people will be selected at random to win a Vital MTB t-shirt.
Thanks in advance,
The Vital MTB Crew
One thing we can probably agree on is he isn't going to e-bike racing, I own and love an e-bike, but it just wouldn't be right.
Sure, RB has done a lot for multiple sports wrt to financial support and exposure, but it is not like RB has not benefited massively in return. So from a branding perspective their return on investment cannot be overstated imho. I am sure that there are individuals in RB that are die hard fans of the various sports they engage in/with, but at the end of the day they are a business first and foremost. They are not building their media house or supporting our sports primarily out of charitable notions.
There are also some signs of RB trying to exert more overt control on certain sports - remember the debacle a few years back when they were trying to ban other energy drink sponsors from the podium of DH? There are bound to be a lot more going on behind the scenes and a long term plan wrt to these platforms, espacially with riders like Makken not resigning due to RBs for profit focus.
As such, yeah RB has done a lot for some sports - but remember to be critical thinkers - they would not do it unless it was not massively in their self interest too. Their pop business is a money press and they are seeking to diversify their business.
The time that @samhill13 posted was beer o'clock western standard time.
My point was that Red Bull made MTB much more popular with the general public (though the part of the public that is partial to extreme sports) that might otherwise hardly know MTB exists as a sport. Because it's present on their site, platform, social media, etc., through their marketing.
I was told that MTB would still be a very niche sport without Red Bull involvement by a friend, who works in marketing and did a thorough market research into the mountain bike market and it seems far from an unreasonable claim.
Honestly, I'm in a bit of a grumpy stage of thinking if it's good that this sport has become more popular and wouldn't it be better if it was kept niche, but what can we do, the genie is out of the bottle
Josh Bryceland also shared an old Santa Cruz image
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGGCR3SpmAb/
But in all those cases we, mere mortals, don't know who pulled the plug, not to mention why.
With Rhys Verner off the Kona Gravity (shitty for Kona) it opens up a spot for another sponsored rider.
Privateer Isla Short on Orbea Factory Team for 2021
Post a reply to: 2021 Mountain Bike Team Rumors