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
I think you're not as aware of the sponsorship environment in DH. There are plenty of individual rider deals with outside sponsors and companies. I can't remember all of them off the top of my head but...
Vali - Mini cars (local dealer via BMW) and previously had Raiffeisen bank
Tahnee - Landrover, Monclar (probably no money, but deals non the less)
Charlie Hatton - Cupra cars
Camille Balanche - some Swiss cured sausage thing
Bruni - Frinsa Conserves
Reece Wilson - Volvo UK
Bernard Kerr - KTM (probably Lamborghini if he keeps talking enough sh*t on youtube)
Greg Minnaar has had a host of outside personal sponsors over his career, from like phone accessories to real estate and much more.
So yeah the landscape for personal deals in DH is similar to XC, with the exception of maybe the Swiss XC racers who probably get dollars from Swiss only brands (like Jolanda with her crackers). But otherwise it's simialr.
What I was speaking about was big money deals for teams, multi year, so budgets can be secured so teams can book accom, testing, pay riders and staff good bonuses, invest etc...
Hmmm. This is looking more like Euro MTB has more outside sponsors. I can't think of any significant non-bike sponsors for people like Finn or Jackson. Any high-profile NorAm/Oz/Kiwi riders making bank off of car companies or plumbing suppliers?
Valid point. Jack Moir and fearon had Yakima but that's not really an outside sponsors. Interesting about north Americans. Maybe cost of living or our teams sports in North America take the need or sources of sponsorship away?
Name checks out.
It might be cultural. NorAm loves the big team sports, but my limited understanding of European society is that a much wider variety of sports are supported, and making a living as a pro athlete is doable in a way that doesn't seem to have an equivalent in the US or Canada. Hopefully, someone on the East side of the Atlantic can comment, as I am curious.
not entirely true, a lot of german athletes are soldiers/police officers that are employed but can fully concentrate on their sport without having to work. kinda state sponsored athletes
Could also belong in the Disco/WC thread- Mbr mentioned (in their article about the new enduro/Kenevo patents) rumors about EDR being phased out in 2025 and only electric-assist racing moving forwards. That would create team move chaos (and be pretty lame).
Any merit to the rumor? Perhaps this is why you saw so many enduro names cut over or significantly invest in DH from mid last season?
Same for Slovenia, but it's also true only for olympic sports if I'm not mistaken, as you need a high enough status/clasification from the olympic committee to qualify for the job.
Also, car dealerships throwing a loaner car to the local athlete is nothing like what the Volvo Cannondale and similar sponsorships are like. Car sponsorships would be legit if they came from the factory, including a bag of money and a title sponsorship in the name of the team. That's what we're looking for. F1 is a car racing sport involving car brands. But the Mercedes F1 team is called Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. The Haas F1 team has a title sponsor and is named MoneyGram Haas F1 Team. And so on. THAT'S where the money comes in.
As for XC vs. gravity, is it possible XC is a more premium looking sport with gravity disciplines having a bit more of a hooligan taste to them? Thus not being as interesting for sponsors? Would big fat sponsors in DH make it more of a gladiator and a more premium sport, taking away the magic of the olden days?
Emily Batty had/has a Porsche Canada sponsorship.
You are correct, I should have remembered that.
Anyone else?
As mentioned previously, with XC being an Olympic sport, it makes it much more interesting as a sponsor to support because of more exposure.
In Canada, the money given to Olympic sports from Sport Canada is significantly higher than a sport that is not in the Olympics and the same can be said for a sport that fails to qualify for the Olympics. They can often lose their funding.
XC race's are longer so top athletes are on screen longer, and advertising for longer than a dh race. Less than 3min of screen time when its hard to get close up's makes advertising a little less attractive to sponsors.
Jack Moir has Brixton clothing, Knobby underwear and a local Toyota dealer as outside of the bike industry sponsors.
Australian Telco Boost sponsors Caroline Buchanan, Sian A'hern, Ellie Smith, Duke Millington as well as the Canonball Festival at Thredbo. Boost are also the Telco sponsor of the Thredbo Resort all year round. They also sponsor a bunch of surfers, moto riders, skate, snow and wake boarders, musicians and a car race team.
Australian underwear brand Knobby sponsor Caroline Buchanan, Sam Hill, Wyn Masters, Sian A'hern. Like Boost they also sponsor a bunch of surfers, moto riders, skate, snow and wake boarders, and water skiers.
The Specialized Gravity team are sponsored by Specialized clothing.
Assume he is free to ride any brand he wats for moto as they Specialized don't do a moto kit.
That makes sense, forgot he wasn’t on Fox anymore.
Jack has Yakima and Quadlock as well.
He had a Mitsubishi sponsorship previous to the current Toyota dealership deal.
Not about an athlete who is a racer but still on the topic of sponsorships from outside the sport. Remy Morton/flux trail have a sponsorship from toyota New Zealand
could you guys please make a seperate thread regarding athlete sponsoring and not derail the TEAM RUMORS thread with that discussion?
Seems like Frotha has something lined up for 2024. Thoughts on what it might be? I tried to embed the post, but it doesn't seem to be working for me right now.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzS86PNRCIY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Reese and Loris both wearing 6D helmets on instagram. I wonder if the nonsense with Kade really did kill the 100% deal 😂
Also regarding all of these “outside sponsorship” deals I’d bet my lunch that most of these are just product deals in return for a few social media posts. A couple of athletes getting a car for a year from a local dealership is a long way from the “big outside sponsorship dollar” that keeps coming up.
Someone from Vienna (Wien as it's known to Austrians and Germans) is a Wiener. Vali is from nearby Salzburg... Team YT Oscar Mayer with Vali and Andreas Kolb. I feel like a beer co-sponsor would be a no brainer too.
Without much to go on in early November, emphasis on the "silly" part of silly season.
You're dangling some seriously meaty sub-text sponsors. Now I'm hungry.
It's seem that I insulted the woke mentality folks lurking in this thread by stating they're woke if they get offended by juvenile inuendo.
And now...we've awoken their downvote button anger. They're probably furious that our comments don't disappear like on that woke site.
Any comments relating to the sexual orientation of a rider in the Team rumor thread is just childish. Keep it on topic
Nah dude. It just isn't funny. Neither the original post or your response. Saying as much isn't being "woke", and the need to bring up being anti-"woke" every time the majority of reasonable people deem something inane is the most unintentionally ironic "snowflake" behavior. I know you don't want to be a snowflake.
Back to rumors please.
Kade to join Deathgrip on the ultimate free-racer squad.
Not a rumor but Asa Vermette was on Payson McElven's podcast talking about how he got where he is and his plans for next year: https://www.paysonmcelveen.com/podcast/episode/7ca75dea/asa-vermette-th…
Includes a bonus mini-segment w/ Neko too...
In other Frameworks news, Neko confirmed, on the Downtime podcast, that Martin Whitely will be actually managing the Frameworks team this year (last year, he was more of a consultant with Neko managing).
or maybe its because the frame doesn't use an infinity link.
thatsthejoke.jpg?
Wishful thinking: Trans (Madeira, Stonekingralley, BC, Sierranorte,…) become a world tour in 2025 and will be known as Enduro Marathon… riders truth series.
Since I did Trans Madeira two years ago and Trans Nomad this year... Please no. These races are an experience first and foremost, keep it the way it is. The fees have gotten insane (2650 eur for Stone King Rally...), but still, it's an experience. Of course you race there, but it's more about experiencing new locations, food, terrain and meeting people you otherwise would never meet.
Post a reply to: 2024 TEAM RUMORS