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!
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Thanks in advance,
The Vital MTB Crew
Rough day but thankfully they are all safe.
I took my kids down the river to watch their hero win the overall in MSA. When I told them this awful news, my ten year old asked me if I could send the Goldstone’s some love on the Vital forums. Please do so on our behalf; we’re thinking of your fam here in Montréal. ❤️
Man what a rollercoaster of events for them. We are all thinking of them and wish them nothing but the best in their recovery.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/media/warner-bros-discovery-for-sale-rcna238857
Welp.
Hey Redbull, buy back your rights?
Why don't more major components manufacturers take over the teams? Or at least the bulk of team costs? Continental Atherton seems like a model that could become much more widespread. With everything else in the bike industry looking like a strain on frame manufacturers...doesn't it make more sense to have parts manufacturers like Shimano or Continental be the lead sponsor? Or at least equal?! Would YT have basically screwed all their talented riders if they had been more significantly partnered with Continentall?
Pivot has an estimated 2025 annual revenue of $32 million.
-Santa Cruz has an estimated 2025 annual revenue of $89 million.
-Specialized has an estimated 2025 annual revenue of $2 billion.
-SRAM has an estimated 2025 annual revenue of $2 billion.
-Shimano has an estimate 2025 annual revenue of $3 billion.
-Maxxis has an estimated 2025 annual revenue of $4.5 billion.
-Continental has an estimated 2025 revenue of $42 billion.
At the very least it seems like there should be a lot of overlap between Bike manufacturers and tire companies, at least. It seems like the Commencal / Schwalbe and Continental Atherton should be the norm, especially, since tires are pretty much a constant. And jeez, don't tires have the highest profit margin, with $70+ retail for pretty much all brands.
Maybe even have resources shared between, for instance, Maxxis, with there being a Maxxis Mondraker, Maxxis Santa Cruz, Maxxis Yeti team, with some shared resources (pit areas, trucks, for instance).
I’ve long argued that unlocking more money in racing depends on bringing in more non-endemic,or at least semi-non-endemic, sponsors. Think Frameworks x WD-40.
The challenge is that I cross paths with a lot of marketers, and its incredibly hard to justify putting millions into such a niche sport when that same budget could go into Meta or YouTube ads. With digital, you get instant analytics, optimization tools, and far less career risk. You can still reach the same demographic, but in a way that’s more measurable and scalable...with no tough conversations with the boss (really, ever).
At the end of the day, racing is kept alive by culture, not economics. I haven’t seen a single case that proves otherwise.
BTW, where did you get those numbers?
Disney or Apple?
Thanks
Really sorry to hear that bad news. Sending some positive thoughts to the whole family there from just down the road on the North Shore.
My spouse and I lost everything to an apartment fire back in 2009. From our experience I am hopeful your insurance process goes smoothly. Ours went well but other owners in our building didn't have a positive experience in trying to recover from the fire.
Keep in mind that’s revenue for all Maxxis products and we make waaaaaay more than just bike tires. In the grand scheme of things, bike makes up a small part of that revenue.
Believe me, I’m always trying to get my hands on some of that auto marketing budget!
“what is the expected 2025 annual revenue of _______. “ Google. Sorry, I should have disclosed. No claim to accuracy—I’m just turned-on by the idea of elevating the sport beyond the decades-old model of 1. frame-sponsor / co-sponsor.
It’s likely to be the (dubiously legal) attention economy/old media roll-up that the Ellison family is creating.
Look at the World Tour of road cycling. Most of those teams do not have a title sponsor that is cycling centric. Often times automotive, grocery, or foreign nations are the title sponsors. Then you look at other racing such as cars (yes cars will see oil sponsors and such). Moto racing reflects the same. Their bikes and cars will have the logos of the supporting brands, but it's the car/moto brand that is most front and center.
The big reason I don't think we frequently see component manufacturers being the title sponsor, their product is much less visible. The frame is a giant billboard. Beyond that, it is hardly ever mentioned on race coverage of what components they are riding, just the frame is mentioned and clearly displayed. Brands want their products visible. Those in the know, know. But the common viewer only sees the frame.
Racing does not make any company money. It is likely the most expensive and lowest ROI marketing a brand can do. Most are in it because there is a love for racing or it is used as product development/testing.
Ah, good point. Funny enough, I actually dug into this about a year ago and learned that in most cases, these sponsorships, regardless of the sport, exist because there’s an evangelist high up in the company. Someone who genuinely loves it. They probably know it’s not the best use of marketing dollars, but they’re passionate and, frankly, hard to fire. It really helps if there is a culture around supporting these things, too (WD-40 has this culture).
My dad actually knew the guy who owned Interstate Batteries back in the day. He loved NASCAR. For him, it wasn’t about ROI, it was about having a team and being part of something he cared about.
Ultimately we are saying the same thing, and I'd bet as the mtb population gets older and a lucky/hard working/super smart few rise to the top of the income ladder, you'll see more jockeying to support teams merely for the cool factor. Supporting racing is almost more like supporting your college booster club or "sponsoring" a football player than it is pure play ROI.
Remember, mtb is really a new sport, especially the "modern" or "grown up" variant. We're probably a decade off of really seeing what I just described, but again, I'd wager we will...
EDIT: This was the era my pops was around Interstate (finance consultant...shocking). Anyway, Norm Miller apparently wouldn't stop talking about how cool this commercial was, showing it to anyone who was in earshot and would come into his office - a different era! https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16Bn3Yj8ny/
I think you are certainly right in this. It gives me hope for the future of racing.
Michael Jordan sponsors a NASCAR team for what I understand to be a similar reason. He loves watching racing, being involved in it and getting to be in the pits. Passion for competition and racing is really what drives that side of sport. That is what gets the money into it. The Waltons have invested so heavily in cycling because of their love for the sport. They just haven't (perhaps yet) gotten into the top level racing piece as much.
I'll bet that if Jordan went to a downhill race, he'd LOVE it! And who wouldn't want a pair of Air Jordan downhill shoes?!
I know if I was a multi millionaire I'd start a DHI team, and I'm sure a lot of you would too. But we are mere peasants.
There are some celebrities who are interested in DH, there has to be.
What about CEO's/Entrepreneurs/Billionaires? Someone like Rod Drury (Queenstown billionaire and mtb rider/fan) could change the sport in a massive way.
Someone needs to talk to Reggie Miller about a team.
Sam Hill is in India racing
V+R Racing is just two mere peasants (well, a nurse and a medical device engineer). When we started out in 2019 the two of us were just buying DH bikes for junior riders who needed them. Many seasons and many riders later, we had two world cup DH juniors in '25 with one finishing second overall and the other finishing 10th overall. We obviously can't afford our own team, but we can still be a hat/helmet sponsor. I'm still driving my 16 year old car - it just comes down to priorities for us. And we're proof it doesn't have to be a full DH team. Supporting a local regional rider is pretty cool to and we did that for many years.
We've reached out to some celebrities to try and get some partnerships (and bring in bigger financial resources), but so far, no takers. So V+R will just stay V+R for now. Might be a refreshed logo in '26 though.
The 'estimated' revenue numbers posted were pretty hilarious.
Reminds me of that one time, I got cornered in Andorra World Cup while eating breakfast, by a certain top american DH guy's agent/mentor/preacher...I was in a contract negotiation with said rider during my time for a gear brand I worked for in that moment, dude says "listen man, we're just trying to get ____ his share of the billions you guys are making".....I literally spit out my Muesli while laughing.
So yeah, estimates....funny.
Truer words have never been spoken. A certain moto team I know, i'd say half the logos on that rig are buddies who just want access to the free lobster tacos in the race trucks hospitality and get to bring the kids into the truck and open some drawers.
Vali looks back at her somewhat unusual season, which ended with the usual results:
Not sure what thread to post this in , so it's going here 😅.
Before the Vital Raw budget is decided for 2026 can I petition @sspomer , Lawlor and the corporate powers that be?
I'd love to see this year's fast junior men all in one raw edit, maybe if they are all in NZ this winter?
Alran Bros. , Vermette, Waite, Clarke, Williamson etc .. ?
Thanks in advance
A litlte more somber... but the amount of people bitching about Yeti "only" putting up 10k toward Adolf Silva's Road to Recovery fund made me realize how wildly people overestimate the profitability of bike brands. Could they do more? Possibly... but 10k isn't just a "rounding error on a spreadsheet" (to borrow a popular phrase) to a company of that size, imo.
Now Redbull/Monster is a whole different story and the "rounding error" catchphrase might apply a little more there.
Red Bull spends roughly 3 billion a year on marketing. There’s no pressure for them to help, it won’t change their bottom line.
We also don't have any idea whether or not that's all Yeti is contributing. Just because they made that public doesn't mean that's the extent of it. Same with Monster. Everyone is demanding to know how they're helping out. Red Bull doesn't post how much they spend on athlete injury expenses/rehab/etc when someone like Jackson or Finn or Gee or Emil gets injured, but obviously they continue helping out. Why is everyone automatically assuming Monster doesn't do the same?
Hard MTB League Live Replay. It was a really rad weekend and IMO, the concept will work. Excited to see how it all turns out and what you all think. i have some thoughts written here and am adding more pics over the next bit. - https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/hard-mtb-league-its-going-work
Thank you!
I’m gonna watch this as I fold laundry. Zero spoileration potential and I want to see if the weird money guy backer shows up, as I remember his cult vibes were entertaining. And it seemed obstacle course silly, which I like. Maybe we’ll have MTB Kasso in a couple years…one can dream.
Here we go.
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