All

At the end of the day, all of us are working off assumptions.. Like I said previously, if I were one of the organizers, I'd open up the books for the riders to see. As for the rider's expenses, it's a bit easier to estimate with a bit of homework.. But, even if done on the cheap, it's still expensive. Especially if traveling from the US or Europe to New Zealand. As a former manager once told me, the perfect compromise is one that leaves nobody completely happy. The rider's could have had everything but the appearance fees.. I can't...

Last piece of the puzzle is that someone will find out what the venue/event organizer is making off the comp & if they're being greedy, unreasonable...or are just too lazy to bother properly funding the promotion in advance with sponsors/grants/contract distribution agreements/etc. In the end, if we find out the event promotor told riders in advance we have the name recognition, the course and the cameras...but we're on a shoestring budget and they show up THEN complain...it's a whole different story.

Again (big fan of irony here), if riders want the general public to back them here, they'd publish $$$ numbers for what they're getting paid to show, compete and/or bonuses for positions. They' publish the money that's being offered by the organizers. They'd publish the money the excluded or financially shorted riders are NOT getting. They'd publish the cost to compete, travel expenses, etc You got a bubble gum company tossing you free product? Let us know. We can't be for you and you can't have leverage/discussion/footholds in a dispute with a venue/organizer if you issue vague statements without giving...

I'm liking this less and less from the riders the more I think about it and the more that comes out. Looks like Crankworx was willing to play ball and met them on most their issues, and for the money one, they even made some adjustments for that. If the riders boycotted simply for the fact the Crankworx isn't funding all their personal costs, I kinda agree with Crankworx. No one is forcing the riders to go and to travel to these events. If you can't afford to do it, then so be it, you can't go. Like they're essentially...

The DH privateers have been doing it for years and no one of you “solidarity” guys batted an eyelid… until Wyn started helping out. A few guys donated to help his fund, but the rest did even more and double tapped on instagram.

Similar to what you were touching on, I think that exploring appearance fees could lead to very unequal outcomes. I bet Emil makes bank while people like Isted were scouring ebay to find a frame to compete a year ago. If the riders' value is that disparate for sponsors, it will also be for the people with the purse strings of an appearance fee.

I don't toss all the nuance of my thoughts into these quips. But yes...and NO. Part of the irony (huge fan) is they want input on safety but have careers being the most unsafe guys there are for zero dollars. And the TikTok thing was to point out they don't make money either way. 95% of slopestyle guys make nothing online. They make nothing on paper. They get a frame and some parts and some clothes. Maybe a per diem for food. It's a vagabond sport. Tom V literally rides a bike that doesn't exist for sale anywhere...for the better...

Probably nothing. It's all part of their massive marketing budget. If they don't sponsor crankworx it wouldn't change their sales either. Red Bull's profits in 2023: €1.56 billion They print money. Crankworx is a rounding error on a balance sheet.

https://www.bikemag.com/news/crankworx-responds-to-slopestyle-athletes Did Crankworx have a response to the riders' requests? Is the series open to appearance fees? "After receiving the athletes’ letter, Crankworx and the local organizing committee (LOC) assessed and addressed all three demands. While two of the demands have been answered with immediate action as well as written commitment, the third demand requested a EUR 2,000 appearance fee per athlete per Crankworx World Tour festival (a total of EUR 184,000 for the 2024 Crankworx World Tour). As Crankworx is the organizer of professional sports events within the Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championship (SWC), no attendance fee can be...

I guess rather than comparing to NFL, NHL, MLB, etc, why don't we compare to enduro, dh and xc privateers? How many go years without a decent sponsorship, but manage to make it work. Lot of these guys work their asses off in the off season so they can do spend the summer racing all over Europe and North America. What makes the slope guys different? What makes them different than the other disciplines at CW? If they start to get appearance fees and travel expenses, is CW going to start giving the same to the other CW athletes? I...

X games has a network TV deal though. I doubt CW has that type of revenue stream...

X games Had worldwide Recognition, non sports people knew about it or the people involved. Nobody outside of knowing full well what crankworx is, knows about slopestyle... They wouldnt even have a clue to who the riders were. Slopestyle is a Very small part of the bike world. small enough the sponsors dont pay heaps because........... its a small market that has no value..................

I don't think there was that much on the line... Maybe if he won the Hardline series.. But, who knows what's in his Redbull and Santa Cruz contracts..

Union guy here and they definitely have their positives and negatives especially as they get larger. The reason people compare this to other sports even though they are making millions more is that the events are not paying them the sponsors or teams are. Even look at Olympic sports they literally put their lives on the line and train/compete for years to get a gold medal. Yeah the government kicks in some money but most work full time jobs as well. They do it because they want to compete and be the best not for the payday.

sort of, I'm a unionist in the sense that if your job was to stop, society would to a degree falter. For example, I work in Electricity Transmission. A service that not many think about, but critical to almost everything we do as a society. 12 dudes stop riding some bikes, world keeps spinning my dude. The bike industry literally wouldn't blink an eyelid. So to a degree, have a union, but make sure your actions have impact on the industry you are in.

sounds likely haha I've been on both sides in various roles - Most, atleast in NZ Unionized Companies struggle as Unions push push push, They dont care if the company survives which is actually worse. however, pay agreements are simpler as its just a wide sweep overal but there is always so much arguing from members who dont agree blah blah. currently in a management role At a unionized company and its Cut throat stuff trying to balance markets while all the workers want to strip us of any revenue/profits - Our main complaint is machinery thats broken down etc...

One could argue the riders need Crankworx more than Crankworx needs the riders. If there's no slopestyle contest, Crankworx is still a massive mountain bike festival that helps grow the sport, and all that changes is one event gone. If the riders lose the Crankworx slopestyle, that's a big media exposure gone for them and their sponsors now. It's a bit of a tightrope they have to walk. Would not be surprised if Crankworx plays a bit of hardball

So take it to the other extreme. If I work on a car, the owner doesn't pay me. They pay the shop I work for, the shop pays me. A plumber doesn't get a check from the homeowner, the plumbing company does and then pays the guys who work. The riders "work" for their sponsors and their team. If Redbull is one of their sponsons and extends an appearance fee at a RB (or any other) event, great. That would be in the contract they signed with Redbull for the sponsorship. Is Rebull (rider sponsorship) even the same company as...

Theres so many sloperiders on Facebook whinging the opposite lol. one of the riders who was ment to ride at Crankworx Abused the sh!t outta me, taking personal shots... I sent all the info to their sponsor and After about 6 hours theyd gone back an deleted all their comments on every post haha