EWS Coverage & the overall ROI for companies sponsoring enduro racers

Stiksandstones wrote:

Sorry im late to party...Someone said earlier in here about enduro being more 'relatable' to the consumer (consumer being the ...more

Stiksandstones wrote:

Sorry im late to party...Someone said earlier in here about enduro being more 'relatable' to the consumer (consumer being the content watcher) and this is the argument i've heard, over and over and over "they ride the bikes we are selling". But why must 'relatable' be a selling point, 2 examples of completely non-relatable (Rampage for bikes and Formula 1 for cars) are things mortals can not do and in Rampage's case-the most watched MTB event in the world, and Formula 1 with an extremely high view rate.

Even take world cup DH, I see the viewership numbers they are pretty staggering (and multiple times more viewership than american supercross and certainly more than american outdoor motocross) and DH isn't exactly 'relatable' or even the 'bikes we sell'.

I guess the point is, every story can be told in a way that resonates with an audience, EWS just hasn't done it, yet. For me? it's been a bit too touristy, a bit too "were just having fun" and too many espressos. Someone also mentioned the Keene Redbull series, I don't recall the viewership on that, it might have been shit, but, the stories and insight were good, it showed me it's a serious sport, not just a bunch of guys and girls wasting their own money or their sponsors money.

As for ROI...well, the company I represent has some investment via athletes in EWS, when they win-we lean into it, when they have a shit weekend, it sucks, but, at the end of the day it's always told via marketing/sales strategies as the product we make has DNA/ethos/whatever buzzword from the high octane racing of EWS and UCI World Cup DH and World Cup BMX and that feedback, development, testing with these riders does count for something, as you all know they do things to gear/equipment that us mortals can't do....I mean, I ate shit friday after work, but that's not enough hahaha.

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That's interesting about the SX vs. RBTV DH viewing figures - is that domestic US viewership vs. Global RBTV figures?

Either way WCDH is watched the world over, and the web-player and phone app work perfectly, and come with stats etc...

The sad reality is a company like Discovery will not create a single point of viewing for WCDH or EWS coverage, they will sell it and distribute it to so many different platforms in different regions that the whole thing will lack the simple coherence RBTV provided.

Might be a saving grace for EWS coverage but a death kneel for DH?

Mr.Nally wrote:

One thing people seem to have not grasped fully is that the EWS have essential "dumbed down" the sharp end of the race series ...more

Mr.Nally wrote:

One thing people seem to have not grasped fully is that the EWS have essential "dumbed down" the sharp end of the race series to facilitate TV production.

The Pro-stage is all about TV, a stage that most often finishes near the paddock or a town, short enough to have multiple cameras placed on it and practiced once raced twice. So essential the pro stage idea was added to the racing to make TV. Like WRC has it's Power stage. Video the pro stage on Saturday, make a small live or Re-live show and then tell the story of the Sunday morning racing via social media. After that the races race the Pro-Stage again to finish the racing day and this like World Cup DH could be televised.

Obviously, course holds, schedule changes are just as likely for EWS as WCDH, but maybe harder to manage for EWS?

The possibility to televise and tell the EWS story is there and maybe this is why ESO want DH and EWS at the same venues? So they can use the DH/XCO TV equipment to televise EWS? As they know the viewing figures will not be there for EWS on it's own?

Sadly the addition of this Pro Stage ideas as really diluted what was once a physical and technically hard discipline. Now it's more of a riding not physical challenge. With 3 days to do a total of only ~2,500-3,000m of climbing and one stage you race twice, so the hours on the bike, the number of stages to learn etc... is greatly reduced compared to 2014-2018 seasons.

The racing is still great, but the visuals are poor compared to WCDH speeds and sadly for EWS it's always gonna be compared to DH.

What actually happens to EWS coverage and participation at the elite level now that ESO own DH, XCO and EWS is going to be interesting to see,

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Also seems to be a lot less climbing and more use of shuttles/lifts for liaison stages in recent years? I think back to the crazy Whistler Crankzilla EWS years ago. That was excessive, but as a fan it was cool to see the top athletes put in crazy race runs while fatigued, like TOTW down through RDS at race pace is just crazy let alone having to pedal 2500m+.

Mr.Nally wrote:

One thing people seem to have not grasped fully is that the EWS have essential "dumbed down" the sharp end of the race series ...more

Mr.Nally wrote:

One thing people seem to have not grasped fully is that the EWS have essential "dumbed down" the sharp end of the race series to facilitate TV production.

The Pro-stage is all about TV, a stage that most often finishes near the paddock or a town, short enough to have multiple cameras placed on it and practiced once raced twice. So essential the pro stage idea was added to the racing to make TV. Like WRC has it's Power stage. Video the pro stage on Saturday, make a small live or Re-live show and then tell the story of the Sunday morning racing via social media. After that the races race the Pro-Stage again to finish the racing day and this like World Cup DH could be televised.

Obviously, course holds, schedule changes are just as likely for EWS as WCDH, but maybe harder to manage for EWS?

The possibility to televise and tell the EWS story is there and maybe this is why ESO want DH and EWS at the same venues? So they can use the DH/XCO TV equipment to televise EWS? As they know the viewing figures will not be there for EWS on it's own?

Sadly the addition of this Pro Stage ideas as really diluted what was once a physical and technically hard discipline. Now it's more of a riding not physical challenge. With 3 days to do a total of only ~2,500-3,000m of climbing and one stage you race twice, so the hours on the bike, the number of stages to learn etc... is greatly reduced compared to 2014-2018 seasons.

The racing is still great, but the visuals are poor compared to WCDH speeds and sadly for EWS it's always gonna be compared to DH.

What actually happens to EWS coverage and participation at the elite level now that ESO own DH, XCO and EWS is going to be interesting to see,

...more

grambo wrote:

Also seems to be a lot less climbing and more use of shuttles/lifts for liaison stages in recent years? I think back to the ...more

grambo wrote:

Also seems to be a lot less climbing and more use of shuttles/lifts for liaison stages in recent years? I think back to the crazy Whistler Crankzilla EWS years ago. That was excessive, but as a fan it was cool to see the top athletes put in crazy race runs while fatigued, like TOTW down through RDS at race pace is just crazy let alone having to pedal 2500m+.

...more

I also remember back in the day, in France, enduro races were much longer and often on 2 days. There were very little shuttling and no practice. Like the tribe 10000 (for 10000m of vertical drop).
I guess it doesn't suit the media coverage and the way enduro is going nowadays.

StudBeefpile wrote:

Really miss your post race slide shows with interviews from Sven, Borris ect. Felt like that was some of the best insight into ...more

StudBeefpile wrote:

Really miss your post race slide shows with interviews from Sven, Borris ect. Felt like that was some of the best insight into racing we had.

Wish they went with a freeski world tour type of event/filming. Run the race and film it all Saturday, release to public Sunday with a well edited race video to watch with commentary.

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THIS!

Sorry for the slight off-topic, but I miss those so much too!

Maxipedia wrote:

THIS!

Sorry for the slight off-topic, but I miss those so much too!

Maxipedia wrote:

THIS!

Sorry for the slight off-topic, but I miss those so much too!

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No apologies Sir! They were the best and remain the benchmark for all to come.

I will agree with others - I miss Sven, Boris, etc getting the interviews. That's the thing that kept me coming back. Loved those, and loved the color. Could just be a podcast honestly and skip all the photos (though I love the photos)...

Oh well, something done and dusted I suppose...

jeff.brines wrote:

I will agree with others - I miss Sven, Boris, etc getting the interviews. That's the thing that kept me coming back. Loved ...more

jeff.brines wrote:

I will agree with others - I miss Sven, Boris, etc getting the interviews. That's the thing that kept me coming back. Loved those, and loved the color. Could just be a podcast honestly and skip all the photos (though I love the photos)...

Oh well, something done and dusted I suppose...

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They're still doing photos and some interviews for some races, on misspentsummers.com.

Looks like the coverage is improving a bit from Jamnica/Petzen vs. Tweed valley...

Bit of bike setup talk in here:

It isn't my best work but I will get the hang of it for this format.

Shakedown day could be a chance for me to get some of the extra content that you guys would like.

The interviews on race day would be sweet but I don't want to impose on the guys if they aren't comfortable having that kind of stuff published. I feel like them talking to me is a bit more personal than talking to the media guys. And honestly, Jack gets some really good footage of that stuff. His race day videos are pretty dang good...

jessemelamed wrote:

Bit of bike setup talk in here:

It isn't my best work but I will get the hang of it for this format.

Shakedown day ...more

jessemelamed wrote:

Bit of bike setup talk in here:

It isn't my best work but I will get the hang of it for this format.

Shakedown day could be a chance for me to get some of the extra content that you guys would like.

The interviews on race day would be sweet but I don't want to impose on the guys if they aren't comfortable having that kind of stuff published. I feel like them talking to me is a bit more personal than talking to the media guys. And honestly, Jack gets some really good footage of that stuff. His race day videos are pretty dang good...

...more

Great video and thanks for the insights!

Saw it yesterday and thought back to this thread