2024 Racing Talk

sspomer
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12/14/2023 8:35am Edited Date/Time 12/14/2023 8:36am

so b/r add-on is free until feb 24, then "starting" at $9.99. like dolface and others, i was fine to pay for gcn, a dedicated cycling app with a decent price, but not $20/mo for a bunch of other stuff.

if i was a brand/sponsor of a world cup DH team, i'd be bummed. there is no way race program viewership will be worthwhile thanks to this change. let's hope juniors are still free on youtube (not holding breath for that either).

11
sharpy212
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12/14/2023 8:42am Edited Date/Time 12/14/2023 8:44am

Final nail in the coffin ⚰️ 

 

and shout out to everyone that used to complain when Redbull was running the show…. for free! 

12
sspomer
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12/14/2023 8:44am

should we place bets on disco seeing the poor viewership and sub #'s after ft bill and then saying, "yeah, it's not worth paying to broadcast these anymore." cost/view has to be astronomical. (sorry for the dark outlook...sort of).

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hogfly
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12/14/2023 8:56am

What a bummer. I have Max (I can't even remember why, now.. I think to watch Last of Us and Game of Thrones... then I've kept it waiting to see if it was going to allow for WC viewing. Since it's not... I'll likely cancel, now. Not going to pay an additional fee for a service I hardly use already).

 

1
mfoga
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12/14/2023 9:01am

I have max for free so 9.99 is not as bad as i expected what was GCN per month I can't remember.

Still not sure I'll bother unless it has a lot more I am interested in but doubt it. 

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chriskief
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12/14/2023 9:02am Edited Date/Time 12/14/2023 9:04am

https://ucimtbworldseries.com/news/max-to-welcome-live-cycling-in-the-u…

Through its global distribution, Warner Bros. Discovery has a proud cycling heritage and is well-known for broadcasting cycling in all its forms to viewers around the world, harnessing the sport’s foremost experts including two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, former World Road Race champion Philippe Gilbert, 17-year ex-pro and fan favorite Jens Voigt and 24-time Grand Tour stage winner Robbie McEwen to help better connect viewers with the sport during key events.

You'd think the MTB press release would have updated this paragraph.

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Ahab
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12/14/2023 9:03am

That just freed up 7 Saturday mornings to ride bikes

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All-MTN-MTB
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12/14/2023 9:09am

Yeah that's way more money than it's worth it to me, especially with only 7 DH rounds a year. If they raced almost every weekend for the majority of the year like other racing disciplines (i.e. supercross/motocross) then it might be easier to stomach, but even then... 

If world cup racing continues in this direction, I would imagine it'll just end up being another obscure Euro sport with an independent MTB scene in North America that's not as race focused - similar to alpine ski racing in Europe and more of a freeski scene in North America.

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DubC
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12/14/2023 9:26am

So you would need 6 months at $20/month with adverts or $26 with no ads. ~$17 per race with ads or ~$26 per race w/o ads. That's a pretty steep per race cost. 

 

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sspomer
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12/14/2023 9:32am

maybe their strategy is to just make it less painless to go to the race instead of watch online?

9
12/14/2023 9:36am

Its truly remarkable how much they are fucking up bike racing. I really wanted this to go well, and I had a pretty good amount of faith that Chris Ball was going to do a good job because of how cool the early enduro years were, but this is totally unacceptable.

There are so many negatives coming with the new organization that I could see the riders striking. If I was a sponsor of World Cup racing, I'd be getting really worried thinking about how much the viewership is going to shrink with these changes. I want eyeballs on my racers and products, and putting WC racing on some obscure, expensive streaming platform in the world's biggest economy seems utterly misguided. In Canada they didn't even offer an alternative platform to GCN+ in their email telling me they are shutting it down. This is to say nothing of the hatchet job they appear to be doing to enduro... 

14
12/14/2023 9:41am

No one watches.

no one pays.

no one knows that racing rules.

and then my kids choose to play soccer 

we should bring NORBA venues back, make a national circuit, fill it with privateers and cover it with a vital broadcast. Raw preferred. 
there I said it 

10
piggy
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12/14/2023 9:42am

There’s a motocross discord out there that magically provides streaming to members. Wonder if we couldn’t do the same with mtb racing. 

3
Salespunk
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12/14/2023 9:56am

I don't think many people realize that we are not the target market for Discovery.  MTB is a side show to road racing and even cross racing.  Regarding the cost, they will figure it out.  Shooting the moon right now and my guess is that if viewer rates get too low then they will make adjustments.

Personally looking at it, having Disney+Max+Peacock+Paramount is less expensive than cable TV ($120/mo), YouTube TV($99/mo), etc and you get all of the shows you would normally watch on cable like F1, football, baseball and others.  Just pay attention to what you really watch and adjust accordingly.

dirty booger
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12/14/2023 10:08am

I pay a whopping $2 a month to watch motorcross and supercross on Peacock. I'd do that for DH, but no more (especially with Rick and Cedric).

Tiz-Cycling streamed all the WC DH finals last year. Sometimes the feed would get cut, but then a new one would pop up. I saw every final and paid zero $ to do so.

I bet it will be out there again for free you'll just have to dig for it. We need a dedicated thread for that.....Smile

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bcurrancy
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12/14/2023 10:14am

I've never even heard of Max let alone B/R, has anyone actually used these services? At least discovery plus seemed like a somewhat useful subscrioption in general, and GCN+ was fairly reeasonably priced if you just paid while races were happening...

chriskief
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12/14/2023 10:23am
bcurrancy wrote:
I've never even heard of Max let alone B/R, has anyone actually used these services? At least discovery plus seemed like a somewhat useful subscrioption in...

I've never even heard of Max let alone B/R, has anyone actually used these services? At least discovery plus seemed like a somewhat useful subscrioption in general, and GCN+ was fairly reeasonably priced if you just paid while races were happening...

Max is the name of the combined HBO Max + Discovery Plus service. 

https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/12/23677909/hbo-discovery-combined-max-…

12/14/2023 10:34am

2023 races were available for free in France through lequipe.fr/tv. I imagine it will be blocked out of the country, but then you can use a vpn. The races were possible to watch live or at any later time. Only negative was commentary - they have Sabrina Jonier there and she is not made for commentating... Oh and it's obviously in French.

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gibbon
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12/14/2023 10:45am Edited Date/Time 12/14/2023 10:48am
2023 races were available for free in France through lequipe.fr/tv. I imagine it will be blocked out of the country, but then you can use a...

2023 races were available for free in France through lequipe.fr/tv. I imagine it will be blocked out of the country, but then you can use a vpn. The races were possible to watch live or at any later time. Only negative was commentary - they have Sabrina Jonier there and she is not made for commentating... Oh and it's obviously in French.

Still more understandable than Cedric screaming vowels in English.

4
bnflynn
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12/14/2023 10:51am
Salespunk wrote:
I don't think many people realize that we are not the target market for Discovery.  MTB is a side show to road racing and even cross...

I don't think many people realize that we are not the target market for Discovery.  MTB is a side show to road racing and even cross racing.  Regarding the cost, they will figure it out.  Shooting the moon right now and my guess is that if viewer rates get too low then they will make adjustments.

Personally looking at it, having Disney+Max+Peacock+Paramount is less expensive than cable TV ($120/mo), YouTube TV($99/mo), etc and you get all of the shows you would normally watch on cable like F1, football, baseball and others.  Just pay attention to what you really watch and adjust accordingly.

I think this is the right take. The current audience for MTB racing is small compared to those other sports. The goal is to bundle MTB with the mainstream sports in order to maybe get some of those people to watch MTB, not the other way around. This is their plan to grow the audience. 

I don't know how good the coverage is for other sports in B/R, but if it is good, then the price isn't bad. Regular cable has excluded most sports channels for a long time now, and you always had to pay for the most expensive package just to get mainstream sports, with a small chance of getting the less popular sports. This is basically the same idea.

Not to be that guy, but everyone complains that there isn't any money in MTB, and then in the next breath complain that they can't get race coverage for free. Which do you want more?

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dolface
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12/14/2023 10:52am
Salespunk wrote:
I don't think many people realize that we are not the target market for Discovery.  MTB is a side show to road racing and even cross...

I don't think many people realize that we are not the target market for Discovery.  MTB is a side show to road racing and even cross racing.  Regarding the cost, they will figure it out.  Shooting the moon right now and my guess is that if viewer rates get too low then they will make adjustments.

Personally looking at it, having Disney+Max+Peacock+Paramount is less expensive than cable TV ($120/mo), YouTube TV($99/mo), etc and you get all of the shows you would normally watch on cable like F1, football, baseball and others.  Just pay attention to what you really watch and adjust accordingly.

MTB+some CX are the only things I watch. I have no use for any of the other stuff they’re bundling in. 

2
ss7a
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12/14/2023 11:30am

I have Max through optimum tv and seems the BR Sports category is included.  In other words WC DH is free for me next year.  

Don't a ton of American households have Max to begin with or am I wrong?

Ahab
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12/14/2023 11:35am Edited Date/Time 12/14/2023 11:36am
ss7a wrote:
I have Max through optimum tv and seems the BR Sports category is included.  In other words WC DH is free for me next year.   Don't...

I have Max through optimum tv and seems the BR Sports category is included.  In other words WC DH is free for me next year.  

Don't a ton of American households have Max to begin with or am I wrong?

Check the fine print, you got me all warm and tingly and then i saw this:

The Bleacher Report (B/RSports Add-On is the place for premium sports content, including more than 300 live events per year. B/R Sports is a new add-on available to all Max subscribers on us through February 29, 2024. 

smelly
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12/14/2023 11:35am

At the risk of exposing myself as the Luddite I am, how exactly do you watch this? They’ve made this as confusing as possible. You need a Max subscription, then the B/R add-on? Which maybe is included? Or maybe Max is included with B/R? I don’t watch any tv or have any subscriptions except the GCN subscription I had last year. 

I actually don’t mind paying $10 or $20 a month as I like to watch races while riding the trainer/rollers, so more racing means I’d spend more time training.  And I reckon most of us would be down to pay IF it meant more money for the riders - but it doesn’t, it just fills the WB larders. 

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ss7a
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12/14/2023 11:39am
ss7a wrote:
I have Max through optimum tv and seems the BR Sports category is included.  In other words WC DH is free for me next year.   Don't...

I have Max through optimum tv and seems the BR Sports category is included.  In other words WC DH is free for me next year.  

Don't a ton of American households have Max to begin with or am I wrong?

Ahab wrote:
Check the fine print, you got me all warm and tingly and then i saw this: The Bleacher Report (B/RSports Add-On is...

Check the fine print, you got me all warm and tingly and then i saw this:

The Bleacher Report (B/RSports Add-On is the place for premium sports content, including more than 300 live events per year. B/R Sports is a new add-on available to all Max subscribers on us through February 29, 2024. 

Great find!  Let's see what happens.  If I've gotta pay a supplemental $10 / month I have no problem with that.  I'd gladly pay $5 / hr to enjoy some world cup live racing.  Take my money

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ARonBurgundy
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12/14/2023 12:57pm
sspomer wrote:
so b/r add-on is free until feb 24, then "starting" at $9.99. like dolface and others, i was fine to pay for gcn, a dedicated cycling...

so b/r add-on is free until feb 24, then "starting" at $9.99. like dolface and others, i was fine to pay for gcn, a dedicated cycling app with a decent price, but not $20/mo for a bunch of other stuff.

if i was a brand/sponsor of a world cup DH team, i'd be bummed. there is no way race program viewership will be worthwhile thanks to this change. let's hope juniors are still free on youtube (not holding breath for that either).

As someone who works for a brand that sponsors numerous WC teams, this is supremely disappointing. 

4

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