Crankworx 2023
Analisa Wisdom
Rampage athletes get an appearance fee ever since 2015. Why not the slope guys? Most the slope guys dont actually make that much. I did Pretty good for 15 years. Id average probably 65K USD all said and done over those 15 years. Less when I started and the bigger years in the middle. That is sponsorships and winnings and any travel budgets. BUT I would spend at least 30k of that on traveling and expenses. So that 3k a month before taxes..... I lived in Vancouver BC which isnt cheap, it never fully covered living... I usually had a winter job. Did an interview for Vital actually with Spoomer on a tug boat once.
More goes into it than you see at the events. still have to train, you need a custom place to ride. Some of the guys have to buy parts. I thankfully never really had too. We all know parts arent cheap and as a slope guy, the bike gets beat.
I get where the riders are coming from. Maybe this isnt being handled in the best way.
I think it has to do more about the women's event, Equal pay for not equal shows, and the women getting paid to LAST place and the men not getting the same.
And No Rotorua has always been a PAY to enter venue. Its not like Whistler where its free. Its the only one like that. Its because the city of Rotorua is paying some big bucks to have Crankworx there and this is there means of subsidizing it. I believe its 10 bucks a day or 25 for the week.
Totally agree with you Mitch. Thank you for your first hand input. I made an account just for this topic alone. These guys are risking EVERYTHING to do what they do and they shouldn't be forced into a state of poverty if they're good enough to be dropping into some of the biggest events in this sport. I hope redbull and crankworx see this thread and I hope a collaboration can be had to make a change for these premier athletes so they can have a sense of security to continue doing what they love. That's the only way we'll get athletes who can make this sport their sole focus anyway. If they're concerned about finances when they want to be concerned about training, they're not concerned about training. If they've got the talent to make corporations money, give them the finances to advance the sport and not have them worrying about if they have enough money. I'm not saying exactly what was proposed by the riders or by crankworx is perfect. I'm just saying that clearly this sport is not as lucrative as it needs to be for rider sustainability and I think both parties want to change that. For the sake of the love of this sport, Please Change That
'why aren't the pros getting paid' Sponsorship is usally done on the bounds of Selling a Product, if a Rider is only worth 20k a year, that means the company thinks he sells X amount of bikes etc so they think that advertising is worth 20k.
sponsorship is mostly advertising.
Lets say Emil, Who Rides for trek - sells 50 bikes... lets say at 1500 profit and he Gets 26%( i doubt emil sells 50 bikes for trek a year.)
26% of sale profit is a HUUUUGE amount.
Point being... Basically nobody will rush out an buy a trek because emil can do what nobody else can on a bike - This is why Riders like 'slope bros' make stuff all. They are a trophy for a brand. thats it.
XC bikes etc have a huuuuge market hence so many road brands around that make XC bikes, The bike features play quite a big roll in sale of XC bikes as its all about the gains - just like road bikes... Put a guy like nino on your XC bike and he goes out an smashes a big win... Most Xc guys will go damn... clearly its effiecent etc enough for nino so I can gain aswell.
It is to cover costs of building tools, transport to and from the event, accommodation etc. Its amazing if you live close to the venue, but not so much if you have to fly from the UK with your builders, pay for hotels, truck rental etc. Brendog famously spent all his fee just to get there and build. I know there's more going on behind the scenes in both cases, but Rampage is not the best comparison as so much more goes into it for the riders (in terms of risk and investment). They don't just turn up and "ride".
Wow... I was already in the process of planning my trip to Whistler not only to ride, but to see my favorite riders in the Crankworx event this year. Of course everything is priced higher (flights, hotels, rental cars, etc.) due to the event, but I figured it's worth it to see all the pros compete.
I appreciate the riders being will to stand up for what they believe in. The big question I see here is simply "what is a slopestyle rider worth on the competitive stage?"
Frankly, I don't know the answer to that question. To add, I scratch my head a little bit to those saying "Red Bull makes a lot off these events". How? I honestly haven't done a deep dive, but I also don't a huge moneymaker for Red Bull on a generic slope event.
Rampage is the exception, not the rule. Crankworks Whistler the other exception. From my perspective, the rest of the slope events are pretty much in a vacuum. I'm not trying to take anything away from the insanely talented athletes who participate, I'm just saying their aim is completely wrong if they are trying to get paid. This is going to get some hate, but this has some WNBA type of vibes. I understand why they want to get paid and how it might seem unfair, but if you want to approach this with market dynamics in mind, you need to look at this more how Ronda Rousey approached fighting in the UFC (highest paid female fighter because she pulled eyeballs).
The product they are selling (a competition among peers) isn't something the market really cares too much about. If I were a rider, and looking to increase pay, I'd try and figure out how to increase the value of what I was "selling", which means you have to make it interesting across a large group of people and somehow monetize that group of people.
Case Studies: Supercross. Nitro Circus. Monster Truck Stuff etc.
I agree with this. Feel like the slopestyle circuit really doesn't pull the weight it used to anymore. Back in the day it was a huge deal when Crankworx came around. Now a days it's just another random event. Throw in the fact that there isn't much personality displayed in these events anymore and you have to wonder, wheres the investment in throwing a bunch of money at these athletes.
Yeah, you bring up a good point. Outside of this kerfuffle, Crankworks slope events literally get no attention. Easy proof? Look back at all the event coverage on VitalMTB (yes, I looked). Its not that the mods don't post them, its that nobody cares. Literally, I see next to no comments, no likes, no...nothing.
Those coming out of the woodwork here, where are you otherwise? Why are there zero forum posts about the riders, their gear, the tricks etc? Again, I'm not trying to take anything away from the riders, I'm just saying this is a completely non-relatable part of the sport to 99% of us. If we don't pay attention, the riders don't have value outside of "stuntmenship", which usually doesn't get you really paid unless you can do some "Ricky Bobby Jumps the Tower of Flames on NYE" type of thing...
Without knowing the specifics, I think it's hard to place blame on either side. We don't what the riders currently get and what they're asking for, and we don't know how profitable this event is and weather there really is a lot of money to throw out.
I've been going back and forth on this a lot.. One thing that I think a lot of people are missing is that I don't think Crankworx is a Redbull event like Rampage and Hardline. I was watching pump track this morning and there was no Redbull signage. I rewatched the first few runs from speed and style, same thing. I believe that Redbull is just the broadcast partner.
There seems to be a rumor going around that the women did get travel, lodging, and an appearance fee from the organizers. IF this is true, are they wrong to ask for the same? Like Mitch pointed out, the money to pay for all of this was set a long time ago. And if all of these demands are for the whole series, that makes for a big hole in the budget..
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