Flatland

Joined: A long time ago...

Does anyone see a problem with the upside down pyramid we have in terms of our consumer base? All of this discussion about flatland appreciation, and flatland as an "industry" has me looking at the spread, and "this shit is fucked".

What percentage of riders would you say are Experts/Pros? I'd say over 50%. Beginners/Amatuers don't exist for more than two years (accepting for the people that don't ride much, like myself, or the kids that progress super fast).

So you have less than 50% of riders buying product.

You have over 50% of riders expecting hand outs.

How can Nike pay it's pro athletes so much to endorse it's product? Because 50% of people that wear shoes aren't pro athletes. Think about it.

If every "bottom of the class pro" was sponsored and geting hooked up, who would be buying product? If no one is buying product, how can we expect to be able to afford to give complementary product?

This self-perpetuating cycle is what has lead Frost to his post titled "Flatland" the other day, basically telling people to get a job if they want to get pegs, and to stop holding their hands out and greedily expecting something.

Maybe we need more "shit kids" to support the industry. We need our feeder fish.

How would the sports supplement industry be fairing if all people who work out were pro/expert bodybuilders?

Cory

Joined: A long time ago...

I see where you are coming from and you make a excellent point, but i think you got somthing wrong, granted alot of people are expert/pro, but i wouldn't say people riding 2+ years are expert.

Myself been riding over two years now (just) and am no where near expert, in my opinion. And again in my opinion I dont think im a slow progresser. Who knows.

Flat UK

Joined: A long time ago...

Hey Cory,
I fully understand where you are comming from.
However you also need to look at the industry and then look at that some pro riders are getting big paychecks and some are getting peanuts or nothing.

so if a few riders are actually getting big dollars why are they and what type of companies are paying them this?

Yes the industry is currently getting smaller and more players are standing up to bat .... but you have to look at sales based over a long period of times to be able to predict social trends and marketing possabilities.

Its all about marketing and what you could be looking at is a problem with the types and methods that many of the small companies are using is non productive.

I cant go into it more, but basically its all about education and if a majority of a market is doing badly and each company is not doing to well and a few other companies are able to sponsor riders big time then there is obviously a huge education gap in terms of knowledge.
And if all these small companies are doing bad and have poor education to be able to change the situation then why do so many people look up to these companies?

Personally I like to see the pro bmx market doing shit for a few years so that we can finally shake off all this BS ass raping thats been going on for far too long and everyone has all just followed the crowd rather than looking at the situation and trying to look after and maintain the passion that they suposedly love.

I expect that Frost could have actually gone online and said the complete opposite and still gotten the same following just because of his "status" and untill riders are able to understand and question everything with information to back up any claims then we as a group of riders will never see the passion we love marketed or presented or even taken care of in the way we want or expect.

Joined: A long time ago...

its all about marketing again .....
and yes i agree there are many riders who dont
deserve flow or sponsorship compared to other riders
but marketing oneself is a skill in itself and riding
ability doesnt help automatically qualify for that in
this modern age.

3 years ago i heard of many riders having managers
and personal assistants, and now i understand better
why they needed them (because of the x hype and
the types of cash and negotiations arround them)

Joined:

To pick on TJ, since I think I know him well enough to know he won't take it personally, why would he deserve shoes, forks, etc if Justin is literally going without?