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7/14/2011
Location
Valdosta, GA
US
Edited Date/Time
6/1/2015 3:21pm
After reading through pit bits, the Muscle Milk Honda team was not allowed to run it's sponsor's cameras? Can they really do that? Sharing video publically is one thing if GoPro owns the broadcast rights but not permitting them to even run them? That's like Monster not allowing Dungey or Stewart to have Red Bull cans on stage.
Should everyone ride just Kawis because they are the main sponsor?
Should everyone only use Amsoil?
Should everyone only drink Monster while they are there?
You get my point, the list is endless.
I wonder how they get away with this? I love GoPro, but don't really like this idea that other's can't use their cameras while competing.
The Shop
Doesn't the "unauthorized" footage only come into play if the teams try and publish it and/or make money off it? If they simply use it for "personal/team use" how is that any different than if they've got a team member with a video camera up in the VIP area filming the riders during practice/heats/main?
It's probably all about $$$, and GoPro has the big $$$ right now to spend.
If I pay for exclusive rights and another company shows up , I want something done about it.
The people who try to piggy back their way in are ruining it , it's all about ownership and if any one of us were having our ownership infringed on we would stand up to it.
The challenge is the fact that GoPro likely had an exclusive helmet-cam/POV contract with the series that does not allow any other cameras to be displayed on the athletes, let alone the footage used. It has nothing to do with the quality of the product, but a pre-existing contract with obligations to the promoter. The teams can display whatever logos they want on the side of the shrouds, tanks, jerseys, trucks, or pits, be it a video camera logo (but not the camera itself) or an energy drink or goggles, oil, casual wear, whatever.
But on the track, the series has deals in place and you won't see Rockstar or Red Bull or any other energy drink anywhere but on the riders clothes or on the side of the bikes. The same goes for outdoors, and the same goes for GPs, I am guessing. Riders can wear stickers on their bikes or helmets, or in their pits and on the podium, but you won't see them anywhere else on or around the track.
Helmet cams are rapidly evolving products that are growing in popularity and applications, but that wasn't the case a few years again when GoPro was the first to really get into the sport. They are not "necessary," so a rider wearing one on his helmet is different than using a different oil than the series sponsor or riding a different bike. Maybe that will change as the products usage evolves, but they still can't be worn on helmets until the current contract is finished.
And before you throw the NASCAR model out at this, all of those cameras inside cars are series-related, not just what the teams want to wear. And NASCAR is very strict about the usage.
The funny thing about all of this is that I used to wear the helmet cam when I was the pit reporter on TV because no actual racer would wear the thing (it was much heavier and required a back pack for the batteries and recorder). Now they are so small and light, and the ability to post online or on Facebook or wherever has so completely changed, everyone wants to wear one.
DC
MX Sports
Feld?
AMA?
(oops, just reread, and you said "the promoter" sorry)
I understand the argument of "exclusive sponsor" but that shouldn't mean the riders are not permitted to utilize a different product if they should choose. It would make more sense if they couldn't advertise said product but use was unlimited. I think back to days as a kid growing up when we saw Jeff Ward's mechanic pouring Kawasaki 2 stroke oil into Bel-Ray bottles.
Pit Row
And ga_pike, I think the energy drinks are much more vital and necessary to the survival of the teams than helmet cams, so they are given more leeway when it comes to being down around the podium with bottles -- and those bottles are show after the race, not during. There's not a single sport out there that has a purely open market for anyone to come in and do what they want, so this is not a situation unique to our sport.
Like I said, the POV market is rapidly evolving and could very well become the next energy drink market, but I don't think anyone could have guessed that a few years ago, just as no one saw the benefits that energy drinks would bring into moto and everything else.
DC
MX Sports
I don't know what's written into GoPro's sponsorship deal, but I'm pretty sure there's a limited amount of cameras allowed on the track, even among the GoPro riders. GoPro is allowed broadcast rights to the footage, and even that is limited to a certain length each week.
Personal opinion? I do think it's odd that Honda can't even run dummy "cameras" on a fender or helmet to help support one of their sponsors.
I bet they didn't even have a bidding war for those exclusive rights. Let's not encourage monopoly for sponsors and their staked "claims."
As to your last point, I'd rather bank the $500K than muck around trying to pull together multiple smaller sponsor deals that may or may not work out.
Whenever I see a Yankie reality show on tv here, everything is blurry!
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