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Saw this video linked in another thread by a new account making an uncouth comment, rolled my eyes and clicked it, saw the thumb pic and expected to see a hateful pile-on, but after watching it all for me it raised a few valid points and criticisms.
So I thought it deserved it's own thread and interested to hear others thoughts.
only a couple mins in but I just had to comment something, wht mrtl doing with Jett & even wht brian & haiden doing with the YouTube with the merch & marketing wise , their opening doors for moto athletes or motorsports athletes in general to make more outside extra money. u see it in the NFL now more than ever & even in NCAA now with the NIL deals , branding is everything
Deion Sanders did a great job marketing himself, "Prime Time" and way before him Joe Namath.
Sports are athletes who also "entertain" the masses. Vince McMahon became a billionaire by getting people to feed in to scripted matches.
The world's a stage and each of us play a part. 😉
More power to Jett or any of the riders if they can cash in on their success. I'd grab every darned dollar I could while the grabbin is good!
funny u mentioned tht cause I seen a random comment on 1 of the NFL groups im in & homie said nowadays with everything going on & the amount of money thts tied into these sports & organizations, the landscape has changed to where it’s not even about the foundation & integrity of the said sport , it’s about making the product the most entertaining for its audience , some not goona get it but I understood wht he meant cause if u think bout it , football is not even football anymore and the Taylor swift marketing joint with Travis & the chiefs is proving tht
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I think the point he makes that they probably didnt expect the family to be soooo successful and make so much money so fast is probably true, so they could have lost the motivation to chase growth and more money because theyre already getting it while laying low. I honestly cant blame them if thats the case. Ive always felt that fame blows, but money is great, so if you can get rich without being famous thats ideal. Many ppl in the publics eye like Jett is would have to become more and more famous to get super rich, and whore themself out as an influencer on social media, but since hes been winning absolutely everything its actually given him the opportunity to just make money racing and not have to worry about all of the fame/influencer/promotion bullcrap. I cant say I blame him.
Hes made a shit ton of money so far, become a mega star within our sport, is banging a famous singer, but can still go to the grocery store like a normal person and 99% of ppl wont know who he is. Thats a win imo. Travis Pastrana who was used as the example in the video would definitely get noticed out in public and cant just act like a normal person and not be noticed. I think I can see why he may have wanted to not get too famous after hes essentially gotten everything that he wants so far.
Interesting watch, the issue is that I think Jett, Hunter, and the whole Lawrence family are now more focused on just completely dominating the sport rather than taking on the onus of being the ones who according to this have the responsibility of growing the sport.
And why should it be up to them, when everytime they've tried to do something different they just get shut down, they set up a donut shop at every race, everyone complained, they have a VIP experience which was not unique to them but they copped all the flack for it, it seems that everytime that they do try and do something its met with criticism, so I'm guessing they're focusing on themselves and reaping the benefits for themselves which they have every right to IMO
Another new wrinkle is the on-line legal gambling on sports now. Several players have already been suspended for gambling (Calvin Ridley) for a season. Pete Rose banned from the HOF, NBA ref banned, etc...Money has a way of making people do funny things. Could get interesting.
this is a really great point. Jett has become so corporate -- just focusing on wins. He really has the potential to become a star. My hope is that once he starts racking up these championships pretty easily, he loosens up a bit and gets a little bored and starts focusing on more outside sponsorships and pastrana esque activities.
"Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars Agree to 5-Year, $275M Contract Extension".
Moto being a niche sport they are underpaid (even Jett). Would love to see these guys make more money. By the way, NBA, NFL, MLB are unionized. 💰
Why is this on Jett though ? Isn't winning championships his first priority to himself and the team ?
Even with all the great work that Pastrana has done did it really bring that many new fans to the sport ?
And what about all the past champions before him, MC, RC, JS they had the same opportunity that Jett has and did they really do everything they could do to grow the sport ?
As a moto fan I think we have the best sport in the world but growing the sport in the ways this video goes on about is not up to just Jett IMO, the promoters should be doing that, that's what they get paid for
I definitely agree with you on the point that it shouldn't be up to Jett to grow the sport by himself and it really is a promoter thing.
But one of the points in that video was that both Myrtle and Jett have both said in the past that this is what they want to do.
Maybe they tried and gave up? It seems any time they have tried anything people go nuts and complain about over-exposure and such. But I haven't seen them really expand outside the sport to bring new audiences in.
I think Deegan has done a far better job at that.
Yep that's what I said previously, everytime they've tried to do something differently they just copped criticism and everyone thought they were getting special treatment etc
The difference between Jett and Deegan though is that Brian already had a following and a core fan base to begin with, coupled along with their youtube following , they have a lot better shot at potentially reaching new fans
wag the dog
We just witnessed his rookie year in the 450s, people are acting like he has announced his retirement. Lets revisit this in 10 years.....
Maybe the plan is for Jett to win a lot and establish his legacy then move into something else where he can use that legacy to grow the sport.
None of the really successful past racers like MC, RC or anyone else has done much beyond the end of their respective racing careers to grow the profile of motocross. Pastrana’s fame and recognition came from his freestyle MX exploits; he didn’t really achieve much as an MX racer (in comparison to the greats of the sport).
Why do people have this obsession with growing the sport? At any rate, what do they mean? Do they mean just bigger audiences, or more people actually racing motocross? Mirtl seems to think he can do both. In reality a lot of sports are struggling in that while the TV deals are getting bigger and the crowds watching TV are getting bigger, the amount of people actually playing the sport at the grass roots is reducing.
I'm sick of Gypsy's take on the whole thing, he sounds delusional. He thinks that motocross can be the same as F1. They've very different demographics, have different histories etc. I tend to be wary of the idea that one individual can grow a sport. Beckham didn't grow football, he just became the biggest name in football. I wonder with Armstrong also whether the sport actually became any bigger or just appeared that way because he was getting a lot of coverage. Coverage for a single athlete and the sport growing are not the same thing.
Back to Gypsy, I don't care about athletes being f##kin celebrities. I want them to be great athletes. Gypsy seems more interested in the riders being social media darlings boasting about how much money they make, and being 'characters', rather than focusing on achieving excellence at their craft. I get the uncomfortable feeling with Gypsy a lot of it is also because he would hope to benefit from the sport growing.
FFS. Let the sport be. It's great as it is.
I would argue that Pastrana has done absolutely nothing for the sports of motocross and supercross (in terms of growing it). He popularized FMX. In fact, I think the whole FMX thing has been detrimental to the sport. Most average people think FMX and motocross/supercross are essentially the same thing. It does my head in when I hear some arsehole like Carey Hart described in the media as a motocross racer! He's a circus performer like all the FMX douche bags.
Pit Row
David Beckham played football? You mean soccer?
I would never shit on Pastrana but you're pretty much accurate. When I tell someone I ride/race motocross, their first questions are always the same. "Can you do tricks? Can you backflip?" That's Pastrana's influence
Football is the one you play with your hands, right?
Yup...
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Yeah I'm fine with the sport how it is. I see the threads and comments on here all the time about "growing the sport." I'd like to the riders make more obviously. And for that to happen, yes the sport needs to grows and get more sponsors. To be insensitive though, that really doesn't affect me. It's a niche sport and I like it. Look at the stick and ball sports. More fans, more assholes.
https://youtu.be/oVH3j31pV7Y?feature=shared
Take me out to the ballpark
This “grow the sport” bullshit has been repeated forever. You really want to grow the sport, you have to make it accessible. 10k 250Fs and 3 tracks per state are not it.
As someone who used to be a lot more involved than I am now, I can point out a few observations I’ve had over the years. Prior to signing the most talented rider in the history of the sport, what did Jett’s agent Lucas accomplish? Let’s see. He put together the Jeff Ward Racing team that only lasted one year and left Dean Wilson, Josh Grant, and the rest of the team in the unemployment line on the eve of the 2013 SX opener. Frankly, that’s about all I can remember. It is easy to secure big endorsement deals when you have the greatest rider the sport has ever seen. The real work starts when you attempt to transcend the sport and garner attention from mainstream media, and frankly, I doubt that Lucas has the connections to make this happen.
The two riders in the past that did the best job in this arena were Travis and Jeremy. Neither of them pulled this off on their own. The rider’s job is to win races. These two riders’ mainstream popularity was nurtured by a talented management group. For Travis, it was Steve Astephen and his sports agency The Familie. For Jeremy, it was his publicist Cheryl Lynch. These were the people responsible for the mainstream stardom of these two athletes and the growth of the popularity of off road motorcycling during these athletes’ reigns. The appearances on late night TV, cameos in films, and other mainstream media appearances were orchestrated not by the athletes, but rather by their talented management teams.
It is a shame that Jett is happy with the checks he is cashing now (which are enormous) and doesn’t have the vision to grow the sport like Travis and Jeremy did. If he ever did, he would need to add people to his team that have the connections in sports and entertainment to make it happen. At this point, I agree that Jett’s dominance and his team’s inability to make the rest of the world aware of this potential entertainment superstar is bad for the sport.
Grow the sport...
1. 125 and 250 classes
2. 2 strokes
3. Heat races
4. Better track design
5. Better broadcasting
6. More purse money
7. Allow riders to sell merchandise (without charging them to do it)
8. Allow all fans to walk the track for a donation to St. Judes at every track to show them up close the obstacles
9. SX races in domed stadiums only
10. 15% discount off tickets for Vital memembers 🙂
Unfortunately, Jett will have to deal with injuries at some point....
Do you think he could come back from something like Roczen had to deal with?
100% yes
LOL, yeah a young, happy, and extremely popular kid, from a great traditional family who came from nothing, with a championship/race winning brother is "Bad For The Sport"...
We really need more social media obsessed little rich brats who race dirty, make obscene gestures on tv and only give a crap about their “Likes”…sorry nope.
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