With Microsoft on board, will XBOX be next?

twotwosix
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twotwosix
Edited Date/Time 4/12/2017 9:47pm
With RCH having secured sponsorship from Microsoft, what would you say the odds are of them bringing XBOX into the sport as a sponsor. I would say it's very high. XBOX has had a pretty big presence in Auto Racing, the UFC and other Action Sports, so I think it would be a natural progression. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed...



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armrunner
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armrunner 4/12/2017 10:48am
4/12/2017 10:48am
twotwosix wrote:
With RCH having secured sponsorship from Microsoft, what would you say the odds are of them bringing XBOX into the sport as a sponsor. I would...
With RCH having secured sponsorship from Microsoft, what would you say the odds are of them bringing XBOX into the sport as a sponsor. I would say it's very high. XBOX has had a pretty big presence in Auto Racing, the UFC and other Action Sports, so I think it would be a natural progression. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed...



You do know that XBOX is owned by Microsoft correct?
twotwosix
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twotwosix 4/12/2017 10:50am
4/12/2017 10:50am
armrunner wrote:
You do know that XBOX is owned by Microsoft correct?
Correct. That would be why I said "what would you say the odds are of them bringing XBOX into the sport as a sponsor?"

Microsoft that is.
kott0n
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kott0n 4/12/2017 10:51am
4/12/2017 10:51am
armrunner wrote:
You do know that XBOX is owned by Microsoft correct?
This is exactly why he started the thread with the word Microsoft. He's aware...
Acidreamer
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Acidreamer 4/12/2017 10:51am
4/12/2017 10:51am
Its possible. I see apple getting in to compete a bit. Im not sure if it would benefit xbox to get into a sport that is mainly a younger aged sport. I think most people have video games already.

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early
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early 4/12/2017 11:13am
4/12/2017 11:13am
Matthes said the microsoft deal is only for the last 4 supercrosses , maybe the outdoors too, cant remember exactly. Anyway its kind of a trial period so we shall see how far they go (i hope all in).
Camp332
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Camp332 4/12/2017 11:13am
4/12/2017 11:13am
Isn't Seattle Microsoft's home base? Was this sponsorship with RCH a one off event, or is there a business agreement between the two for the rest of the year? (forgive me if I missed the announcement)
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pmshortt2 4/12/2017 11:14am
4/12/2017 11:14am
armrunner wrote:
You do know that XBOX is owned by Microsoft correct?
kott0n wrote:
This is exactly why he started the thread with the word Microsoft. He's aware...
Jesus the people on here make me lol Dry
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TXDirt 4/12/2017 11:22am
4/12/2017 11:22am
EA Sports was a title sponsor for a few years weren't they?

SX is the target demographic age wise for companies like XBOX, PlayStation, Apple, etc.

Part of the problem is that for these big companies, SX is not a needle mover. XBOX for example sells 2-3 million XBOX's a quarter. If you multiply 50 thousand in attendance at every SX race and assume a 16 race schedule that gets you to 800,000 spectators. If every spectator bought an xbox that still doesn't even come close to half what they sell in a single quarter.

Whoever is the contact at Microsoft who was able to get this sponsorship through has a fondness for actions sports or for someone on the RCH team. Likely a connection with Carey/Pink then RC.

From a purely ROI there is probably not much for Microsoft. This is likely someones pet project.
twotwosix
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twotwosix 4/12/2017 11:23am
4/12/2017 11:23am
early wrote:
Matthes said the microsoft deal is only for the last 4 supercrosses , maybe the outdoors too, cant remember exactly. Anyway its kind of a trial...
Matthes said the microsoft deal is only for the last 4 supercrosses , maybe the outdoors too, cant remember exactly. Anyway its kind of a trial period so we shall see how far they go (i hope all in).
Hopefully they are able to keep them around. RCH isn't exactly killing it this year. If they can keep Microsoft on board for 2018, they may be able to land a big fish rider and get back into title contention.
Brownstone322 4/12/2017 11:29am
4/12/2017 11:29am
armrunner wrote:
You do know that XBOX is owned by Microsoft correct?
I dunno why people didn't get this comment, but I think I do. Microsoft is already signed as a sponsor. If they wanted to feature the Xbox brand, they'd be doing so already. Instead they're advertising the corporate brand, whose major source of revenue is cloud services.

Microsoft was a sponsor of Lotus F1 until Renault bought the team back a couple seasons ago. That marketing campaign had nothing to do wth Xbox.
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731chopper 4/12/2017 11:44am
4/12/2017 11:44am
TXDirt wrote:
EA Sports was a title sponsor for a few years weren't they? SX is the target demographic age wise for companies like XBOX, PlayStation, Apple, etc...
EA Sports was a title sponsor for a few years weren't they?

SX is the target demographic age wise for companies like XBOX, PlayStation, Apple, etc.

Part of the problem is that for these big companies, SX is not a needle mover. XBOX for example sells 2-3 million XBOX's a quarter. If you multiply 50 thousand in attendance at every SX race and assume a 16 race schedule that gets you to 800,000 spectators. If every spectator bought an xbox that still doesn't even come close to half what they sell in a single quarter.

Whoever is the contact at Microsoft who was able to get this sponsorship through has a fondness for actions sports or for someone on the RCH team. Likely a connection with Carey/Pink then RC.

From a purely ROI there is probably not much for Microsoft. This is likely someones pet project.
I think it'd be more of a brand imaging project for them so crunching the numbers you bring up doesn't add up to the goal. The goal would be to bring Microsoft up positively in conversation between "young people". Only one person in the conversation has to see it at, in the pits of or in photos from the Supercross.
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tprice07 4/12/2017 11:49am
4/12/2017 11:49am
The Microsoft deal will never last. Fans of the sport will look right over it and not think a minute about it. The target demographic of Microsoft is totally different than supercross fans.

Xbox does align better with the demographic. On the other hand...Sony could stay broad and sponsor as Sony vs PS4. Because Sony does bleed into the demographic better. That would be who I was going for...unfortunately the GoPro deal probably blocks a big portion of their interest.
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sam hain 4/12/2017 11:52am
4/12/2017 11:52am Edited Date/Time 4/12/2017 11:53am
RCH lost several title sponsors when Ken left, until they can afford to sign a big named rider I don't see them getting big name sponsors on board. Bogle is a flop, Tickle is a solid 5-10 guy most nights but they have no shot at winning races/titles.
Camp332
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Camp332 4/12/2017 12:07pm
4/12/2017 12:07pm
Soooo, are we debating a sponsorship deal that was for one event only?
Brownstone322 4/12/2017 12:07pm
4/12/2017 12:07pm
731chopper wrote:
I think it'd be more of a brand imaging project for them so crunching the numbers you bring up doesn't add up to the goal. The...
I think it'd be more of a brand imaging project for them so crunching the numbers you bring up doesn't add up to the goal. The goal would be to bring Microsoft up positively in conversation between "young people". Only one person in the conversation has to see it at, in the pits of or in photos from the Supercross.
This is good insight. In many ways Microsoft is a legacy brand, kinda like IBM. Microsoft products are something people use because they have to, at work or for work, not because they want to, and certainly not because they're "cool." When I go to a public place where people are using laptops -- Starbucks or Panera or wherever -- it's mostly young people using Macs. And of course all the phones are running OSs from Google and Apple.

So if I'm Microsoft, why not market to a younger demographic? The price to sponsor an MX team is probably moderate, and the cultural payback could be more than worth it.

That said, I'm not gonna use Microsoft crap at home. I'm typing this on a MackBook Pro. Go figure.
TXDirt
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TXDirt 4/12/2017 12:25pm
4/12/2017 12:25pm
TXDirt wrote:
EA Sports was a title sponsor for a few years weren't they? SX is the target demographic age wise for companies like XBOX, PlayStation, Apple, etc...
EA Sports was a title sponsor for a few years weren't they?

SX is the target demographic age wise for companies like XBOX, PlayStation, Apple, etc.

Part of the problem is that for these big companies, SX is not a needle mover. XBOX for example sells 2-3 million XBOX's a quarter. If you multiply 50 thousand in attendance at every SX race and assume a 16 race schedule that gets you to 800,000 spectators. If every spectator bought an xbox that still doesn't even come close to half what they sell in a single quarter.

Whoever is the contact at Microsoft who was able to get this sponsorship through has a fondness for actions sports or for someone on the RCH team. Likely a connection with Carey/Pink then RC.

From a purely ROI there is probably not much for Microsoft. This is likely someones pet project.
731chopper wrote:
I think it'd be more of a brand imaging project for them so crunching the numbers you bring up doesn't add up to the goal. The...
I think it'd be more of a brand imaging project for them so crunching the numbers you bring up doesn't add up to the goal. The goal would be to bring Microsoft up positively in conversation between "young people". Only one person in the conversation has to see it at, in the pits of or in photos from the Supercross.
I agree and good point. It's not so much as marketing a specific product as imaging awareness. The only thing I would say though is behind the image must be a product. What are people at a SX race going to buy from Microsoft? Certainly not Azure Cloud Services from Microsoft. Not likely the average SX fan cares much about Microsoft's enterprise class of tools. The thing probably closest would be XBOX and XBOX services, and Surface Tablets.

Apple has iphones
Google has Android and Search
Facebook has social
Amazon has everything

What does Microsoft have for this fan base?

And if you are Microsoft, would you rather sponsor RCH or say Factory Honda? I would assume the dollars are negligible for Microsoft. HRC Honda doesn't even have a core sponsor like how you have Redbull KTM or Monster Energy Kawasaki, etc.

Very cool to see a big company like Microsoft throw a few dollars this sports way!!
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Buckland 4/12/2017 12:29pm
4/12/2017 12:29pm
TXDirt wrote:
EA Sports was a title sponsor for a few years weren't they? SX is the target demographic age wise for companies like XBOX, PlayStation, Apple, etc...
EA Sports was a title sponsor for a few years weren't they?

SX is the target demographic age wise for companies like XBOX, PlayStation, Apple, etc.

Part of the problem is that for these big companies, SX is not a needle mover. XBOX for example sells 2-3 million XBOX's a quarter. If you multiply 50 thousand in attendance at every SX race and assume a 16 race schedule that gets you to 800,000 spectators. If every spectator bought an xbox that still doesn't even come close to half what they sell in a single quarter.

Whoever is the contact at Microsoft who was able to get this sponsorship through has a fondness for actions sports or for someone on the RCH team. Likely a connection with Carey/Pink then RC.

From a purely ROI there is probably not much for Microsoft. This is likely someones pet project.
Why does the revenue generated from selling XBOX products to the SX audience need to equal total XBOXs sold to be worthwhile?

Let's say they give RCH $100k for a single SX season, and market their company to an audience of 800,000 people (which is not taking into account the TV audience, which is probably larger), they'd only need to sell ~300 XBOXs at $300 a pop (not including games/accessories) to earn their money back.

Factor in the interest in all the MX vs. ATV promos etc and it makes sense to me?
TXDirt
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TXDirt 4/12/2017 12:47pm
4/12/2017 12:47pm Edited Date/Time 4/12/2017 12:48pm
TXDirt wrote:
EA Sports was a title sponsor for a few years weren't they? SX is the target demographic age wise for companies like XBOX, PlayStation, Apple, etc...
EA Sports was a title sponsor for a few years weren't they?

SX is the target demographic age wise for companies like XBOX, PlayStation, Apple, etc.

Part of the problem is that for these big companies, SX is not a needle mover. XBOX for example sells 2-3 million XBOX's a quarter. If you multiply 50 thousand in attendance at every SX race and assume a 16 race schedule that gets you to 800,000 spectators. If every spectator bought an xbox that still doesn't even come close to half what they sell in a single quarter.

Whoever is the contact at Microsoft who was able to get this sponsorship through has a fondness for actions sports or for someone on the RCH team. Likely a connection with Carey/Pink then RC.

From a purely ROI there is probably not much for Microsoft. This is likely someones pet project.
Buckland wrote:
Why does the revenue generated from selling XBOX products to the SX audience need to equal total XBOXs sold to be worthwhile? Let's say they give...
Why does the revenue generated from selling XBOX products to the SX audience need to equal total XBOXs sold to be worthwhile?

Let's say they give RCH $100k for a single SX season, and market their company to an audience of 800,000 people (which is not taking into account the TV audience, which is probably larger), they'd only need to sell ~300 XBOXs at $300 a pop (not including games/accessories) to earn their money back.

Factor in the interest in all the MX vs. ATV promos etc and it makes sense to me?
You validated my point that it's not a needle mover. That's all I was getting at. Microsoft did 85 billion dollars in sales in 2016. No one at the company is working on an ad campaign to sell 300 xboxes. I was using the xbox sales vs super-cross attendance purely as an example. Not an end all be all. Using my example, if they sold 800,000 xboxes at $300 that nets $240,000,000. Microsoft has closed down entire business lines that generate more money then that before.

That's why this feels more like someone pet project them some form of long term investment/advertisement opportunity.

Cool to see them as a sponsor for one of the teams either way!

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lostboy819
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lostboy819 4/12/2017 2:28pm
4/12/2017 2:28pm
twotwosix wrote:
With RCH having secured sponsorship from Microsoft, what would you say the odds are of them bringing XBOX into the sport as a sponsor. I would...
With RCH having secured sponsorship from Microsoft, what would you say the odds are of them bringing XBOX into the sport as a sponsor. I would say it's very high. XBOX has had a pretty big presence in Auto Racing, the UFC and other Action Sports, so I think it would be a natural progression. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed...



I think it would be a good Idea for microsoft to bring the XboX brand into SX because Xbox is geared to the MX/SX demographic. I really hope they do it.
Dirty Points 4/12/2017 2:40pm
4/12/2017 2:40pm
TXDirt wrote:
EA Sports was a title sponsor for a few years weren't they? SX is the target demographic age wise for companies like XBOX, PlayStation, Apple, etc...
EA Sports was a title sponsor for a few years weren't they?

SX is the target demographic age wise for companies like XBOX, PlayStation, Apple, etc.

Part of the problem is that for these big companies, SX is not a needle mover. XBOX for example sells 2-3 million XBOX's a quarter. If you multiply 50 thousand in attendance at every SX race and assume a 16 race schedule that gets you to 800,000 spectators. If every spectator bought an xbox that still doesn't even come close to half what they sell in a single quarter.

Whoever is the contact at Microsoft who was able to get this sponsorship through has a fondness for actions sports or for someone on the RCH team. Likely a connection with Carey/Pink then RC.

From a purely ROI there is probably not much for Microsoft. This is likely someones pet project.
Buckland wrote:
Why does the revenue generated from selling XBOX products to the SX audience need to equal total XBOXs sold to be worthwhile? Let's say they give...
Why does the revenue generated from selling XBOX products to the SX audience need to equal total XBOXs sold to be worthwhile?

Let's say they give RCH $100k for a single SX season, and market their company to an audience of 800,000 people (which is not taking into account the TV audience, which is probably larger), they'd only need to sell ~300 XBOXs at $300 a pop (not including games/accessories) to earn their money back.

Factor in the interest in all the MX vs. ATV promos etc and it makes sense to me?
TXDirt wrote:
You validated my point that it's not a needle mover. That's all I was getting at. Microsoft did 85 billion dollars in sales in 2016. No...
You validated my point that it's not a needle mover. That's all I was getting at. Microsoft did 85 billion dollars in sales in 2016. No one at the company is working on an ad campaign to sell 300 xboxes. I was using the xbox sales vs super-cross attendance purely as an example. Not an end all be all. Using my example, if they sold 800,000 xboxes at $300 that nets $240,000,000. Microsoft has closed down entire business lines that generate more money then that before.

That's why this feels more like someone pet project them some form of long term investment/advertisement opportunity.

Cool to see them as a sponsor for one of the teams either way!

Nobody at MS needs to put together a campaign to sell 300 XBoxes. That campaign is RCHs job.
twotwosix
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twotwosix 4/12/2017 4:03pm
4/12/2017 4:03pm
Camp332 wrote:
Soooo, are we debating a sponsorship deal that was for one event only?
No, the Microsoft deal is for the rest of 2017.
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Falcon 4/12/2017 5:17pm
4/12/2017 5:17pm
"Until they can afford a top-tier rider..."

You guys saw what Red Bull did for KTM, right? Fortune #74 Red Bull?
What do you suppose #25 Microsoft can do for the Suzuki team?
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Snoqualmie 4/12/2017 6:05pm
4/12/2017 6:05pm
I used to work at MSFT in one of their marketing departments. So, first congrats who pulled in this deal. Good luck moving forward.

Second, be aware there are tons of marketing departments to try and contact for sponsorship support. Is the deal thru the US Field Marketing team? Through one of the US Marketing districts? Is the deal thru MSFT Corporate Marketing? Is it the 4 race deal? Is it a 'pilot' for more support next year? Who knows...

MSFT is not going away and is still relevant with Xbox being a prime brand that appeals to the SX segment. In the past MSFT also sponsored a Daytona 24 hour car I believe.

MSFT typically does things in a big way - an example here is their NFL presence with Surface. That deal is huge. Compare the numbers of NFL viewers to SX viewers and cost associated to reach them AND the possible return. The NFL brings to MSFT the scope, scale, and demographics that will move needles for them. Not so sure SX can...

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Fat Fingers 4/12/2017 7:01pm
4/12/2017 7:01pm
sam hain wrote:
RCH lost several title sponsors when Ken left, until they can afford to sign a big named rider I don't see them getting big name sponsors...
RCH lost several title sponsors when Ken left, until they can afford to sign a big named rider I don't see them getting big name sponsors on board. Bogle is a flop, Tickle is a solid 5-10 guy most nights but they have no shot at winning races/titles.

I question if RCH have the right people in the team to deal with a rider going through a tough time... there were fireworks going on with Roczen early last year and Bogle hasn't been able to get his head in the game. So when things are clicking, RCH look really good, but you have to ask why Roczen felt the way he did last year during supercross and Bogle seems to be seriously underperforming.

Back to sponsors, you don't get many bigger names out there than Microsoft. If they like what they see, and want a bigger part of the action next year, look out.
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GuyB 4/12/2017 9:11pm
4/12/2017 9:11pm
Fat Fingers wrote:
I question if RCH have the right people in the team to deal with a rider going through a tough time... there were fireworks going on...

I question if RCH have the right people in the team to deal with a rider going through a tough time... there were fireworks going on with Roczen early last year and Bogle hasn't been able to get his head in the game. So when things are clicking, RCH look really good, but you have to ask why Roczen felt the way he did last year during supercross and Bogle seems to be seriously underperforming.

Back to sponsors, you don't get many bigger names out there than Microsoft. If they like what they see, and want a bigger part of the action next year, look out.
Yes they do. The ones who are dealing with this like to keep a low profile.

Also, X Box was featured among the displays in the pits last weekend.
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kzizok 4/12/2017 9:40pm
4/12/2017 9:40pm Edited Date/Time 4/12/2017 9:47pm
Acidreamer wrote:
Its possible. I see apple getting in to compete a bit. Im not sure if it would benefit xbox to get into a sport that is...
Its possible. I see apple getting in to compete a bit. Im not sure if it would benefit xbox to get into a sport that is mainly a younger aged sport. I think most people have video games already.
The younger age in the sport is a perfect demographic for xbox and the video game market is in perpetual motion. People that already have video games are exactly what they would want, where a lot of the work is already done. Captive audience, if you will.
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APLMAN99 4/12/2017 10:26pm
4/12/2017 10:26pm Edited Date/Time 4/12/2017 10:28pm
I actually talked with one of the XBox team marketing managers about something like this over a decade ago. My wife's twin sister worked on the XBox team doing promotional buys, etc, and we were at one of their parties on the Redmond campus. I told this guy how perfect it would be to tie in to the Kawasaki team while Stewart was on his 125/250. The KXBox connection would have been really good, colors naturally meshed, etc. The guy asked me to email him some pictures, etc, and I did but never heard of anything actually moving. My sister in law could only do buys up to something like $50K at a time for promotions and such, but this guy was something like 3 levels above her.

When Matt Bigos came out for the century ride he did here, I'm pretty sure that was the year that we had the Scion xB XBox car that my sister in law had bought and pimped out to replace the XBox Escalade.

I was able to finagle about $25K per year from her to sponsor Mike Utley's annual Dam2Dam century ride plus several XBox employees to volunteer for the weekend!
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APLMAN99 4/12/2017 11:04pm
4/12/2017 11:04pm
I used to have about 12 dozen of these things thanks to my sister in law! She'd buy truckloads of this type of crap. Shirts, hats, shoes, backpacks, lanyards, etc. My kids always wanted to sell some of the swag we'd end up with and my reply was that they could sell it for exactly 3 times what they paid for it. That's how they learned what happens when you multiply by zero!



Microsoft spends money on tons of small things, not simply the big major campaigns. As I said earlier about the century ride, they spent close to $100 per rider the first couple of years and really couldn't track any sales revenue from it that I could tell. I could see them spending a few million in SX/MX simply to try to "fill in the holes" of their major campaigns.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were to highlight the Surface line to try to compete with Apple for younger customers. I love my Surface Book and my son who's a MacBook devotee likes it as well. He's probably the perfect demographic for them to target. 21, teaches at one of the top 12 universities in the world as an undergrad, just about to start his PhD program where he'll be teaching even more and relating his experiences with tech devices. He's mildly interested in MX/SX as a former participant. That'd be a target that would help turn the dial........

Post a reply to: With Microsoft on board, will XBOX be next?