Alcohol sponsors in MTB?? A good or a bad thing?

[Blotto]

After reading through this thread it seems to me that there is something that some people have skirted around but not quite hit yet.

I believe that alcohol companies promoting MTBing in most of it's forms would not necessarily be a bad thing for most of the reasons previously mentioned (bring in needed funds, creates greater exposure of sport etc).

However, I believe that it is not needed. There are other methods of achieving the benefits that alcohol promotion would bring avoid the issue of having alcohol companies having there names plastered around our events for young people to see etc etc.

That is, although the alcohol companies could bring some positives, it's not the negatives that they would bring that deems them unnessary in my eyes, it's that fact that MTBing is in the stage of it's life where it is simply not needed.

I voted "no" in the pole, but I should've voted "yes".

 

[rstwosix]

I am for it..... Look at V8 supercars they have cars sponsored by Jim Beam, Jack Daniels and they are not promoting drink driving, Team Vodafone are winning so what you are going our to buy a new Vodafone mobile.. NO

If a company can bring money into a sport and this lets the admin build the sports profile im for it 200%..

So lets have a "Cougar Australia Mountain Bike titles" or "VB Australian Downhill series"... They bring the money entry costs could be much less...

I certainly hope it never comes to this!
Alcohol companies want to promote sport for the same reasons junk food dealers like McDonalds do, and tobacco companies used to until they were banned. It's a cynical attempt to to con consumers into thinking that if whatever crap they're selling is associated with sport then it must be ok. Jim Beam & Jack Daniels V8 Supercars may not be overtly promoting drink driving, but it's a very thin line indeed - the subtle message is that cars, speed, sex (yes the Jim Beam girls) and booze have a very cozy relationship and ain't that just the way it should be!
My vote is keep the bastards away from MTB.

 

[sitrus7]

Interestingly BMX racing has a complete ban on smoking and alcohol at events. I could get cut down here but the atmos at BMX is generally pretty tense. That could be the other side of this coin.

There are some precedents.
Jacobs creek tour down under
Mountain Goat Beer sponsored BMC 100Km recently
Maybe Illenbah had bundy? I wasn't there.

 

[frdlvr]

Don't worry, I remember what it was like in the 90's, but your argument seems to be based around the unwritten fact that alcohol sponsorship is the only way we are going to grow again??? Because that is what this thread is about.

And I really don't think that we should be relying on THAT to get the sport going? Do you?

I can see you point, but we can not rely on the bike companies to prop up a sport we need that injection of outside money doesn't have to be alcohol.
To me we have the best group of riders in the world but for them to make it they have to ride OS and we loose them at our races...
If we made a Aussie series sponsored by a Multinational with some of the sponsorship money to bring and attract the top team's and TOP OS riders, and have the bike companies promote their products like the Sea Otter...

 

[Zoom]

No thanks.

The trouble is sports end up relying so heavily on alcohol money that they can't survive without it. Keep piss and pissheads out of mountain biking please.

 

[Wikid Z]

I can see what people are saying. If it ever happened, you could make it as a minor sponsor instead of a major sponsor. I only see this as a tempory fix though.

But before you went then route, i would be asking the companies that have already and still are in the industry supporting events. Supporting these companies first would be a better option. Lesser donations from more of them would be a better. I know it is more paper work but these are the companies are who have/are supporting the sport.

In rc racing, it is the hobby stores and the sports manufactores/distributors that sponsor races. There is lots of them that put a little in each.

With sponsorship of races doesn't mean that a race meeting is going to be less. The sponsroship helps the club cover their cost of trophies, posters/flyers, raffle prizes and a lot of little things that we as racer forget about eg computer progam upgrades.

Well thats my 2cents anyway.

 

[24alpha]

I can see you point, but we can not rely on the bike companies to prop up a sport we need that injection of outside money doesn't have to be alcohol.
To me we have the best group of riders in the world but for them to make it they have to ride OS and we loose them at our races...
If we made a Aussie series sponsored by a Multinational with some of the sponsorship money to bring and attract the top team's and TOP OS riders, and have the bike companies promote their products like the Sea Otter...

I agree with this point. Having more prize money will bring better riders from around the world, which means more spectators. Like the Red Bull events.
But I personally don't want it to be alcohol.

 

[kholden_1992]

if it was a novlty event they came up with
something like "drunk downhill"

i say go for it

nothing like a bunch of dh riders flying down the side of the hill while absoultly pissed, making an already entertaining sport, more so entertaining

hahaha funny thought, imagin sam hill doing drunk downhill

 

[rossi]

Although I can't verify figures, I'd daresay that surfing and skateboarding have exploded exponentially larger than MTB. Mass corporate sponsorship, clothing lines, lifestyle culture, music genres and media coverage would be reasonable indicators of this I think.

I do agree that the mid 90's was a huge time for MTB. Bloody exciting to be part of it too!

A am curious though, why do people want MTB to grow? What are the perceived benefits of this?

If people or sponsors not just particularly alcohol sponsors put money into MTB then people like Tracy Hannah could maybe be overseas winning world cups. There could also be national teams formed so people don't have to race world cups, to either race for free or maybe make some money racing in australia which would also build up our national series.

Also on the topic of Alcohol we had a little creatures brewery sponsor and have a beer tent at our 06 and 07 WA state champs, as far as i know no one had a problem with it. I don't no weather its a good thing but i think it attracted some friends and family that probably wouldn't normaly show up.

 

[Dozer]

if it was a novlty event they came up with
something like "drunk downhill"

i say go for it

nothing like a bunch of dh riders flying down the side of the hill while absoultly pissed, making an already entertaining sport, more so entertaining

hahaha funny thought, imagin sam hill doing drunk downhill

What a stupid arse thing to say. That is the exact reason why money shouldn't dictate sport and another reason why grog intake should be controlled at an event where some dickhead can stagger onto the track and get nailed by someone on a race run. I'm sure the event organisers will like that lawsuit. I'm also sure the responsible organisers will enjoy putting on a race for a pack of drunk idiots trying to impress their 15 year old girlfriend by doing a slow run drunk, yeah good one!

 

[scblack]

I have no problem with alcohol sponsorship of MTB.

I have been Treasurer of a Rugby Union club, with Carlton United Breweries as our Major sponsor. I was also Licensee of the club.

Children play and spectate at Rugby Union, and there were no problems for us. Also we had at Seniors games, our Colts teams who are under 19s (many under 18) - many of them drank (not the under 18s) but other than usual teenage shenanigans there was no problem with them.

Alcohol is a legal product very widely accepted in our society, why should it cause MTB any problems?

 

[danncam]

I am no way a wowser, I like a drink and other un-mentionables on the odd occasion, as long as I don't have a ride planned for teh next day. However, I am all for alcohol going the way of ciggies- no advertising or sponsorship at all.
Why?
Alcohol has by far the most deliterious effect on Australian society as a whole. Don't make it illegal, limit it's harm by removing the subtle and not so subtle effects of advertising and marketing. Business use these methods cause they work, Aussies are generally a nation of pisspots (with high rates of disease because of alcohol) and there are large problems with violence and sexual assult linked to the synergy between sport and alcohol (the never ending problems with famous rugby players for example).

It would be a shame to see an eco friendly, family friendly, health friendly sport like MTB co-opted to the big business alcohol agenda.

 

[eyes]

...Alcohol is a legal product very widely accepted in our society, why should it cause MTB any problems?

You've hit the nail on the head - it is TOO widely accepted. And MTB doesn't need to be another sucka to jump on the bandwagon.

The little kids at your events - they're exposed to alcohol well before they should be, it's not fair on them to slam booze advertising in their face before they get a chance to understand it.

 

[thecat]

I don't see it as a bad thing as long as there's a responsible "drink in moderation" message.

I know many races where a bottle of wine or carton of beer is part of the prize pool, hell I've ran races where alcohol was given away

but there are moves afoot to ban alcohol sponsorship in sport in a similar move to what happened with tabacco sponsorship in the 80s

Wouldn't it be stupid to try and latch on to a form of sponsorship that may be banned in the near future anyway. Would energy be better spent chasing more sustainable sponsors looking for long term input?

 

[mittagongmtb]

I am no way a wowser, I like a drink and other un-mentionables on the odd occasion, as long as I don't have a ride planned for teh next day. However, I am all for alcohol going the way of ciggies- no advertising or sponsorship at all.
Why?
Alcohol has by far the most deliterious effect on Australian society as a whole. Don't make it illegal, limit it's harm by removing the subtle and not so subtle effects of advertising and marketing. Business use these methods cause they work, Aussies are generally a nation of pisspots (with high rates of disease because of alcohol) and there are large problems with violence and sexual assult linked to the synergy between sport and alcohol (the never ending problems with famous rugby players for example).

It would be a shame to see an eco friendly, family friendly, health friendly sport like MTB co-opted to the big business alcohol agenda.

You stole the words and sentiments straight from my own thoughts....

MTBing does not need alco dollars!

Look who sponsors a few big events o/s: car companies - Subaru, Nissan, all the various MTB manufacturers and suppliers, etc etc.

 

[noballz]

when you consider that children make up quite a large proportion of people at dh and 4x races, i feel that it is deadset irresponsible to even consider alcohol sponsorship for these events. it shows how far removed mtb is from the rest of the community.

i notice a quite a few posts saying how mtb was bigger than jesus in the 90s. what happened to cause its demise? y2k?

 

[GDonehue]

Interesting thread (and I think one that has been raised a few times before).

For my money, as someone who has sought sponsorship dollars for teams and events for the last seven years - I have to say alcohol and MTB are not a great fit. Heck even working in surfing it was always dicey at best and were it not for the increased media coverage that sport has gotten over the last 8 years fosters wouldn't have stayed on board (excuse the pun).

The problem is that while I acknowledge a lot of us drink - and all strength to those that do - as a sport why are so much about a life style that brands involved in alcohol (and tobacco in the few countries where you can still market it) are reluctant to attach themselves to it for fear of a backlash.

Certainly there are exceptions - but I would say that most of these are one-off events generally as it is an easier fit.

Some of the comments about where the money SHOULD come from are interesting. having worked in snow and surf as well as MTB, my $0.02 is that without the industry being at least relatively self-sufficient in supporting the sport at a certain level - it has no business trying to jump to the next level. We have seen the sport rise and fall already on the back of outside dollars and industry players paying WAY too much for riders etc... it didn't do the sport a whole lot of good long term.

We don't NEED alcohol dollars - so why I see no need to block them, I also don't see a need to chase them.

 

[frdlvr]

i notice a quite a few posts saying how mtb was bigger than jesus in the 90s. what happened to cause its demise? y2k?

I think the DH racing lost allot of it personalities at the end of the 90's, and the freeride was just starting, money sure left the sport, and the top teams started to break up (Mountain Dew/Specialized, VW Trek, Volvo Cannondale etc)...

But I think the biggest thing was X-GAMES, this was more marketable with Tony Hawk just pulling the first 900, Travis "Golden Boy" Pastrana was perfecting everything on MX, Dave Mirra was the freak on BMX....

 

[Refreshinglygood]

Pre parenthood. Fark yeah, no worries.

Post Parenthood. Don't think so. We can present a better image, and a better example.

To many dead kids, to many farked up lives at the hands of this drug.

 

[Refreshinglygood]

But I do like a good bevy after a good ride though.


That's the funny thing about being a human. We are hypocritical. There is no such thing as black and white.