I'm pissed. There's no loyalty in big sports where millions are made but I'd like to think there's loyalty at the dirtbike level. It's not like anyone is going to go and make millions and retire. A good racer today will need a job in 10 years and all he knows is dirtbikes. If I was in that business I'd like to think I wouldn't burn bridges. What do you think, is there a place for loyalty in off road racing?
From the rider view point, no examples come to mind ... Burning bridges? Never my style and I would not promote that under almost any circumstance ... Just not the mature thing to do and you never know....You might need to come back ... Geico resigned KW this year is about as good an example of a company hanging with its rider ....An example of a company doing opposite is with AS .... Honda just opened the door to put a ktm on the podium on race 1. Most of the riders in this business are very young ... not sure they see the big picture yet ... bridge burning should not be practiced ESP at this age though ...
Yeah, no shit. Or, you might have already come back and a really good person helped you rebuild a bridge that you burnt in the past. And you return the favor by burning that bridge again. Kids these days
How loyal can a rider be. Or a team for that matter, example (good fast guy)Andrew Short P3 AMA nat rider, layed off from Honda, 2011 looks like 0 pay, KTM(and their team sponsors $) comes along and offers pay and a front line team with one of the best team managers. Ya think Shorty is going tell them oh no Im a Honda guy I could never ride a KTM. No his stance is I am a top tier world class MX racer put me on a machine (any brand) with good support (mechanical/engineering/potential for payouts) and I can win/podium in front of the cameras (for sponsor adverts). Brand Loyalty from a racing standpoint can only be where the $ are and from where you as a team or rider can get support for your efforts. Most of the teams now are not the full factory corporate teams of the past only with some exceptions. JGR is the best example of a top tier well funded private team, Yamaha is their machine now but if another brand offered them a support deal that was better,,,,,,,they would be on Kaw or Hon or ????. Loyalty for them is first to JGR (their company)and the sponsors that fund JGR (kind of like the share holders). My tuppence. example of Husky Loyalty: Anyone want sponsor to the tune of (250k will buy you a decent top 15-20 private team) 5 to $800,000 per season a Husky SX west lites team, that will buy Husqvarna loyalty. A team with an engineering staff/ lab support, a top tier racer (actually 2), medical/dental/training staff, tools, semi rig, drivers (1 or2), mechanics(@4), crew chiefs (2) (I said lites because the TC250 is really the only Husky viable as a top level SX racer at the moment), Also I said west only because cost to do both coasts would boost the amount to the near 1 mil mark for a really good effort. I really would like to know what the ProCircuit east plus west lites budget is....its gotta be a 5 plus 5 for a mil per season at least. my 3 cents concerning brand loyalty
Right or wrong, those $ figures are totally out of control ... I like the way you threw in medical \ dental plans ... lol ... Loyalty comes in on a level playing field ... If all things are equal or very similar, do you jump ship because someone gives you a second crumb more that someone that has proven to be on UR side in the past ... Self improvement and advancement in UR work \ job plays a role here also ... It was surprising to see Geico continue with KW ... companies are all business ... business decisions are made for the bottom line ...
Like most high level pro sports the athlete is a commodity that gets traded around and sold to the highest bidder. Tough gig. Smart athletes never burn bridges.
I wasn't. Go to a sx or one of the nationals that Kevin was at and he is still one of the most popular riders regardless of whether or not he is racing for the win. Companies can recognize when they are still getting exposure even if their rider isn't on the top step of the podium. Half the fans at a race want to swing by and say hi to Kevin. Geico sees the long autograph line and sees money in the bank.
So their loyalty to KW is a pure business decision and if the line was 1/2 as long, he would have been canned? The PROs are just employees .. the tough part is they are watched on film after a days work for short comings...
Thats business today I guess .... Loyalty is not easy apparently as we might prove here ... The million dollar man in the WWE might be right ... ... $ is 'all' to many ...
Loyalty at the top level is all business. At the amatuer level I'd like to believe that it is different. I have had the same 2 main sponsors through 15 + years of road racing sport bikes, off road racing atvs, and now off road racing bikes. These 2 sponsors have become 2 of my most valued friends - and I don't mean $$$ when I say valued.
That's kinda what I'm getting at. Not amateur, but offroad racing. I can understand the mx guys jumping ship because that's real big money. But the offroad guys? They're not making big money and won't be able to retire after they're done racing.
The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase!! Man, that brings back memorys as a youngster I say, get as much money as you can racing. Very short life in professional motorcycle racing. A local guy raced the AMA pro motocross in the 1990's. He now has a bad hip, knee, back. Works a fulltime job like all of us. Very short shelf life.
