Action sports have long held a revered status in the sports industry, maintaining a unique culture that mixes urban arts, music, and environments with collaborative and competitive grassroots and elite level activities. Upon entering the Olympic sphere in the last decade, starting from 3×3 basketball at the Youth Olympic Games in 2010, and all the way to the confirmation of skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing for the Olympic Games in Tokyo (now delayed to 2021), a new form of professionalization has permeated these sports at every level.
We had the pleasure of diving into the world of action sports during one of our recent weekly online Meetups, where we spoke with a world champion BMX Flat athlete and an action sports event organizer. Check out our recap below from an insightful discussion with Matak Clavier, Head of Global Sponsorship at Hurricane and Alex Jumelin, 4x World Champion, and a BMX flat pro athlete.
In late April, Hurricane, which is known for its annual action sports festival called FISE that takes place in Montpellier, announced that it would run the contest digitally!
¨We do not know if people will be able to travel in the near future, so we had to anticipate ourselves during these uncertain times and take the FISE World Series Montpellier 2020 online as a digital contest¨
Virtual events
Not every sport has the possibility to virtualize an event. Action sports have grown up over the years through the medium of video, with athletes sharing them to keep track of their progress, get sponsors, and gain followers. Without a stadium or spectators, it is still possible to judge skills and style through video effectively. While the sports industry will always be dependent on physical events, the future holds new possibilities for the portfolio of event assets that sports organizations manage, which could include a mix of physical and virtual ones.
This is especially important when considering how many of the athletes in action sports such as BMX, depend heavily on the circuit of events happening. For many, the crisis hampered their ability to gain income and thus struggled financially. By providing a digital platform as the one that FISE World Series Montpellier 2020 will have, riders are anticipating new opportunities to develop relationships with sponsors.
¨I know new sponsorship opportunities will come by taking the FISE event virtual.¨
Sponsor opportunities
Action sports will feature in the upcoming Olympic Games program in Tokyo, which means there will be a trickle-down of investment opportunities around the sport by national governments, brands, and the creation of new communities as well. With this elevated exposure, it is expected that non-endemic sponsors will see the value of digital sponsorship activation increase over time.
¨By going virtual, we hope to reach the highest number of participants until now and also new regions, as more countries and amateur riders will be able to make it¨ – Matak Clavier.
Red Bull, one of the sponsors of FISE, knows that the outcome they will get by turning digital is much bigger than sponsoring the physical event as they have launched the Red Bull platform, a 100% digital youth platform.
Maintaining high-level sports
Another operational consideration to consider with the FISE World Series Montpellier 2020 is how judging will happen. With an innovative hat on, the organizers want to give the responsibility of rewarding the athletes based not only on ‘traditional judges’ but also by giving some of this power to fans. While exciting and engaging as a format, it also raises questions about the fairness and integrity of the competition.
Shifting to training, Alex Jumelin commented on the FISE Flat Academy, a project launched by him in partnership with Hurricane, to coach over 50 young riders. There has been a shift to some online coaching by challenging his riders and also teaching them new tricks.
¨By giving them a challenge on a regular basis, I am not only coaching them but I am also reaching a much broader community as online content is more accessible, and available to everyone¨ – Alex Jumelin.
Tech & data in action sports
Many sports use metrics and data to analyze almost every aspect of the athlete, and there are currently different conversations in the action sports industry around applying technology to gather data and measure different metrics to offer a better understanding and experience to the entire ecosystem. This process of technology adoption and the use of data is new to the sports and is being driven by a collective need by different stakeholders to perform better, showcase the sport better, judge it more effectively, and to appeal to a wider audience.
¨Digital platforms have changed the BMX world by making it more global, by gaining popularity, and by having closer relationships with other riders, fans, and brands.¨ – Alex Jumelin.
Get in touch with our teammate Javier at javier@n3xtsports.com to find out more about some of our turnkey digital transformation projects, including a digital readiness assessment and different virtual event solutions that can set you on your path.
If you were not able to make it to our online session, you can watch it here, also we would like to invite you to subscribe to our newsletter, and follow us on Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook to stay up to date with any N3XT Sports news.