While the X Games, which begin Thursday in S.F.,
"become big business with the biggest of business as
sponsors, ... not everyone can afford to play in the X Games
big leagues," according to Monique Beeler of the OAKLAND
TRIBUNE, who wrote that "top-level sponsorships" of the
event "start around" $1M and "climb as high as" $10M, "sky-
high rates beyond the budgets of grassroots skateboard
makers." Therefore, there will be "no on-site banners or TV
spots touting" skateboard or bike companies, but X Games
visitors will have "no trouble spotting" signs from
corporate sponsors such as Mountain Dew and 1-800-CALL-ATT
(see THE DAILY, 8/11). CA-based helmet maker Bell Sports
Marketing Communications Manager Don Palermini noted that
the annual marketing budget for "most successful biking
companies" is $250,000-500,000, and said of an X Games
sponsorship, "For most companies, it would blow their entire
budget." Meanwhile, ESPN Manager of Communications Josh
Krulewitz said that non-skate industry companies have
"exposure and brand loyalty" to gain from the "millions
spent marketing to the X Games crowd." Krulewitz:
"Alternative sports and the culture they represent is a
significant and growing part of the landscape culturally and
aesthetically. An association with that genre can only help
them, even if the product doesn't have a logical extension."
Bagel Bites has "achieved record-breaking sales after
becoming a top sponsor" of February's Winter X Games, as
sales increased 32% during the competition week, and the
company reported a 21% growth in sales in the second quarter
of 2000 (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 8/13).
TOTALING IT UP: The SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's John Rofe
cites industry sources as saying that the X Games will "take
in about" $22M from sponsorships. While ESPN/ABC Sports
President of Customer Marketing & Sales Ed Erhardt would not
confirm the figure, he added, "Industry sources are
sometimes right." More Erhardt: "In the first year, we had
six sponsors. This year we have 16. The revenue growth has
mirrored the number of people who come to the event."
Sources also told Rofe that gold sponsorships cost "at
least" $2M, while associate sponsorships are about $1M
(SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/14 issue).
INCOME OPPORTUNITIES: In CA, Curtis Pashelka examined
the marketing of X Games athletes and cited 16-year-old
motocross rider Travis Pastrana as saying that a "top rider
in his sport can make" $100,000-150,000 a year. Wakeboarder
Tara Hamilton, who has won eight events in the past two
years, as well as three national championships, said that
she "makes more from endorsements than she does from winning
events." Hamilton's agent Bob Adams, on extreme sports
athletes: "Ten years ago it would have been hard for them to
make a living at this. Obviously, the X Games has helped
raise the profile of these sports. Now sponsors are
starting to seek them out" (CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 8/13).
