Red Is Gold: White’s Half-Pipe Win Fuels Snowboarding

White Positioning Himself To Be Breakout Marketing Star Of Games

Snowboarder Shaun White, who won Gold in the men’s halfpipe competition in Turin yesterday, is profiled in a front-page piece by Liz Clarke of the WASHINGTON POST, who writes under the header, “‘Flying Tomato’ Saves The Day.” White “shook up every stereotype about slacker snowboarders and millionaire athletes ... when he broke down and wept the moment he saw his mother, father, sister and brother” after his win (WASHINGTON POST, 2/13). Today in the women’s half-pipe, Hannah Teter and Gretchen Bleiler won Gold and Silver, respectively (THE DAILY). In L.A., J.A. Adande writes snowboarding has “taken over as the American event of the Winter Olympics. ... White’s the beta version of the new American sports hero. Snowboarding might have a counterculture image, but White couldn’t get enough of the red-white-and-blue” (L.A. TIMES, 2/13). White was profiled on NBC’s “Nightly News” Friday and said his parents “took such a huge risk with me going and doing snowboarding because it wasn’t a big thing at the time, there wasn’t money in the sport, there wasn’t anything.” NBC’s Mike Taibbi: “Money, not just from winning but from the resulting endorsements and commercials, have bought him four homes and made him a multimillionaire. He’ll gain more fame from playing himself in the snowboard revolution movie, ‘First Descent’” (“Nightly News,” NBC, 2/10).

BIG HITS: Octagon Dir of Olympics & Action Sports Peter Carlisle, who reps a number of snowboarders, on the Winter Games: “The ‘cool factor’ is there, and it’s only growing with the addition of yet another snowboarding event [snowboardcross]. ... The Summer Games will start to evolve and probably encompass more of these action sports” (“On The Money,” CNBC, 2/10). In L.A., David Wharton wrote the “awkward relationship” between the non-traditional sport of snowboarding and the Olympic ideals “has given way to a full-on embrace as the [IOC] and its business partners — most notably NBC — look to give their spectacle a younger, hipper feel.” Carlisle: “You’ve got the Olympic movement and all of its ideals, but you also have a business here. The IOC has a business. NBC has a business” (L.A. TIMES, 2/12). In N.Y., Selena Roberts wrote of snowboarders, “The ex-outcasts are now a marquee draw. Being outside the box is in. Being a creative individual is embraced. ... But the creative culture of snowboarding is the universal theme here” (N.Y. TIMES, 2/12). U.S. Olympic snowboarder Seth Wescott, on NBC’s primetime coverage of the sport and the net using the sport in promotions: “Snowboarding has done a lot in reviving the ski industry in general, and now to see it being used as the marketing tool for the Olympics is nice for someone like me, but also amazing” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/11).

OUTFITTERS: In N.Y., Lee Jenkins noted that one of the jackets supplied to the U.S. snowboard team by Burton Snowboards has “pockets for an iPod and a cellphone” and a “removable control module with an LCD screen,” and the hood has two speakers in the lining. By speaking with ten snowboarders it sponsors, Burton “learned that the athletes cared as much about what a uniform did as how it looked.” Riders wanted to listen to music “without having to wear headphones.” They wanted to “keep in touch with their families, their representatives and their buddies.” Nike outfitted the team in ’02. Burton Snowboards Founder Jake Burton: “Seeing them wearing all those swooshes — it just felt kind of wrong” (N.Y. TIMES, 2/12). USA TODAY’s Sal Ruibal notes that after winning Silver in the halfpipe, Danny Kass “pulled out a life-size cardboard figure” of Fabio that included a logo for Grenade, the company he owns with his brother that markets gloves, apparel and goggles. The company’s revenue last year was $3.2M with $2.4M in the last quarter alone. Quiksilver “tried to buy Grenade last year, but the Kasses turned down an offer” (USA TODAY, 2/13).

CORRECTION: THE DAILY on Friday wrongly identified the agent of snowboarder Shaun White in our “Inside Pitch” feature. White is represented by Mark Ervin of IMG. THE DAILY regrets the error.