For more than a decade, independence was the watchword in action sports. Things are changing now: It's all about aggregation. Observers agree it's necessary for the category's growth. But the final model is anybody's guess, because so many entities are trying now to be the aggregators.
Extreme sports marketers point to the PGA Tour and NASCAR as models, where a single entity represents athletes and events in negotiations with networks. But the action sports category has never displayed such unity.
Last year, ESPN was the only network that owned an action sports property, the X Games. Now NBC is pursuing plans for its own tour and the Outdoor Life Network is purchasing the Gravity Games from Octagon.
It's a similar story where talent is concerned. Last week, three dozen athletes led by Olympic freestyle ski gold medalist Jonny Moseley and snowboarder Barrett Christy announced the formation of the International Action Sports Alliance (IASA), an advocacy group open to all athletes (see related story). At the same time, four of Octagon's top athletes were forming a marketing entity called The Coalition, which would be open to other qualified athletes in the future.
And these follow on the heels of efforts — not wholly successful so far — by the Wasserman Media Group and a group called Pro Riders Organization to aggregate athletes into formal entities.
Like the IASA, Pro Riders is interested in securing insurance and benefits, along with better standards at competitions. Wasserman is going a step further, trying to secure more prize money by leveraging his athletes as a sanctioning body for events.
All of these moves fly in the face of the tradition of the category. Although there are some millionaire athletes in the sector, even the best ones have competed for prize money that tops out at about $20,000. Fame has not come from television, but instead from appearances in videos and action sports magazines. Money has come from endemic sponsors — skateboard, snowboard and sunglasses companies. (Larger consumer brands that get involved in the category are called "corporate companies" by action sports marketers.)
And even when athletes get rich from all this, they and their sponsors try to maintain an aura of "authenticity" to the extreme sports ethos, which claims to honor skill and artistry over medals and money.
The industry is arguing about whether the new structures are wise, even as it moves forward. Wasserman's group has criticized NBC for its attempt to own a tour, arguing that it's a strategy to keep rights fees down by doing away with them entirely. NBC's response has been, in so many words: "TV network ownership of events is the sport's best chance; if you can get rights fees from another network, be our guest."
Wasserman's effort is also open to criticism, with his ownership of The Familie, the top athlete-representation agency in extreme sports. Should an agent be in charge of a players association? Could he be unbiased in his dealings with athletes he doesn't represent?
Wasserman and other experts think that's putting the cart before the horse. Extreme sports doesn't need strict divisions between agents, players associations, events and networks right now. It simply needs crucial first steps toward profitable events, recognized champions and meaningful prize money.
"At some point, if ESPN has a hugely popular tour that builds up athletes, it will mean something to athletes. And other people will represent them in compensation negotiations. If ESPN [won't pay], they'll take their services elsewhere. What is the difference who owns the event? It's all big brother," said Leonard Armato, a longtime agent who now owns the AVP in a single-entity structure.
Added a veteran sports marketer with ties to several networks, "If any approach is going to work, the players need to aggregate their rights, and so do the events, so that when they take it to market, they can get a premium."
In its pitches to athletes and venues, NBC has said the top 20 action sports sponsors account for $60 million in spending. That's not NFL-style money, but it got attention and is a step in the industry's attempt to become a dependable sponsor vehicle.
Sponsors are watching. "Action is something we do keep our eyes on, yes," said Michelle Berg, vice president of Velocity Sports and Entertainment, the agency that handles Cingular Wireless' sports marketing. Action sports is not part of Cingular's portfolio, but wireless providers and phone makers are among the category's top sponsors."Right now it seems so fragmented, it's hard to figure out where the real audience is," Berg said. "I'm in favor of legitimizing [a tour], rather than having the made-for-TV events you see now."
