UCI grant Discovery WC rights from 2023 to 2030

Mr.Nally
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10/12/2023 9:45am
dolface wrote:
Also missing the key piece about where in the running order a rider was; including who's up next. Not having timestamps/bookmarks on the replays (as RB...

Also missing the key piece about where in the running order a rider was; including who's up next. Not having timestamps/bookmarks on the replays (as RB did) is also a loss.

100% agreed, not having timestamps and other data on the player is a mess. The generic GCN player is useless. RB certainly refined their player over the years. It's unlikely but hopefully WBD follow suit and progress their offering

grambo
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10/12/2023 3:49pm
iceman2058 wrote:
Another super annoying thing, the rider’s time is always shown in green. Then a small little line shows up under it to let you know if...

Another super annoying thing, the rider’s time is always shown in green. Then a small little line shows up under it to let you know if the rider went slower or faster. Super confusing when we’ve all been used to seeing green only for faster times for years They were told about this after the first race but never cared to change it. (I know that green is their main theme color, that doesn’t mean it has to be used for the time graphic). A small detail but it shows they are not really listening or caring.

Never realized this and I watched every race this year on GCN+ lol. I did find it way harder to immediately know if riders were up or down at splits, and even when they crossed the line (because of where the +/- graphic is shown).

The "where in the start order are we" thing seems way worse now than in past RB years. They only seem to show it every 10 riders. By MSA I was keeping a mental list once into the top 20.

Ahab
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10/12/2023 4:01pm

Graphics overall were terrible. Never got that sorted. Some fuckin' shithead creative director decided green would be the main color for everything. 

WhatsUpCountry
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10/12/2023 5:09pm
Ahab wrote:

Graphics overall were terrible. Never got that sorted. Some fuckin' shithead creative director decided green would be the main color for everything. 

My theory is that some British dude is just getting into the "all the colors are neon" phase that the US went through like 10 years ago. Maybe it's the same guy who's responsible for James May's purple striped shirt.

 

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Verbl Kint
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10/12/2023 9:52pm

Aaron Gwin was definitely the highlight of the entire season's broadcast for me.  His calmness, insider knowledge, wisdom, and understated sense of humor was exactly what the media booth needed, regardless whether the broadcast was Red Bull or WB/ESO.

 

I don't want him to retire from racing just yet but it will be a very tall order to find a suitable substitute in the broadcast booth next season.

 

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veefour
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10/13/2023 3:32am Edited Date/Time 10/13/2023 3:33am
grambo wrote:
Never realized this and I watched every race this year on GCN+ lol. I did find it way harder to immediately know if riders were up...

Never realized this and I watched every race this year on GCN+ lol. I did find it way harder to immediately know if riders were up or down at splits, and even when they crossed the line (because of where the +/- graphic is shown).

The "where in the start order are we" thing seems way worse now than in past RB years. They only seem to show it every 10 riders. By MSA I was keeping a mental list once into the top 20.

When you say up or down on time splits, do you mean the traditional definition of up or down, or the Discovery commentator version of up or down? Laughing

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stoic_machine
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10/13/2023 7:13am
grambo wrote:
Never realized this and I watched every race this year on GCN+ lol. I did find it way harder to immediately know if riders were up...

Never realized this and I watched every race this year on GCN+ lol. I did find it way harder to immediately know if riders were up or down at splits, and even when they crossed the line (because of where the +/- graphic is shown).

The "where in the start order are we" thing seems way worse now than in past RB years. They only seem to show it every 10 riders. By MSA I was keeping a mental list once into the top 20.

veefour wrote:
When you say up or down on time splits, do you mean the traditional definition of up or down, or the Discovery commentator version of up...

When you say up or down on time splits, do you mean the traditional definition of up or down, or the Discovery commentator version of up or down? Laughing

I'm glad someone else noticed this aswell. Drove me crazy

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RadAxSmirch
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10/13/2023 7:52am
grambo wrote:
Never realized this and I watched every race this year on GCN+ lol. I did find it way harder to immediately know if riders were up...

Never realized this and I watched every race this year on GCN+ lol. I did find it way harder to immediately know if riders were up or down at splits, and even when they crossed the line (because of where the +/- graphic is shown).

The "where in the start order are we" thing seems way worse now than in past RB years. They only seem to show it every 10 riders. By MSA I was keeping a mental list once into the top 20.

veefour wrote:
When you say up or down on time splits, do you mean the traditional definition of up or down, or the Discovery commentator version of up...

When you say up or down on time splits, do you mean the traditional definition of up or down, or the Discovery commentator version of up or down? Laughing

I'm glad someone else noticed this aswell. Drove me crazy

Did nobody think of explaining to CG a more simple description eg: in front or behind ?

They didn't need to kill any interesting conversation in flow just to shout out the time at every split either. 

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veefour
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10/13/2023 8:03am Edited Date/Time 10/13/2023 8:06am
veefour wrote:
When you say up or down on time splits, do you mean the traditional definition of up or down, or the Discovery commentator version of up...

When you say up or down on time splits, do you mean the traditional definition of up or down, or the Discovery commentator version of up or down? Laughing

I'm glad someone else noticed this aswell. Drove me crazy

Did nobody think of explaining to CG a more simple description eg: in front or behind ? They didn't need to kill any interesting conversation in...

Did nobody think of explaining to CG a more simple description eg: in front or behind ?

They didn't need to kill any interesting conversation in flow just to shout out the time at every split either. 

It wouldn't be so bad if it was only Cedric doing it.  Ric has also joined the party, I noticed him saying it on a couple of occasions at MSA, along with "he's in touch" when the rider was green.

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bulletbass man
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10/14/2023 2:53am

I like ric and Cedric.  But they are not good live commentators.  Have ric do his scripted bits in the broadcast and Cedric replace miss Can’t be bothered to learn the racer names doing interviews.  Give someone else a shot at the commentating because the the only improvement made was Aaron and they shouldn’t be relying on injured riders for decent commentary they ultimately talk over way too often.  

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stoic_machine
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10/14/2023 7:06am
I like ric and Cedric.  But they are not good live commentators.  Have ric do his scripted bits in the broadcast and Cedric replace miss Can’t...

I like ric and Cedric.  But they are not good live commentators.  Have ric do his scripted bits in the broadcast and Cedric replace miss Can’t be bothered to learn the racer names doing interviews.  Give someone else a shot at the commentating because the the only improvement made was Aaron and they shouldn’t be relying on injured riders for decent commentary they ultimately talk over way too often.  

I agree. I like Ric for the race preview scripts for DH XC and Enduro. Hell he can even do the post race recap but as far as commentary for the live races... There's just something he's missing.

Let's bring In Needles and see how he does. If Rob is with Crankworx now we aren't going to see Needles commentating on those races so let's bring him over for World Cup and see how he does. 

 

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Bob Chicken
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10/15/2023 2:52am Edited Date/Time 10/15/2023 2:53am

Needles did the BBC commentary for the Worlds, and that's what we got to watch in Australia. 

There were more than a few nods and winks to Rob by him... "He goes down like a homesick mole...!"

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bizutch
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10/15/2023 5:44pm
Needles did the BBC commentary for the Worlds, and that's what we got to watch in Australia.  There were more than a few nods and winks...

Needles did the BBC commentary for the Worlds, and that's what we got to watch in Australia. 

There were more than a few nods and winks to Rob by him... "He goes down like a homesick mole...!"

If Needles talks over his co-host like he does on his Moving the Needle podcast...I vote no.
I stopped listening.  I want to hear all the insight Sven gives but he just cuts him off constantly.

No offense to Needles. I think I do the same to my pals.

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NorseDave
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10/15/2023 7:13pm

The few times I've heard Needles doing commentary, ugh, no thanks.  

For everyone that doesn't want to pay GCN, umm, you guys do know about the site where the full streams get posted usually within a few hours of the race? Right?  Once I found them, I just ignored semis and went straight to the finals.  I just had to not check Vital on finals day to avoid spoilers. 

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hogfly
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10/16/2023 7:18am
bizutch wrote:
If Needles talks over his co-host like he does on his Moving the Needle podcast...I vote no. I stopped listening.  I want to hear all the...

If Needles talks over his co-host like he does on his Moving the Needle podcast...I vote no.
I stopped listening.  I want to hear all the insight Sven gives but he just cuts him off constantly.

No offense to Needles. I think I do the same to my pals.

I'm glad it's not just me! I had the exactly same issue with listening to Needles. He seems like a good guy and seems to be universally liked... but dang he talks over all his guests. Constantly interrupts them. It's almost uncomfortable to listen to him and Sven. I think that it's because they know each other well and like to argue with each other, but it's hard to listen to at times. The talking over guests isn't just limited to Sven, though, either.

I also stopped listening as a result.

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stoic_machine
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10/20/2023 10:42am
Needles did the BBC commentary for the Worlds, and that's what we got to watch in Australia.  There were more than a few nods and winks...

Needles did the BBC commentary for the Worlds, and that's what we got to watch in Australia. 

There were more than a few nods and winks to Rob by him... "He goes down like a homesick mole...!"

bizutch wrote:
If Needles talks over his co-host like he does on his Moving the Needle podcast...I vote no. I stopped listening.  I want to hear all the...

If Needles talks over his co-host like he does on his Moving the Needle podcast...I vote no.
I stopped listening.  I want to hear all the insight Sven gives but he just cuts him off constantly.

No offense to Needles. I think I do the same to my pals.

They cut eachother off as if it's a competition lol

bizutch
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10/20/2023 12:49pm
Needles did the BBC commentary for the Worlds, and that's what we got to watch in Australia.  There were more than a few nods and winks...

Needles did the BBC commentary for the Worlds, and that's what we got to watch in Australia. 

There were more than a few nods and winks to Rob by him... "He goes down like a homesick mole...!"

bizutch wrote:
If Needles talks over his co-host like he does on his Moving the Needle podcast...I vote no. I stopped listening.  I want to hear all the...

If Needles talks over his co-host like he does on his Moving the Needle podcast...I vote no.
I stopped listening.  I want to hear all the insight Sven gives but he just cuts him off constantly.

No offense to Needles. I think I do the same to my pals.

They cut eachother off as if it's a competition lol

I'm tuned in to hear Sven in LONG FORM tell me all the details of what he's seeing behind the scenes.
But Needles re-directs him before he ever finishes thoughts.  
I feel like he needs to take a sales seminar like I've had to do that teaches "Active Listening" skills.

I've ripped on Jase McAlpine for being bad about it with people like Gwin & Dean Lucas.  
He seemed to listen and refine after several chimed in of the same mind.  

gibbon
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10/20/2023 2:24pm
bizutch wrote:
I'm tuned in to hear Sven in LONG FORM tell me all the details of what he's seeing behind the scenes. But Needles re-directs him before...

I'm tuned in to hear Sven in LONG FORM tell me all the details of what he's seeing behind the scenes.
But Needles re-directs him before he ever finishes thoughts.  
I feel like he needs to take a sales seminar like I've had to do that teaches "Active Listening" skills.

I've ripped on Jase McAlpine for being bad about it with people like Gwin & Dean Lucas.  
He seemed to listen and refine after several chimed in of the same mind.  

I cannot listen to Gypsy Tales anynore. No matter who he has on he manages to make it about himself, constantly namedrop and talk over them.

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brash
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10/20/2023 2:31pm

play the gysy tales drinking game, every time he mentions Jiu Jitsu take a shot.

You will die within the first half an hour of the podcast from alcohol poisoning, but it's a great game.

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mntnmrtn
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11/16/2023 7:41am

I just finished listening to a French interview with Laurent Delorme (Specialized's DH team manager) on the "En roue libre" podcast, and have noted some details on how the transition to Warner Bros happened :


-There was a call for proposals by the UCI to see who would get the diffusion rights of MTB races, and RedBull lost it to Warner Bros. WB then bought the diffusion rights and also negociated to be the "promoters of the sport", so the UCI would stay the governing body (basically give away the titles and write the rulebook), but everything else would be handled by Warner Bros. They bought the MTB segments to handle all the World Cup series from ESO (Chris Ball). I didn't know they were handling the WC series, but maybe that's not exactly what he meant.

Laurent's vision of developping the sport :
-Apparently, from the data that they had, MTB viewers/fans are more attached and consistent with watching their sport than soccer fans, so placing an MTB race before a soccer game opens up the sport to neophytes and will (theorically from their point of view) bring in a new viewership. I don't know about other people, but if there is a soccer/football/volleyball/etc. sport that I don't watch before or after an MTB race, I'll just leave and do something else. It probably works the same the other way around. Laurent said that this is good for the sport, because those neophytes will have questions about MTB and Warner Bros will try to simplify the rules to make it easier to understand for new people (ex: remove protected status, qualifications, etc.) They kind of missed their mark with Qualis this year, but from everything we're hearing, this is disapearing for next year.

He also said "The sport needs to be more and more elitist, that's not even a choice, it's a fact if we want to develop the sport."

So that all means that MTB fans who have been watching races for the past 30 years don't have a say at all in any of this, and WB don't care about MTB fans either. They are only in the sport to get more viewership, add another sport to their portfolio and make their subscription plans more expensive because they offer more sports. Hopefully they don't f&*# it up too much before their diffusion contact ends.

After hearing Loic and Laurent talk, big teams (Specialized at least) just want to see big teams compete against each other like in all other big/popular sports. Basically removing all the "weeds" from the grass to make it homogenous. I don't watch F1/nascar/indoor motocross races/etc. because everything looks too "manicured" and what I like about MTB, that everything isn't perfect and it feels more lively/organic. I'm probably not alone, but obviously I'm not WB's public. Hopefully MTB racing keeps some of it's essence in the coming year, or else watching the races will get uninteresting and they will lose everything.
 

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mntnmrtn
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11/16/2023 7:46am

I have no clue about NFL, but I'll just buy the diffusion rights and "promoting of the sport" principles and will make it my own version with obligatory circle-of-fire hoops, crossfit challenges and different distance between lines at each game to make it more interesting for fans of other sports and the general public. Oh, and I'll just make it one point for every goal, so that everyone who are not into it can understand the game instantly. Or make it 10 points per goal to make it more impressive, but that's okay,  it doesn't need to be all set in stone, I'll keep some important decisions for the second year!

ride
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11/16/2023 11:29am
mntnmrtn wrote:
I just finished listening to a French interview with Laurent Delorme (Specialized's DH team manager) on the "En roue libre" podcast, and have noted some details...

I just finished listening to a French interview with Laurent Delorme (Specialized's DH team manager) on the "En roue libre" podcast, and have noted some details on how the transition to Warner Bros happened :


-There was a call for proposals by the UCI to see who would get the diffusion rights of MTB races, and RedBull lost it to Warner Bros. WB then bought the diffusion rights and also negociated to be the "promoters of the sport", so the UCI would stay the governing body (basically give away the titles and write the rulebook), but everything else would be handled by Warner Bros. They bought the MTB segments to handle all the World Cup series from ESO (Chris Ball). I didn't know they were handling the WC series, but maybe that's not exactly what he meant.

Laurent's vision of developping the sport :
-Apparently, from the data that they had, MTB viewers/fans are more attached and consistent with watching their sport than soccer fans, so placing an MTB race before a soccer game opens up the sport to neophytes and will (theorically from their point of view) bring in a new viewership. I don't know about other people, but if there is a soccer/football/volleyball/etc. sport that I don't watch before or after an MTB race, I'll just leave and do something else. It probably works the same the other way around. Laurent said that this is good for the sport, because those neophytes will have questions about MTB and Warner Bros will try to simplify the rules to make it easier to understand for new people (ex: remove protected status, qualifications, etc.) They kind of missed their mark with Qualis this year, but from everything we're hearing, this is disapearing for next year.

He also said "The sport needs to be more and more elitist, that's not even a choice, it's a fact if we want to develop the sport."

So that all means that MTB fans who have been watching races for the past 30 years don't have a say at all in any of this, and WB don't care about MTB fans either. They are only in the sport to get more viewership, add another sport to their portfolio and make their subscription plans more expensive because they offer more sports. Hopefully they don't f&*# it up too much before their diffusion contact ends.

After hearing Loic and Laurent talk, big teams (Specialized at least) just want to see big teams compete against each other like in all other big/popular sports. Basically removing all the "weeds" from the grass to make it homogenous. I don't watch F1/nascar/indoor motocross races/etc. because everything looks too "manicured" and what I like about MTB, that everything isn't perfect and it feels more lively/organic. I'm probably not alone, but obviously I'm not WB's public. Hopefully MTB racing keeps some of it's essence in the coming year, or else watching the races will get uninteresting and they will lose everything.
 

I'll say this as I spoke to him myself in Andorra this year, and the badge and shirt he was wearing reflected what he told me. Chris ball is no longer affiliated with ESO, he's sold it. He is now the VP of Mountain Bike for WB/Disney.

I keep reading people referring to ESO as Chris Ball or vice versa. This is not the case anymore. I was surprised as anyone to hear it. 

I can also affirm your references from the Laurent interview. The people at the helm do not want small teams or privateers involved. Everything is being curated for broadcast. Such a bummer.

6
jonkranked
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11/16/2023 11:55am
mntnmrtn wrote:
I just finished listening to a French interview with Laurent Delorme (Specialized's DH team manager) on the "En roue libre" podcast, and have noted some details...

I just finished listening to a French interview with Laurent Delorme (Specialized's DH team manager) on the "En roue libre" podcast, and have noted some details on how the transition to Warner Bros happened :


-There was a call for proposals by the UCI to see who would get the diffusion rights of MTB races, and RedBull lost it to Warner Bros. WB then bought the diffusion rights and also negociated to be the "promoters of the sport", so the UCI would stay the governing body (basically give away the titles and write the rulebook), but everything else would be handled by Warner Bros. They bought the MTB segments to handle all the World Cup series from ESO (Chris Ball). I didn't know they were handling the WC series, but maybe that's not exactly what he meant.

Laurent's vision of developping the sport :
-Apparently, from the data that they had, MTB viewers/fans are more attached and consistent with watching their sport than soccer fans, so placing an MTB race before a soccer game opens up the sport to neophytes and will (theorically from their point of view) bring in a new viewership. I don't know about other people, but if there is a soccer/football/volleyball/etc. sport that I don't watch before or after an MTB race, I'll just leave and do something else. It probably works the same the other way around. Laurent said that this is good for the sport, because those neophytes will have questions about MTB and Warner Bros will try to simplify the rules to make it easier to understand for new people (ex: remove protected status, qualifications, etc.) They kind of missed their mark with Qualis this year, but from everything we're hearing, this is disapearing for next year.

He also said "The sport needs to be more and more elitist, that's not even a choice, it's a fact if we want to develop the sport."

So that all means that MTB fans who have been watching races for the past 30 years don't have a say at all in any of this, and WB don't care about MTB fans either. They are only in the sport to get more viewership, add another sport to their portfolio and make their subscription plans more expensive because they offer more sports. Hopefully they don't f&*# it up too much before their diffusion contact ends.

After hearing Loic and Laurent talk, big teams (Specialized at least) just want to see big teams compete against each other like in all other big/popular sports. Basically removing all the "weeds" from the grass to make it homogenous. I don't watch F1/nascar/indoor motocross races/etc. because everything looks too "manicured" and what I like about MTB, that everything isn't perfect and it feels more lively/organic. I'm probably not alone, but obviously I'm not WB's public. Hopefully MTB racing keeps some of it's essence in the coming year, or else watching the races will get uninteresting and they will lose everything.
 

ride wrote:
I'll say this as I spoke to him myself in Andorra this year, and the badge and shirt he was wearing reflected what he told me...

I'll say this as I spoke to him myself in Andorra this year, and the badge and shirt he was wearing reflected what he told me. Chris ball is no longer affiliated with ESO, he's sold it. He is now the VP of Mountain Bike for WB/Disney.

I keep reading people referring to ESO as Chris Ball or vice versa. This is not the case anymore. I was surprised as anyone to hear it. 

I can also affirm your references from the Laurent interview. The people at the helm do not want small teams or privateers involved. Everything is being curated for broadcast. Such a bummer.

elite racing is dead. long live the grassroots.

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bstens
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11/16/2023 11:55am
ride wrote:
I'll say this as I spoke to him myself in Andorra this year, and the badge and shirt he was wearing reflected what he told me...

I'll say this as I spoke to him myself in Andorra this year, and the badge and shirt he was wearing reflected what he told me. Chris ball is no longer affiliated with ESO, he's sold it. He is now the VP of Mountain Bike for WB/Disney.

I keep reading people referring to ESO as Chris Ball or vice versa. This is not the case anymore. I was surprised as anyone to hear it. 

I can also affirm your references from the Laurent interview. The people at the helm do not want small teams or privateers involved. Everything is being curated for broadcast. Such a bummer.

This guy gets it.

Sounds like @TEAMROBOT should REALLY push for that new water bottle idea...

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chriskief
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11/17/2023 6:59am Edited Date/Time 11/17/2023 7:00am
ride wrote:
I'll say this as I spoke to him myself in Andorra this year, and the badge and shirt he was wearing reflected what he told me...

I'll say this as I spoke to him myself in Andorra this year, and the badge and shirt he was wearing reflected what he told me. Chris ball is no longer affiliated with ESO, he's sold it. He is now the VP of Mountain Bike for WB/Disney.

I keep reading people referring to ESO as Chris Ball or vice versa. This is not the case anymore. I was surprised as anyone to hear it. 

I can also affirm your references from the Laurent interview. The people at the helm do not want small teams or privateers involved. Everything is being curated for broadcast. Such a bummer.

ESO was sold (either in part or in full) to Discovery...

https://www.linkedin.com/company/enduro-sports-organisation/about/

image-20231117095045-1

Here's a filing from end of 2022 showing some control moving to Dni Europe Holdings Limited (Discovery)... https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC43…

Seems like they just folded it into the larger WBD Sports organization. Address for the WBD Sports unit running the world cup is the same as ESO.

image-20231117095050-2

FWIW, he's still listed as a director of ESO...

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC43…

image-20231117095138-3

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BGoldstone
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11/17/2023 10:25am

Sooo, after the first night of the inaugural Vegas Grand Prix how’s everyone feeling about turning DH into F1?

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sspomer
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11/17/2023 10:54am

haha verstappen's take on it all is pretty awesome.

veefour
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11/17/2023 10:57am Edited Date/Time 11/17/2023 10:59am

Well if ESO are going to start providing trackside titty-bars then count me in!

1

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