Slopestyle Riders Boycott Crankworx Rotorua Because of Low Prize Pay, Lack of Appearance Fee

Is it though? If they are upfront that they provide a platform for people to compete and advance their careers and nothing else, are they obligated to front the money for people to come?  

Hence my "kind of" caveat.

Everyone else: DH; Dual; Pump; Speed n Style (etc) all seem to have to change schedules to accommodate the needs of Slope. They can all do their best in ideal conditions (dry, no wind, nice temp...) but why is it only the Slope guys that get to stipulate that?

Do the other category riders get a choice... and should they all now also be eligible for a similar attendance fee/expenses. Equality and all that?

Genuine question.

my take is that due to the size of the jumps, and the clearance required to film / broadcast creates a lot of exposure, meaning the wind is a bigger factor than other events, except for maybe rampage.  periodically there is discussion during a race broadcast about the effect of wind on the biggest jumps too.  

I would say look at which events can run safely in adverse weather conditions.. DH, pump, and dual can all be run in the rain.. Yes, riders will have to slow down, maybe change tires, and maybe some course changes,  but it can be done relatively safely. 

I would put speed and style with the slope riders.. When the ramps get slippery or the course too muddy to carry speed to clear jumps, or cross and or headwinds prevent doing the jumps, what's left there?

errr I'm sorry but, if possible, the slope guys n gals should ABSOLUTELY have the most flexible schedule and be given the safest conditions. if the DH is rainy or windy, they can go slower to be safer and even skip jumps and basically the cost is TIME. i mean thsoe riders kinda HAVE to go in bad conditions, they know what to do.

you can NOT run big air freestyle events in wind and sometimes rain given soil condition. and these are the guys who do it on (checks notes) 26 inch hardtails or 100mm bikes on jumps where the air time is HANG TIME, not long and low (like fast road gaps). you WILL get blown. and thats talking about straight airs. now imagine being told you should put on your best run including flip whips and superman seatgrabs and truck drivers in... wind. or with soil so wet that even if you DO land straight you're literally just gonna wash out. they usually have to run semi knobby tires or outright slicks to keep momentum for those jumps on those bikes. Just the way it is.

There are a lot of good takes AGAINST the riders requests in this thread. That is just not one of them. Again, don't know how bad the course was and practice time schedules and what not... But if it is as the riders imply, yes it's not ok to have the riders ride when its windy or wet. Hardline Wales was cancelled. Rampage 2nd runs get cancelled damn near every year. It's part of the game. And risking your life for it is not honorable (its kinda stupid at that point, as Kaos will gladly point out)

I thought in Crankworx response, they said they pretty much catered to all the riders concerns except for the appearance fee. 

My thoughts on why they should be eligible for an attendance fee instead of the other categories is because (as far as I know) slope is the only event at Crankworx that is invite only. Anyone (I use that term loosely) can sign up and complete in DH, slalom, pumptrack, etc but you can't roll up and register to try and qualify for slopestyle. 

Not saying I fully agree with their move to boycott, but I do understand why they could be the only athletes eligible for an appearance fee.

They did, but the riders wanted all or nothing.. Unless there was a disagreement regarding how much is considered acceptable for a room? Or, how it should be paid? Did the riders want the reimbursement and the organizers offer a per diem? 

Once again,  details we don't know..

My question would be, how do the organizers handle the situation if the event is canceled by weather or something out of there control?  Refund the entries? Credit towards the next event?  Dip into the purse money and give it out to the riders? I've seen the first two options happen... 

Insurance. 

It would be cheaper to give back entry fees and give the riders some of the prize money than take out another insurance policy for the event cancelation.. I'm sure they already pay out a lot for insurance..

Man...the appearance fee, wanting food & accommodation...those are benefits not even employees can get.

Sorry, but this reads as Gen Z bullshit.
Don't fly to the OTHER END OF THE WORLD to spin your bike in the air for a few if you don't have your own money, sponsors, contracts, insurance & extradition in order.  

These guys are talking like they are a single entity that supplies Crankworx with a set pool of "performers" for a "show".  
If that's the case, they should have NAMED a FLAT appearance fee for their collective/entity/company (insert name of freeriders here). 

You want to organize a "Backflips Bike Stunt Show", do it.  But you can't show up to a gap jump stunt show a world away and shit the bed on your sport, your sponsors, the organizers, the locals, the videographers, the media, the economy for a situation you CHOSE.

If you don't have your own income and budget, you shouldn't be there. PERIOD!

I agree. I'm an engineering manager for a massive aerospace company worth $6B+ and they don't buy me lunch every day. They expect me to manage my finances so that I can feed myself, travel to and from work, and perform the job they paid me to do. This is a company makes the Crankworx organization look like a kids lemonade stand, and all they do is pay me a salary to do a single job. Just like the sponsors are paying these guys to show up to comps and do a job.

Obviously not all jobs are the same. I get that. But it's hard to feel sorry for folks whining about not making enough money playing a sport. Play the sport as a hobby and get a real job like everyone else does. 

It seems like this "strike" wasn't well thought out either. The riders felt like they could use the short time window as leverage, but it appears it didn't work out that way. What the riders should have done is put out this statement before everyone traveled to Rotorua. I know they've been having conversations for a few years about these demands, but obviously they needed to take some kind of stand. Tell the organizers ahead of time that no one is showing up unless they meet x, y, and z demands. They would have had far more leverage and given the organizers time to meet their demands. Probably would have got the appearance fees included.

So you don't want any new riders? So you want slopestyle to die for some reason?

How do you think ANY of these guys GET to the part where they have income? How are you speaking with such authority on something you haven't done and seemingly don't follow (and apparently don't like as you keep referring to it as like a 'stunt circus')?

Do you think slopestyle or freeride or BMX or skateboarding is brand new? It's always been a challenging independent pursuit and almost EVERY athlete starts as a borderline van dwelling ramen eater. The only alternative is TYPICALLY trust fund children that can have that initial barrier broken down for them. So you want yet another sport/discipline to turn into a trust fund only sport?

Fine. But you should say it if you mean it. You want slope to die or only the wealthy to participate in it because people who are poor or less connected should NOT be given a shot or subsidized in ANY way. Get those boot straps out and beg boys. You'll risk your lives for sponsor daddy and like it lol. Sounds like a super positive experience. And sustainable, too!

"benefits employees dont get" bro, they're not getting paid. you're willfully not reading anything that's going on here lol. "gen z bullshit" say less. I see where ALL of this narrative comes from. don't forget the ladder on the way out, that you pulled up behind you

I don't think YOU have randomly capitalized ENOUGH words to BE taken SERIOUSLY by BOOMERS who don't REALLY understand what is going ON PERIOD FULL STOP end OF story!!>?%%%

They can get a regular job to fund their slopestyle hobby until it pays off for them. You don't have to be broke and living in a van if you don't want to. A friend of mine raced world cup DH and was an electrician in the off season. The dude had tons of money to fund his endeavors on top of what sponsors were supporting him with. It's not unreasonable to think any of the slopestyle guys can be doing the same. With that financial freedom, they can pick and choose which events they want to ride...and not show up for events like Crankworx where they don't think it's worth it.

I'll hire any of these riders with an engineering degree today. They won't have to risk their life for "the man" and they can ride as much as they want.

How did all the current big names make it? They were not getting paid to show up they worked hard and negotiated with their sponsors.

That last sentence is 100% correct. 

A BMX/Freestyle/Skate comp would have an entry fee & a prize purse.  That's all.
10-20 dudes fighting it out for 3 to 5 checks.  
If your competition is a BIG TIME draw like you say, then the organizer is going to pay 10 deep.
But that's it.  

Every dime a freerider/freeracer makes as "income" is determined before he/she gets on the plane.
No one shows up for a financially incentivized competition before negotiating an appearance fee. 

And yeah, working hard at a real job is how the Aussies quite literally converted a decade of hard summer labor down under into NORBA & World Cup dream chasing.  Hill, Kovarik, Rennie, Waddell, Graves, Ronning and many, many more worked their tails off then vagabonded around the world w/ 6 months income.  

Rode the lift w/ those guys more than once. And to a man, they left home chasing the checks knowing they had their "8 Mile" shot and that was it.  Make it big...or go home and work.

That's the trouble, see. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

Yeah...trying to get young dudes to grasp that "Pay is pay. Work is work" and you can't reinvent it.  
Work first. Then Receive your pay.

One other story about comps like this.
Was invited to race one of the RedBull Urban DH races.
Organizers were very well off.  Offered to pay ALL my expenses if I got there.
Food/Lodging/On-site Transport/Entry (even sent me dozens of pics of the most gorgeous womenin their friends/party crew "eager" to meet the racers).
They 100% declined to pay ANY airfare.
I couldn't get my passport re-upped in time.

They ask me to reach out to World Cuppers I might know.
One declined because the organizer wouldn't pay for their flights. 
Still can't believe it to this day b/c that dude would have been ROYALTY at that event.

Instead of him going, CG showed up and I was sent pics and stories for MONTHS after of how epic it was.
Makes me sick to this day to miss out. 

Aren't the riders just barking up the wrong tree?

I get the safety part of it, but it isn't on Crankworx to pay the riders is it? 
Ask your sponsor. They don't want to pay you more? Well, time to realize your worth, whats happening in the industry, and go do something else to finance your hobby. 

On the subject of the riders getting paid, I wonder what Cannondale pays Max?

I gotta watch a 25 minute video to know why?

I think a lot of what they pay him is hush money for obscuring the fact that he is running full 27.5 on his habit. 

He can't put out a video of them riding at the comp so he has to put this out to keep the sponsors happy. 

Lets not forget that all of this is a money making enterprise. Everything from the pins on the pedals to the rider standing on the podium. There is someone, or a corporation putting money into it all to make money. Just like any work place if the organisation/shop/company/not for profit does not make money it does not survive. We are more and more seeing people demanding more and more from the ecosystem. There will always be a need to advocate for better conditions, more pay better work life balance but there is ultimately a time where it puts pressure on the industry, and eventually crushes it. If the concern is safety and security ie, injury or worse then maybe the riders request that the organises take out an insurance poilcy to cover them in the event of injury. Maybe the sponsors do the same, actually just like what the rest of us have to do, maybe the riders put a little bit of what ever they get paind into an insurance policy.  I'm often amazed when i see a story about a pro rider who needs a go fund me after an accident. I work in an office, i have a life insurance (and other) policy to cover me and my family.  It is the individuals responsibility to make sure that the individual is covered. It is not the company/organisation's responsibility to do so. You show up to the event you accept the responsibility. Don't lie the risk, stay at home.  Buy the insurance policy before you buy the big truck or quiver of toys. 

Long story short: 

"There's a lot more going on that Crankworx isn't sharing on social media or press releases, but I'm not going to go into it"

This video hasn't done anything to make me feel more sympathetic towards the athletes. Absolutely make sure the athletes have a voice when it comes to course safety and impact of weather/etc on the event. No one will ever convince me it's the event's responsibility to ensure athletes are able to participate (ie - travel and accommodations) and will never think an appearance fee is a reasonable ask as long as it remains a competition. 

You want to chase your dream of competing in Crankworx? Work hard, save money and take time off. Hustle and produce monetized content. Talk to that weird local dive bar and see if they'll sponsor you. Think outside the box. It's going to be bloody hard, but if you really want to chase that dream, you'll find a way. It's not anyone's responsibility but your own. 

He's not the only one doing that... Mitch has had bike checks on his DS bike set up full 27.5...