Author Topic: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?  (Read 6409 times)

Offline Flatland Fanatic

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Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« on: June 20, 2013, 03:41:19 AM »
There are still a lot of Pro riders who ride everyday, but very few of them compete.  Why is that?

Offline freestylinkale

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Re: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2013, 06:15:49 AM »
That is a very good question. Before recent times there were not a lot of contests for People to enter. I think a better question is why are there not alot of younger aged pro riders.....

Offline D

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Re: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2013, 04:35:49 PM »
There are a few riders in North America who are on the same level as the Euro and Asian riders, but most of those aren't sponsored or only flow sponsored, so paying for travel and entry fees are up to them.  When it's coming out of your pocket, it's hard to justify spending entry fees when you know that unless you produce two near perfect runs and the very top of your game AND the other heavy hitters have a bad day and make a lot of mistakes, there's pretty much no way you're making your money back and you're going to place somewhere between 10th and 17th.  Cash strapped flatland sponsors either can't or won't cover travel and entry costs if you're not placing high enough to get attention.       

Offline wolverines

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Re: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2013, 06:19:06 PM »
^plus the fact that it could be money spent on this or food on tje table or a roof over your head.



This goes for all bmx riders.

Re: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2013, 07:22:48 PM »
I can think of one US Pro who does 400 solo demos and drives about the distance to the moon in a year.....all on his own. (completely separate from any BMX sponsors).

Can't hit every contest where you MIGHT win enough $$ to get back home....  That's just facts!


Offline jm

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Re: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2013, 07:33:50 PM »
I can think of one US Pro who does 400 solo demos and drives about the distance to the moon in a year.....all on his own. (completely separate from any BMX sponsors).

Can't hit every contest where you MIGHT win enough $$ to get back home....  That's just facts!



To be fair though, there's a high likelihood that he's making good money at each of these stops; which is kind of the counterpoint to what was mentioned earlier; that money is one factor keeping people from hitting every contest and being a true touring pro.

Re: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2013, 07:45:45 PM »
Good point...but 400 shows in a year plus travel time...I can't see a lot of contest trips happening!
 
P.S. I don't even personally know any pros...so I'm guessing. But I do remember Justin Miller saying something like he trained so hard for contests, and spent $1000 of his own money to fly to another country to compete for a $1000 prize...
 
Crazy!!

Offline D

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Re: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2013, 08:30:48 PM »
How much does a big contest like Voodoo pay out for 1st through 10th place? 

Offline Mr.Archon

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Re: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2013, 10:18:41 PM »
Dane Beardesely was the Last legitamately pro level rider to come out of the U.S and he's in his early 30's...Thats frightening...

Offline JUGGARNAUT

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Re: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« Reply #9 on: June 21, 2013, 03:35:23 AM »
I miss the TEAM Summer tours at Bike shops, fortunately  I worked at one who had them ALL come through in '88...

Offline 2flat2furious

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Re: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2013, 05:52:33 PM »
Dane Beardesely was the Last legitamately pro level rider to come out of the U.S and he's in his early 30's...Thats frightening...

Justin Miller came out after Dane. He hasn't ridden since the first Jomopro though.

Wilhelm said at Dew Tour he isn't really interested in competing any more. He can just do shows and make more money. I know Cerra does a bunch of shows every week and the payout is consistently better than contests.

There is really no incentive for people to go pro in the US. Even if you do, sponsorship is extremely limited to a very select group of people, and if you don't have the right connections there's very little that will come your way. Travel costs have gone up in the last few years, and payouts at contests (compared to the Xgames days) have dropped significantly. The only reason guys like Ucchie, Matthias, Viki and other riders like that come to events like Dew Tour from Europe and Japan is that someone is covering all their travel costs. Even if you get a whole bike for free, you'll still be paying 500-600 just to get to a contest that more than likely you will not win unless you've brought tricks that can beat the guys who ride full time for their sponsors that pay everything. It's a huge up hill battle

On the other hand, you could "go pro" just for the sake of doing so and not get anything in return aside from another contest experience. Simply throwing more pros into the mix doesn't mean much if they can't place well because there's such a small return on investment.

Short answer: there are no new competing pros because there is almost no reason to do it unless you want to live on very little.

Offline bhaverchuck

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Re: Why aren't there more North American pro contest riders?
« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2013, 04:16:44 PM »
Interesting to note that once current generation North American pros 'retire' who will replace them. Current age of a flatlander has gone up from previous years.