Brestling

@lumpy873: I totally agree with that, there is more to it and we will have to see how it plays out. Is still think kade might be a bit closer to the organizers than we might be, but It's once again just second guessing until we know more. I would like to add however, just like the slope riders didn't do themselves a favor with the wording of the request and no communication with the public that this might be on the table, the organizers haven't done themselves a favor either, by trying to frame the situation like this was all about the money for the slopestyle riders.

@everythingscomingupmilhouse: I don't think big events with hundreds of starters are a fair comparison especially if its an open sign up. This is an invite only that spans across the globe and functions more like a global nitro circus / freestyle show rather than a marathon world champs...

@chrismac70: its not about price money, as much as the orginisers want to make it about. it's about accommodation and travel fees. to cover that is not the job of the sponsors. While the emils and eriks will get this paid for by the sponsors, many others will not. Hence many sponsors only care about social media anyway nowadays. For them it's more beneficial if you just stay at home and produce viral insta clips. If so though we as viewers wouldn't have this competition to watch. If I remember correctly last year or so the riders even chipped in for a Spanish rider to be able to compete. While I do see the argument that cwx will be afraid that dh racers and other competitors will potentially demand the same. We must not forget that cwx is for the slopestyle riders what the UCI WC is for the racers. Hence why plenty of racers are expressing solidarity on social media right now. Imho asking for accommodation and travel fee isn't much compared to the ammount of viewers this broadcast reaches. We as community als need to start to abandon the thought (or If I do say so excuse) that we are only a niche sport anymore. MTB as a hobby is a very much growing sport that is gathering a lot of new fans rather quickly. Yes we might not be as popular as football, basketball or similar, but we are also a different target group. Hobby devices aka bikes are not cheap, holiday trips with bikes are not cheap, equipment has a price etc. Yet we all pay at least some of it out of joy. This means we are a highly profitable target group, were audience targeting and marketing value is equivalently higher than in sports with a different target group. The request of riders to get some money from this cake is only fair. Their main income should thereby, as many here have correctly pointed out here, be their sponsors. However the requested attendance fee and accommodation in question here is nothing that is going to get any of these riders rich. I can imagine the top end will probably not even care. I also believe that without these incentives the trip to these competitions will for many of the riders at the back end of the pack not be sustainable. One can also add that the organizers also get sponsorship money. Yes they need to pay themselves and their staff as well, but they should also look out for their talent (riders) and to open a path for the next generation that will definitely not have the sponsor backing in the beginning of their careers. As some people from the industry have pointed out (below this post or beneath pinkbikes insta posts), the money within the industry is definitely there. It's about time that the riders start making their voices heard in regards to how unsustainable the situation currently is. It's a bummer that plenty of people putting the blame on the riders here for ruining the show. I personally hate that it seems like it was an unnegotiable demand by the riders, but it could be that we are missing some viewpoints here. None the less I believe they have not made themselves friends with that wording nor the non transparency regarding this possibility. It could be that its due to a loose connection of mates making these claims instead of a professional union, but by now its just second guessing. I'm pretty sure though that this isn't the first time this has been spoken about However the riders demands don't seem to outrageous to me personally. I believe we should rather blame the industry for neglecting their talents, not handing out appropriate pay etc. than jumping on the riders as of now. I believe there were plenty of ways to not let it come this far. E.g. I can imagine emil being fine with the 25k being scrapped of the triple crown price money co cover parts the costs, or the overall price money being reduced but therefore accommodation and travel fees being payed. It's very unfortunate that now we all have to pay the price for it by missing out on the competition. Cheers for the read, sorry for wasting your time reading my gibberish... edit: spelling

Official Unofficial Scrub-Off presented by rideMMG ;)

1. Brandon Semenuk (CAN) 2. Tom Van Steenbergen (CAN) 3. Kurt Sorge (CAN)

1. Brandon Semenuk (CAN) 2. Tom Van Steenbergen (CAN) 3. Carson Storch(USA)

He has probably already booked a flight for CWX Rotorua which happens at Oct. 31st. My guess is that the rules in NZ (2 weeks of quarantine i blelive) don't allow him to compete at both. At this point in his career he might also value the chance of getting the tripple crown higher than competing at Rampage.