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Trend Watcher: Sponsor loyalty on the decrease?

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kootenayklaus
Posts: 3914 - Karma: 2,179
Today, as I logged into Newschoolers, I watched one of the best edits I've seen in a very long while. What edit, you may ask? This one:



Nothing like a good old Delorme park edit to soil your undies, but the headlining notion of it really struck me; Delorme had moved from Fatypus to Faction. I mean, the company doesn't seem like the greatest fit for him in my personal opinion, but his motivator was probably money.

Over the past year or two, I have noticed that many skiers have been seemingly "quick" to leave their parent (if that's the right word) companies, i.e. Ian Compton and Line. From someone who isn't too personally acquainted with the fellow, his move to Nordica came as a complete shock to me and I did not see it coming what-so-ever. Without Line in the picture for Ian, I have no doubt that he would not have become the skier he is today, or at least to the magnitude that he has made it. Don't twist my words, he's one fucking radical and talented dude, but Line essentially raised him.

Jason Levinthal would be another example; he made Line from the ground up, and recently left to do his own full-time time project. I totally admire his audacity in making such a statement, and especially the image J-Skis is now trying to portray, but why not make such skis as a sub-sector to Line, a company with prestige in today's ski industry?

In the early to mid 2000's, staying with a company for more than 5 years seemed like the regular, but today, I see so many people jumping ship extremely early, or at least more than before.

To keep this short for the sorry ass bastards who have the attention span of a 9 year old with ADHD, are the skiers of today any more likely to leave their parent companies than skiers were 10 years ago? Is sponsor loyalty as big of a factor as it was in previous years? Could there possibly be a lower level of passion for the sport, causing money to become an even larger component than ever?

TL;DR What the fuck is up with lots of people leaving their long-time sponsors?
Dec 10 2013 3:58PM
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Turkelton
Posts: 2829 - Karma: 8,558
These guys make a complete living off skis/skiing. They've gotta make money, and if they get free skis in the process, who's actually hurt? It may kill off smaller brands in future but business is a Darwin world: the weakest won't reproduce and the strong ones will prevail. Whether this means we may have the stronger companies holding the spotlight forever through riders and money, we will have to see. In the snowboard world we've seen Omni die, Atomic disappear, the GNU factory get sold off. Companies die and have to adapt, whether it be through riders, tech or prices. Interesting thread though
Dec 10 2013 4:06PM
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eheath
Posts: 61090 - Karma: 118,083
Skiers leave sponsors for numbers of reason, maybe he was over fatypus, maybe faction offered him more money, maybe he likes the skis, maybe the TM is a better fit, etc.
Dec 10 2013 4:07PM
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outdoortech
Posts: 313 - Karma: 2,197
"Professional" Ski careers are often times short-lived due to injury, fiscal issues, etc...
Compton's friend became TM and brought Ian with him.
Delorme had struggled financially in the past and was often put into debt from his best movie segments (great freeskier article +k for anyone that can find it).

Faction probably offered Delorme a better deal and possibly more support for future endeavors.
Nothing to do with loyalty, i'm sure Fatypus wishes him the best and understands his move is not meant to burn any bridges.

Good thoughts though OP, a lot of times the shifts have been a long time in the works and only appear sudden as the actual switch happens.
Dec 10 2013 4:10PM
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Old+Bitter
Posts: 37 - Karma: 89
no, you just started talking about switches more
Dec 10 2013 4:11PM
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freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,055
it may just be that the team rider marketplace is flooded and people only get 1-2yr contracts for merchandise because the next up and comer can fill the spot next year. its also possible these riders are only just getting skis for free and expected to put together small edits to spotlight the equipment. When another company comes along with potentially a better plan for them, it's hard to pass up. delorme going to faction is cool in my eyes because now him and candide may ski together and make sick edits! would love to see the cross influencing of styles there.
Dec 10 2013 4:12PM
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CRENSZN
Posts: 242 - Karma: 1,047
Nik Lampard needs to stop questioning the inner workings of the industry so much, or else the ski-illuminati is going to show up to his little abode down in PA to remind him why he needs to stop giving a fuck.
Dec 10 2013 4:22PM
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Crispy.
Posts: 6102 - Karma: 7,626
This one perhaps?
http://freeskier.com/stories/invisible-skier-adam-delorme-profile
Dec 10 2013 4:48PM
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Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22671 - Karma: 75,830
Yeah I mean in the end being a pro skier is a business and you need to make sure you take care of your shit.
Dec 10 2013 5:02PM
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OCM
Posts: 1276 - Karma: 975
What I would give for a Candide-Vanular-Delorme edit...
Dec 10 2013 5:02PM
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Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22671 - Karma: 75,830
The internet would explode.
Dec 10 2013 5:10PM
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Benson.
Posts: 2739 - Karma: 3,787
I'd die happy if that was the last thing I saw.
Dec 10 2013 5:15PM
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mski
Posts: 4791 - Karma: 3,803
Moar Money , Moar Options
Dec 10 2013 5:15PM
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Turkelton
Posts: 2829 - Karma: 8,558
In other news, Scrappy just moved to APO
Dec 11 2013 2:22AM
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Barmski
Posts: 4342 - Karma: 811
You make a good point however you obviously have no idea what AD's situation was like with Fat-ypus. I respect your point, but Faction IS a better choice for him and IS a better fitting ski company for him. I can't say much more, I'll let you figure that out on your own. Details are better left unsaid. Faction is solid company with a solid future and they def make a great product. Anyone with industry knowledge would agree that AD's move was the right choice.

And no this has been going on in the industry for years, example : Candide Thovex went from Salomon to Rossi to Coreopt to Faction. Do you think the ski industry has money to give to freeski athletes? Ha, hell no. That's why you see them bouncing around. However, companies like Monster and Red Bull are a different story. Those are def more on the long term side.
Dec 11 2013 2:39AM
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Ali_Dibden
Posts: 1966 - Karma: 1,688
Not to say that switching sponsors is a bad thing at all but i have noticed that a significant number of skiers have changed sponsors this last year, Joey Vandermeer recently changed from ON3P to Apo for example. This thread has made me wonder........
Dec 11 2013 9:49AM
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BackcountryRyder
Posts: 26 - Karma: 14
companies just make money, they care about noone but the bottom line
Dec 11 2013 10:03AM
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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,385
That's hardly accurate in the ski industry. Some companies, for sure, but that's not the majority.
Dec 11 2013 12:51PM
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outdoortech
Posts: 313 - Karma: 2,197
That's the one, always thought this article gave a valuable insight into the lives of skiers we really look up to in this community, especially someone as creative and under the radar as delorme, thanks for finding it !
Dec 11 2013 3:14PM
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JAHpow
Posts: 7282 - Karma: 17,161
I'm wet just thinking about it
Dec 11 2013 3:18PM
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^nate^
Posts: 1263 - Karma: 560
Not really sure about the AD situation, but Fatypus is too small to really support a big athlete.

As for the J-skis situation, if anything, it's the opposite situation you described. Not that LINE soldout, but they are owned by K2 which is also owned by an even bigger outdoor sports company which brings in all sorts of corporate bs, ISO paperwork etc. J-Skis went back to the roots, the core of Jason's ski production goals and aspirations.
Dec 11 2013 3:52PM
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