A few
days ago, Geoff Kabush put out an Instagram post talking about how the general
course of sponsorships has changed in the past few years. In a nutshell,
there’s been a shifting of the athlete/influencer scale towards having a strong
following on social media and away from the simplicity of results. Yes, results
do and (hopefully) always will matter, but Geoff is arguing the point that
there should be a pathway into professional cycling without having to be an
influencer across social media, one in which race results and sheer competition
speak as loudly as how many likes one received on Instagram. He goes on to
mention how the constant demands and struggles of social media can create a
barrier to get into the sport, push athletes closer towards burnout, and
ultimately steer people away from the competitive aspect of the sport.
As a
generally introverted person who admittedly shies away from cycling’s social
media obsession, the fact that a seasoned veteran in the sport spoke up about
this issue struck a chord with me. As a preface, I’ll admit that having a large
following, active social media account, and overall extroverted personality is
obviously a benefit to sponsors, who are often just looking to use athletes as
billboards to promote their products. I can see how between two otherwise
equally talented riders, it makes perfect sense to go with the one who is
reaching more people… that’s marketing 101. On the other hand, coming from a
position where I don’t want to spend all of my excess energy creating social
content I would love to argue the point of the rider who focuses solely on
being a professional athlete: someone who makes sacrifices and does
everything necessary to ensure their body and mind are the fastest and most
efficient machines possible.
I want to be partnered with a company that
recognizes this work ethic and is happy representing me because of what I
personally represent. I don’t want to feel as though I need to be a marketing
agent for a company as well as an athlete. Maybe that’s why I’ve been a
privateer as long as I have, going forward on a bike I bought with my own
money, showing no sponsors on my jersey, and funding the season from my own
wallet. Maybe it’s idealistic, but is it possible that a company could see the potential
benefit from sponsoring the no-name kid who shows up, gets a solid result, and
immediately goes back to the grindstone to be that much better tomorrow? Maybe…
that’s my brand, and I need to represent that over social media… but would (and
should) that be attractive to a company? I’m truthfully asking these questions because
I don’t know the answer, and would love to start a conversation about where
professional aspect of this sport is going.
Personally,
I am on Instagram, albeit with a measly following of a couple hundred people. I
do enjoy putting content out into the void, usually talking about a certain
race event, travel experience, or general quip about life. It’s fun keeping up
with friends, seeing what’s going on throughout the world, and going down the
rabbit hole of dumb cat videos. To me, social media is an addition to my career
as a professional cyclist; not a requirement. What’s more, this mindset has undoubtedly
cost me sponsorships. Is it fair? No. Is life fair? No. Is one argument to my
bellyaching to simply “suck it up” as part of the job? Definitely. But… what’s
to say I shouldn’t be rewarded and noticed by potential sponsors for solely
focusing on putting in the work to ensure my physical and mental abilities are
as sharp as possible? Everyone has a limited amount of energy at their
disposal, and everything we do saps that energy store. Even if we’re having a
great time and completely enjoying the activity, there’s a little battery icon dwindling
down within us. Am I any less of a professional for devoting more energy
towards training, and less towards creating content for the social media void?
Again, I
understand I’m coming at this argument from a biased point of view. But I
believe it is an important point of view. Introverted people are less likely to
be as outspoken in everyday life as on social media, so in general their
arguments are less likely to be heard. Also, I understand that there is a large
population who genuinely enjoy creating content, as much as I enjoy training;
so of course there is a place and a need for people to express creativity into
the world… all I’m saying is that I hope there’s still a path into the ranks of
“professional” (whatever the hell that actually means) for someone such as
myself: the people who are more focused on training, racing, and improvement in
real life rather than throughout social media. There’s also the possibility
that marketing yourself and creating a personal brand is the only way to
attract the attention of sponsors. I hope that’s not the case but if so… so it
goes.
We could
go deep into the weeds on more of my thoughts regarding sponsorships, and how
getting the short end of the stick because of my general life situation has
almost caused me to step away from professional cycling multiple times, but
that’s a thorny topic for another day. I truly hope there is a place in
professional cycling that allows for the recognition of riders who dedicate
themselves to numbers, results, and the daily grind, rather than only providing
opportunities to those who are skilled in and dedicated to more creative
pathways. This sport is amazing in its ability to attract people from all walks
of life, and that is one of the reasons I fell in love with cycling. In this
new age of athlete/influencer, is there a way we can ensure multiple pathways
exist to whatever people define as success throughout the competitive aspect of
the sport? It is enough to be only an athlete, or only an influencer? And
should companies recognize that both ends of the spectrum require incredible
amounts of work, and provide opportunities to dedicated people, no matter where
their energy is directed? I don’t know the answers to these questions, and want
to learn more about… well… everything regarding the future and where the sport
is heading.
Who
knows if this will actually get read after I’m done screaming into the void,
but I think it’s worth a thought or two. To sum, yes, I agree a certain amount
of social media presence is required for an athlete to be a useful
representative and good ambassador for sponsor companies, but I also believe that
it shouldn’t be an unspoken prerequisite to racing at the elite level. I hope
companies are willing to look at the daily work an athlete is dedicating to their
craft and weigh this accordingly to what their social media output is. With that said please follow me
@paysonpartridge because this is still the world we’re living in and I do need
followers to be attractive…
