BigPurpleSkiSuitThe whole reason pro skiers existed in the first place and got money was because of the viewership they drew. Same with any sport. I bet more young basketball fans today know who D'vontay Friga is more than most NBA players because of his youtube viewership and relatable content. He's a basketball influencer, and in the same way, you get ski influencers who make high quality video content, and may or may not be able to ski well. They might not be 'pro' level but it is worth far more to a company to send them gear/pay them than a pro who shoots very little content with low viewership but skis at an insanely high level.
**This post was edited on Dec 6th 2024 at 3:06:05pm
Replying to your thread because it is the most relevant.
I think the problem is that companies are extremely short sighted. An influencer might get in front of more eyeballs and may convert some of those eyes to sales initially, but I also don't think those people stay around long term. On the other hand, true pros and core riders might have smaller followings, but the people they do reach are invested for the long term.
Basically, the industry needs to invest in a core culture that cares deeply about the sport. Over time, some outside people will see how cool it is organically and it will venture over and the sport will grow. This growth will be healthy and sustainable and will preserve what we all love about the lifestyle.
The alternative is to try and pull in every Tom, Dick, and Harry who has skied once or thought about skiing with cheap gimmicks and un-authentic influencers. This will result in the loss of the sports identity and soul which ultimately creates bust cycles and in the mid to long term actually hurts growth and evolution.
Niche sports need to learn that they don't need to, and even more, shouldn't target broad main stream success. Invest in the actual culture and growth will occur naturally.