By Dan Bennett
Five years ago when Amy Cacciola and her colleagues at sports channel ESPN called reporters and pitched stories on the mostly unknown world of extreme sports, they were often met not only with derision but a comeback that became eerily repetitive: 'Do you have any story ideas for real sports?'
Five years ago when Amy Cacciola and her colleagues at sports channel ESPN called reporters and pitched stories on the mostly unknown world of extreme sports, they were often met not only with derision but a comeback that became eerily repetitive: 'Do you have any story ideas for real sports?'
Today, extreme sports are as real as the goosebump thrill of a drop into the half-pipe during an in-line vert competition. Extreme sports are also real in numbers, from the television ratings earned by events such as the X Games and Gravity Games to the increasing circulation and user hits of related publications and Web sites, not to mention the massive dollars spent by the primary demographic attracted to extreme sports.
At this year's summer X Games, held in August in San Francisco, attendance again topped 200,000. This is a world away from the early days, when athletes participating in the Extreme Games were regarded as little more than freaks on wheels, one step above the skateboard rats who terrorize loading ramps at shopping malls.
'It was funny back then,' says Cacciola, the manager of marketing and communications at ESPN. 'When we would make the pitch, people would respond that they were more interested in the nitty-gritty sports. But if you become a fan of extreme sports, you realize there are few things more nitty-gritty than this.'
The skate rat is a star
Interest in extreme sports is tremendous, and each sport is evolving, able to spawn merchandise using star-power personalities. The neighborhood skate rats have become legitimate superstars.
What's so extreme about extreme sports? These are the sports of the so-called Y Generation, the adrenaline-rushed group following the allegedly more sedate and self-absorbed Gen X. On the extreme sports roster are skateboarding and snowboarding, bicycling and motocross. It gets wilder.
Also included are skysurfing, high-speed luge and wakeboarding.
Extreme sports are suburban stunts gone pro, morphed into something more sophisticated. Sidewalk ramps have been replaced by complicated raceways, neighborhood peers by professional judges and monetary accolades, the spying eyes of suspicious adults by an awe-filled global audience.
But to get there, extreme sports needed a push from the public relations industry. The ESPN in-house crew provided the first big shove, promoting the original 1995 Extreme Games with insistent optimism.
'At the beginning, we pitched it as more of a spectacle,' Cacciola says.
'Watch these athletes perform these dangerous stunts, where anything can happen. It worked. People became more interested in the Extreme Games and extreme sports in general, based on their fascination with the bizarre.
We had never before seen anything like this.'
Extreme sports became more of a business, without losing cutting-edge credibility and mystique, enjoying wild success and comfortable corporate marriages. The PR push has evolved into something more traditional.
'It became apparent to all of us that this was the beginning of an endless culture,' Cacciola says. 'New games could be added and promoted all the time. There is a constant new-ness to extreme sports, and we've been able to ride on that with our campaigns.'
In 1999, the winter and summer Gravity Games made their debut, another festive gathering of athletes and adoring fans. The brainchild of NBC and Petersen Publications, the company behind such extreme sports fan-fave pubs as Powder and Skateboarder, the summer Gravity Games are held in July in Providence, RI. The 2000 Gravity Games were videotaped and will be televised in October on NBC, following the current Summer Olympics, when interest in alternative sports is presumed to be at fever pitch.
'When we began publicizing the Gravity Games, we made a commitment to seek out the non-traditional media, going beyond the usual sports outlets,' says Kevin Sullivan, vice president of communications for NBC Sports.
'The concept of extreme sports has exploded, and we have been more able to access other departments, such as major daily newspaper lifestyles sections.'
Octagon Marketing in Stamford, CT partnered with NBC for on-site publicity at the Gravity Games and created a press day where journalists could get a better feel for extreme sports by participating themselves. Ramps and raceways were set up especially for press, who were handed helmets and wished godspeed.
'We had more than 500 credentialed media representing 150 outlets,' says Andy Erbelding, Octagon's public relations coordinator for the Gravity Games. 'We had every publication from Teen People to The Rhode Island Jewish Herald.'
Extreme adolescence
With more than 300,000 people attending the Gravity Games, Erbelding says it's obvious extreme sports have grown up, and PR helped push it through adolescence.
'I think PR deserves credit for awareness of extreme sports in general,' Erbelding says. 'PR helped hook people on the concept of luge and wakeboarding, and helped show the world that people in the United States aren't only playing football.'
NBC is pushing the Gravity Games in numerous on-air promos.
'The biggest public relations challenge we face is taking an event that took place in July and selling it in October,' Sullivan says. 'The Olympics will be watched by 215 million unique users over 441 hours, so the opportunity for Gravity Games promotion is massive. The visuals in our PR campaign are going to be eye-opening.'
Many of the top-name athletes have their own reps. The Familie, based in Carlsbad, CA, represents such core extreme sports talent as Dave Mirra, one of the leading athletes in BMX bike racing. The Familie handles corporate sponsors and commercial deals, and is also in the throes of a vigorous public relations expansion.
'We're making tremendous progress in increasing the commercial exposure and marketability of the athletes,' says director of public relations Zaynab Behzadnia. 'We're not only pressing for exposure in endemic media, but mainstream as well. When I send a press release to Racer X, or BMX Driver, I also send it to USA Today and Sports Illustrated. I'm receiving calls from publications that were never interested before.'
These days, The Familie's clients are as likely to win a spot on The Rosie O'Donnell Show as Late Night With David Letterman. The push is worldwide, with increasing international exposure of extreme sports leading to inquiries from outlets ranging from Japanese cable television to the BBC.
'Extreme sports is going to hit big time in other countries, because not every kid can put together a football team, but every kid can get his or her hands on a bike,' Behzadnia says.
ESPN has announced the organization of the X Games Global Challenge.
The event will take place in a different international location every other year beginning in 2002, following an extensive series of qualifying rounds.
'This is exciting if you are involved in extreme sports PR,' says ESPN's Cacciola. 'We'll develop new strategies for audiences that may be aware of extreme sports but now have the opportunity to see them up close.'
Sheryl Lynch is a Los Angeles-based publicist who represents skateboarder Andy MacDonald, super-cross rider Jeremy McGrath and BMX superstar T.J. Lavin.
'When they asked what I could do for them, I said, 'My job is to help make you household names,'' Lynch says. 'And I told them I wanted to do that by placing them in media situations not always associated with extreme sports, or even traditional sports. When I booked Jeremy on Jay Leno in May, I wanted him to be a personality, not just an athlete in costume, because some of these guys have amazing stories to tell.'
The exposure is just beginning, Lynch says, because Hollywood is taking notice.
'Major directors are looking at extreme sports as the opportunity to make movies on athletes,' Lynch says. 'Several of these athletes, both male and female, can end up as actors if they want, they have that kind of charisma. There are so many ways to go with this thing, it's incredible.
It offers a challenge to practice PR in its purest form, all over the map.'
Where to watch extreme sports
When searching for the best news, footage, graphics and calendars concerning extreme sports, experts in the industry's public relations field all offer the same advice: head for the Web, dude.
The Web is a primary source of info for extreme sports fans who need a fix between televised events such as the X Games and Gravity Games.
There are dozens of Web sites devoted to extreme sports and the athletes involved. Among those are:
www.extremesports.com
A comprehensive, all-purpose guide to several extreme sports, with personality profiles and constantly updated information.
www.planetextreme.com
Features a complete calendar and is loaded with online shopping opportunities for gear and such, with links to each site and cool 'extreme crash' link that offers smash-'em-up-footage of recent stunts gone wrong.
www.expn.com
Offers complete news and updates regarding the X Games and related events.
www.gravitygames.com
The official Web site of the Gravity Games, with schedules and other information.
www.quokka.com
Another all-purpose sports site that treats extreme sports with dignity, offering news and profiles.
www.wcsk8.com
Newsy site serving fans of World Cup skateboarding For print publications, the PR pros recommend Snap BMX, offering in-depth coverage of dirt jumping, as well as ESPN Magazine and any of the sports-based magazines offered by emap usa (www.emapusa.com), including Powder, Snowboarder and Skateboarder.
On television, besides the X Games and Gravity Games, viewers can find a twice-daily dose of extreme sports coverage on Bluetorch TV, airing at 4 pm and 1 am (all time zones) Monday through Friday on Fox Sports Net, featuring footage of skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing, accompanied by popular music and videos.
THE TEAMS: TOP SPORTS PR PRACTICES
Ranking Agency Name Sports income (dlrs) Growth Total income
99 98 1999 1998 (%) (dlrs) 1999
1 1 Ketchum 6,750,000 6,500,000 4 123,630,000
2 3 Shandwick 4,567,880 2,715,000 68 240,203,000
3 2 Alan Taylor 4,245,257 3,610,996 18 4,994,420
4 N/A Dan Klores Assocs 1,500,000 N/A N/A 10,800,000
5 N/A Edelman 1,088,981 N/A N/A 128,174,735
6 4 Brotman Winter Fried 840,000 840,000 0 4,200,000
Relations 819,234 485,486 69 1,773,232
8 7 Jamison Golf Group 562,000 470,000 20 562,000
9 9 Tunheim Group 450,000 200,000 125 5,034,475
Baerlein Group 354,000 500,000 -29 4,211,666
11 N/A The Kamber Group 325,000 N/A N/A 9,225,600
12 10 Public Communications 290,096 196,000 48 5,062,674
Associates 288,597 N/A N/A 1,923,980
14 N/A McNeely Pigott & Fox 227,844 N/A N/A 4,010,702
15 N/A HMS Success 214,327 N/A N/A 3,648,532
16 N/A Ogilvy 203,100 N/A N/A 92,220,200
17 11 Dublin & Associates 198,927 175,706 13 1,333,313
18 N/A Rodheim Marketing Grp 150,000 N/A N/A 700,000
19 8 DuDell & Associates 145,010 325,250 -55 889,924
20 18 The Headline Group 134,000 41,000 227 2,326,231
21 N/A Richard French
& Associates 117,812 N/A N/A 3,299,541
22 14 Freeman/McCue 109,500 88,600 24 2,190,000
23 15 Dome Communications 100,000 75,000 33 2,100,000
24 N/A Stoorza, Ziegaus
& Metzger 86,610 N/A N/A 8,660,866
Public Relations 80,351 160,381 -50 4,017,529
26 13 Hope Beckham 66,741 113,533 -41 1,625,277
27 17 Charleston/Orwig 56,462 41,821 35 2,474,158
28 16 Mullen Public Relations 53,097 71,536 -26 762,173
29 19 Eric Mower and Assocs 40,746 40,600 0.4 2,037,318
30 N/A Kupper Parker
Communication 27,585 N/A N/A 4,620,606
31 N/A Nuffer Smith Tucker 25,269 N/A N/A 1,286,852
32 N/A Richmond
Public Relations 25,200 N/A N/A 1,292,700
Fiskum & McCormick 19,980 948 2009 1,866,553
34 20 Praco 13,000 13,000 0 867,000
35 21 The Pantin Partnership 12,000 12,000 0 857,000
36 24 Ballard Communications 11,525 675 1607 694,643