Why does the EWS not make the news but the Ras does?

Roguee

Im probably going to get alot of abuse for this but why did the Ras make the news but the Enduro World Series held in glenealy co Wicklow this weekend didn't? The EWS is a much bigger event but yet it got no recognition on the news even though an Irishman won!! I think its a disgrace.
Incase your not sure what the EWS is here it a one minute roundup of the event from today
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/409100/

kumate_champ07

whos responsible for its promotion? An Post sponsor the Rás and its also a UCI event,


EWS seems to be a different organisation?

niceonetom

Because the average joe in the street has never even heard of Enduro.

JK.BMC

Because Enduro Mountain Biking is to cycling what synchronised swimming is to the olympics. Or something like that

Bigger than the RAS? Perception is everything I suppose

Brian?

Roguee wrote: »

Im probably going to get alot of abuse for this but why did the Ras make the news but the Enduro World Series held in glenealy co Wicklow this weekend didn't? The EWS is a much bigger event but yet it got no recognition on the news even though an Irishman won!! I think its a disgrace.
Incase your not sure what the EWS is here it a one minute roundup of the event from today
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/409100/

Bigger event you say, how so?

nak

Brian? wrote: »

Bigger event you say, how so?

World class field and maybe around 2000 spectators. It was a brilliant event, thoroughly enjoyed the day.

godtabh

nak wrote: »

World class field and maybe around 2000 spectators. It was a brilliant event, thoroughly enjoyed the day.

on one day. The RAS had multiples of that

bogmanfan

Brian? wrote: »

Bigger event you say, how so?

I would argue that it's an event with worldwide appeal, which The Ras wouldn't have. I didn't see a single mention of the EWS on Irish TV or in Irish newspapers all week which is a shame. Not even a mention on Stickybottle. I was there yesterday and it was a fantastic event and a real credit to the organisers. Would be amazing if it became an annual event.

nak

godtabh wrote: »

on one day. The RAS had multiples of that

Not to take away from the Ras, but for the MTB riders, it was the equivalent of having the TDF come to town.

Amazing achievement by Greg Callaghan which deserves recognition.

As a road rider and newbie mountain biker I was in awe of the field. The course was brilliant and everyone had nothing but good things to say about Ireland and the event itself. Great opportunity to develop mountain bike tourism.

Tenzor07

The EWS is a great event for Ireland, and Irish mountain biking, and to be won by an Irish rider, even better.

But, as some have said already, it's not a "bigger" event than the RAS which has been around since 1953.

Mountain bike racing has only been around since the early 1990's, developed as a niche sport under the general heading of cycling, it's now moved into many different disciplines within "mountain biking", i.e. XC, XCM, DH, 4X... And with Enduro being the newest splinter from mountain biking it's still yet to be UCI sanctioned, or become an Olympic sport, so it's still a Niche sport under the general heading of "mountain biking"....

bazermc

It probably would have "made" the news if it wasnt for that gay marriage thingy everyone was going mad about!!!!!!!!

JK.BMC

nak wrote: »

Not to take away from the Ras, but for the MTB riders, it was the equivalent of having the TDF come to town.

Amazing achievement by Greg Callaghan which deserves recognition.

As a road rider and newbie mountain biker I was in awe of the field. The course was brilliant and everyone had nothing but good things to say about Ireland and the event itself. Great opportunity to develop mountain bike tourism.

I tend to agree but there is no point comparing apples and oranges; Enduro and road cycling are very different disciplines, different target audiences etc. It should be used to promote mountain biking in the country in the future.
I went to watch the Enduro last year as I had a relative competing in it. It was interesting up to a point - but I'm not sure I would go again. But that's just me.

Chips Lovell

For the RTE newsroom, the main consideration is whether it's something they think viewers will be interested in. That can be a judgement call on the day but over the longer term these decisions are informed by viewership numbers and market research.

In Ireland, GAA, football, rugby, horse racing and golf are the staples and will always get good coverage. With other sports, such as tennis, cycling, athletics etc., they'll cover it if there's something big on. The Rás is probably the only domestic cycling race that the ordinary Joe is aware of.

In addition to public interest, budgetary factors also come into play. Is broadcast quality footage of the event available and if so, do you have to pay someone for it? If not, how expensive would it be to film something yourself and does that expense justify the level of public interest and so on.

ThisRegard

It's all about perception isn't it. I was in Glenealy running around the trails where the Enduro was on the weekend and got talking to a local when I was sitting at my car getting changed. He was asking where I was running and how far did I go up, and then he mentioned that there's mountain biking racing there next week. I know it's not his job but he undersold it spectacularly, I left with the impression it was just one of the regular run of the mill races you get around Ireland all the time.


And it's a shame because I would have gone otherwise with the kids (I didn't noticed the actual Enduro thread until yesterday), the video posted in the OP is great.

fat bloke

Promotion of the enduro thing was hopeless. I barely knew it was on, and found it difficult to ascertain where exactly. In fact I'm still not sure where it was on!

Tenzor07

fat bloke wrote: »

Promotion of the enduro thing was hopeless. I barely knew it was on, and found it difficult to ascertain where exactly. In fact I'm still not sure where it was on!

It was all over the Interweb for ages in fairness!

fat bloke

There's a lot of stuff on that ol internet...... in fairness.

Tenzor07

fat bloke wrote: »

There's a lot of stuff on that ol internet...... in fairness.

Once you know what you're looking for of course, it's not rugby or Soccer after all, so if have an interest in mountain biking then it's not that difficult to find..

ThisRegard

But for the casual fan it slipped under the radar I reckon.

Roguee

Could of been a chance to get new people into mountain biking? people that no nothing about it (or even just people who head up to ticknock on the weekend and aren't involved in racing) aren't going to search up "mountain bike events in ireland" but if they see it in the newspaper they might go.. that looks like a good day out sure il head up! .
Also its not very often that an Irishman is the best in the world at something, it should of been on the news even if it wasn't in Ireland imo. Mountain bike community is alot bigger in Ireland than you would think, I could see it growing bigger than road cycling over the next 10 years or so. It would appeal to alot of people

Peterx

Roguee wrote: »

Could of been a chance to get new people into mountain biking? people that no nothing about it (or even just people who head up to ticknock on the weekend) arent going to search up "mountain bike events in ireland" but if they see it in the newspaper they might go.. that looks like a good day out sure il head up! .
Also its not very often that an Irishman is the best in the world at something, it should of been on the news even if it wasn't in Ireland imo. Mountain bike community is alot bigger in Ireland than you would think, I could see it growing bigger than road cycling over the next 10 years or so. It would appeal to alot of people

People are lazy. When Carrick has ski lifts in place it will take off. Having to cycle back up the hill 6 times is beyond your casual user.

Back to publicity
It looks to have been a brilliantly organised event by Niall Davis and crew but the challenge is the same as the challenge faced by all the brilliant organisers of minority sports - how to get enough publicity to be on the RTE six 1 news for 18 seconds, after the Rás slot.
The EWS was an exceptional event and could have forced it's way onto the news but didn't. Every weekend of the year organisers of sailing regattas, hockey competitions, martial arts competitions and various other very worthy but equally minority events wonder why their event isn't better known.

Even in road cycling the Shay Elliott one day race wasn't reported upon by RTE (to the best of my knowledge) This was extremely well organised by an army of Bray Wheeler volunteers and even had a Irish cycling World Champion win it, in the shape of Martin Irvine.

General Publicity outisde your own niche crowd requires marketeers and money to buy slots on national media. The Killarney adventure race was televised on UK TV due to sponsorship by Helly Hanson.

ThisRegard

Yeah, I watched the Killarney Adventure Race one morning a while back.

And you'll be well aware of this yourself Peterx but I remember a couple of years back when I made a long weekend out of Gaelforce and opened the paper while having breakfast in the hotel and it was wall to wall coverage of the Great Ireland Run or similar I think it was that was on the same weekend. Not a mention that GF even took place which was arguably a bigger event.

equivariant

nak wrote: »

Not to take away from the Ras, but for the MTB riders, it was the equivalent of having the TDF come to town.

But I guess that this is the point. Nobody who is not a keen cyclist really knows what enduro is - I barely know myself and I count myself as a fairly keen cyclist (roadie only). An awful lot of non-cyclists know what road racing is (at some level anyway).

Not trying to disparage enduro - it looks like a great sport - it's just not as interesting for the average non-cyclist.

Brian?

nak wrote: »

World class field and maybe around 2000 spectators. It was a brilliant event, thoroughly enjoyed the day.

I'm sure it was a great event and wouldn't mind watching it some day, but 2000 spectators doesn't make it bigger than the Rás.

Saying it's like the TdF coming to town is not a great analogy. Le Tour is
One of the most watched annual sporting events in the world.

kumate_champ07

Irish TV on Sky digital would have definitely been interested http://www.irishtv.ie/

JJJJNR

Unfortunately the PR side is something the organisers failed at this year, but it was a complete success for the day, it's costs a lot of money to have a consultancy do press releases and maybe the budget didn't stretch that far, I think it is something they could do if it was a yearly event. We witnessed a little bit of history yesterday I don't think Glenealy knew what hit it.

xxyyzz

Brian? wrote: »

I'm sure it was a great event and wouldn't mind watching it some day, but 2000 spectators doesn't make it bigger than the Rás.

Saying it's like the TdF coming to town is not a great analogy. Le Tour is
One of the most watched annual sporting events in the world.

It's smaller than the rás in Ireland but I reckon internationally the rás is a lot smaller than the Enduro World Series.

nak

Brian? wrote: »

I'm sure it was a great event and wouldn't mind watching it some day, but 2000 spectators doesn't make it bigger than the Rás.

Saying it's like the TdF coming to town is not a great analogy. Le Tour is
One of the most watched annual sporting events in the world.

I just meant for in levels of excitement for the mountain bike community. Know a few who met their idols at the weekend.

Would love to have watched the Ras too, best thing about both is having friends to cheer on who are racing. Tough cookies.

Cast Iron

I messaged The Journal this morning to see if they'd run a piece or an interview with Greg Callaghan or Niall Davis.

They've often had articles on niche sports so I don't see why mountain biking should be any different. I was surprised there had been nothing up whatsoever.

wav1

Ras is 63 yrs young and steeped in history and culture and is an institution of Irish sport..The ethos of the event is priceless and worth bottling..Hundreds of volunteers giving up a weeks annual leave,to work on the event year after year,only to come home wrecked and immediately start the countdown to do the same the following year.An ethos that will ensure [I hope] that we will have at least another 63 editions.Something that has earned its coverage.

Peterx

Cast Iron wrote: »

I messaged The Journal this morning to see if they'd run a piece or an interview with Greg Callaghan or Niall Davis.

They've often had articles on niche sports so I don't see why mountain biking should be any different. I was surprised there had been nothing up whatsoever.

Fair Play, this is the type of can do response that gets articles printed or Greg/EWS mentioned on radio/tv.

harringtonp

Don't know who is behind it but travel supplement in Sunday times has great coverage of outdoor minority sports in recent years. Would half expect to see something on ewf there

patrickc68

i photographed the ews this weekend,if anyone wants to see photos of the top riders check out /www.facebook.com/patrick.cahill.7792/media_set?set=a.1614794388764617.1073741847.100007022134100&type=3
it was a great experiance,,,the atmosphere was electric when greg callagahan arrived at a stage,,,but have to say i met a lot of the riders over the few days i was there,and they wer really friendly and would stop for chats on practice and pre practice days,everyone of them commented on how beautiful it was here in ireland,,,and how great a track it was,,,look at fabien barels facebook of his selfie with the crowds,,i hope this comes back to ireland
if you like the photos please hit like thanks

Esroh

Lads. The Ras has history and a tradition of coverage as its grown from the grass roots . But in reality MTB is a minority within a Minority Sport..And the coverage you see is freelance paid for by the Sponsors.
Was Enduro even mentioned on either Radio1 or Newstalk sports progs on Sunday. You would have to start there.
Next weekend in Tattersalls in Rathoth there will be a Horsetrials. It is the Countries Premier Horsetrials and has the backing of a huge Brand in equestrian terms in Tattersalls. There will be crowds of up o 10,000 over the 3 days. Most of you will be never have heard of it. There will be Olympic, World,European gold medalists there. The only reason this will get its little bit of coverage is there is a tradition of it being covered on RTE and again any TV pics will be freelance. Newstalk will not mention it.
In Equestrian Terms Ireland is a World Power but still a minority sport.(Racing is different)

Medals in Olympic, Worlds etc get minority sports coverage .

ThisRegard

Anyone with a radio will have heard of the Tatersall horse trials, it's always advertised heavily coming up to it, this year included.

L'Enfer du Nord

Esroh wrote: »

Lads. The Ras has history and a tradition of coverage as its grown from the grass roots .

This...

RTE covered the Ras this year, because they covered last year etc. back to the fifties. If someone set up a new week long stage race with 'lower division' teams, I doubt it would get much coverage.

12 sprocket

bogmanfan wrote: »

I would argue that it's an event with worldwide appeal, which The Ras wouldn't have. I didn't see a single mention of the EWS on Irish TV or in Irish newspapers all week which is a shame. Not even a mention on Stickybottle. I was there yesterday and it was a fantastic event and a real credit to the organisers. Would be amazing if it became an annual event.

if it had worldwide appeal the journalists would be all over it..

nak

12 sprocket wrote: »

if it had worldwide appeal the journalists would be all over it..

International journalists were there and as a result was covered on international cycling websites.

magicbastarder

well, it made broadsheet too.

12 sprocket

nak wrote: »

International journalists were there and as a result was covered on international cycling websites.

Delighted to hear that it got international coverage, I thought it was very low from the posts..

Inquitus

nak wrote: »

International journalists were there and as a result was covered on international cycling websites.

To be fair I was going through the coverage the other evening, and it was limited to a couple of niche International MTB sites, doesn't seem to garner much coverage for what is undoubtedly an MTB event at the highest level.

xxyyzz

Inquitus wrote: »

To be fair I was going through the coverage the other evening, and it was limited to a couple of niche International MTB sites, doesn't seem to garner much coverage for what is undoubtedly an MTB event at the highest level.

Redbull.com cover all the UCI events like xc and downhill which is pretty big. The ews isn't uci affiliated and by its nature it is very difficult to film as it is spread over 6 or 7 stages running concurrently. There is usually a highlights package on pinkbike.Com which would be the main mtb website.

Roguee

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/ews-official-video-wicklow-highlights-rd-2-emerald-enduro-ireland.html
Official video came out today