Launched Action sports
We don’t know if Dietrich Mateschitz really cares about BASE jumping or snowboarding or air racing, but we do know that the famously reclusive 67-year-old Austrian has a thing for marketing. Since bringing Red Bull to the United States in 1997, Mateschitz has positioned the hypercaffeinated energy drink as the primary sponsor of the action-sports movement, funding everything from wakeboarding competitions to waterfall kayaking to big-mountain freeskiing. Put it this way: without Red Bull, it’s unlikely the extreme-sports boom would have happened at all—it’s estimated that the company has poured $300 million into -sponsorship of these edgy games. Now Mateschitz is moving into more traditional athletic realms—golf, basketball, and surfing. This year, Red Bull also launched a record label and a glossy magazine in the U.S. Up next: a reality show starring Red Bull–sponsored athletes.
By the Numbers 4.2 -billion: cans of Red Bull sold last year; 500: sponsored athletes, including Travis Pastrana, Will Gadd, and Danny MacAskill
Second Opinion “It’s like -having a rich uncle who believes in you even if the whole world thinks you’re crazy,” says Gadd. “A few hundred years ago, artists and writers had patrons that would support their economically unviable efforts. Red Bull is the modern patron—no, saint—of action sports.”
Comments
That's just what Americans need another sugary drink. Just goes to show that with the correct marketing anything can be sold.
Flag ThisReally? He's #1? Since when did someone funding a few people to wakeboard and waterfall kayak (and taking millions from consumers who mainly drink Red Bull during parties and studying) have more influence on how and where people experienced the outdoors than our public lands or campgrounds or trail systems?
Flag ThisReally? He's #1? Since when did someone funding a few people to wakeboard and waterfall kayak (and taking millions from consumers who mainly drink Red Bull during parties and studying) have more influence on how and where people experienced the outdoors than our public lands or campgrounds or trail systems?
Flag ThisYou're kidding, right? Pumping teenagers full of caffeine and sugar by masking it in the name of "action sports" does not warrant to be named to this list....I thought Outside Mag was better than this.
Flag This