It's an uphill battle for AOL's action sports venture
By way of YPulse, it looks like AOL is launching an action sports video site called lat34.com. I'm not sold. I happen to have quite a bit of experience in the action sports space, and I see a few big issues:
1. Monetizing action sports is very difficult
First of all, very very few action sports companies have any money. Even among the bigger names in the industry (I'll refrain from mention any specifically), they're often running on a shoestring. The ones that have a little money are extremely cheap and very hesitant to spend any money on anything. Anyone else who's worked in this space will know exactly what I mean.
2. Monetizing the web is very difficult
It's also pretty hard to make money selling internet advertising, unless you're Google or MySpace. I'm guessing that lat34.com aims to partner with sponsors (they've already got Jeep on board), but I have to question how much these sponsors will be willing to spend to court the site's audience.
3. Authenticity is key (read: Skateboarders hate everything)
There is perhaps no more fundamental tenant of action sports marketing than this. If the audience perceives even a hint of phoniness, they're gone. Does AOL have the right team and culture to create a site that will speak to the action sports community? Trust me, it's not easy. They're incredibly sensitive and fickle, and almost impossible to please while still engaging sponsors and advertisers large enough to bring in a meaningful amount of revenue.
4. Content is hard to create
I'm also curious to see what kind of content lat34 will produce. In order to be compelling, I think it needs to be mostly original action sports content: event coverage, interviews, profiles, etc. That content isn't easy or cheap to create. Not only will there will be significant expense involved in producing it, but if it's not authentic, the audience will be turned off so fast it will make your head spin.
Conclusions
If I sound jaded and bitter, well, I am. If they have enough money and the right people involved, they might be able to pull it off. However, there's no ignoring these obstacles to success. This is not going to be an easy venture. I'll be interested to see where they take this once it launches...
---
from comments,
Sao_Bento said...
Again, you're right on the money with this one. I came from the skate culture too, and it's definitely not an easy industry. Trying to group action sports together is a mistake in itself. A few magazines have tried covering it all, but they were never really popular with the hardcore folks. Someone might say, who cares about the hardcore guys, we're aiming at the larger part of the curve - but in this biz, the hardcore guys define what everyone else wants. Show one windsurfer or rollerblader and you lose two other groups.
If they don't have the street cred or cash to get the big names involved, they won't have a chance.
Maybe if they had Craig Stecyk running things from behind the scenes . . .
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by tybhugeye
i like the dervish shape, but i can't be the same as everyone else.
AOL action sports venture
Linear Mode
