Brand Check: Podium Presence

Branding in motocross/supercross can turn into ‘logo soup’ extremely quickly, especially if you just become another brand with a 1”x1” logo on the shroud of a bike.  As a result, many brands look to align themselves, and their logo, with the premier riders and teams that have a strong chance week in and week out of finishing in a podium position.  These podium positions pay huge dividends for the individual rider and their team in terms of reaching their performance related goals, but for brand partners and sponsors, it’s a chance for their logo to be seen up close by the TV audience and have their brand be associated with the best in the business. 

This kind of exposure is unique and hard to come by (they don’t hand out podium positions like hot cakes) and many brands are willing to shell out the big bucks to make it happen.  Let's review who has made the podium so far 4 races into the 2023 Supercross series.

450 Podiums:

A1 - Tomac, Webb, Sexton

San Diego - Tomac, Webb, Bam Bam

A2 - Sexton, El Hombre, Roczen

Houston - Tomac, Sexton, El Hombre

250 Podiums:

A1 - The Jett, Rick, McAdoo

San Diego - The Jett, Rick, McAdoo

A2 - The Chef, The Jett, Stilez

Houston - Hunta, Anstie, JorDON

Here’s a breakdown by ‘category’ of where brands stack up in terms of exposure on the podium.  

Helmet: Alpinestars - 10, Bell - 7, Fly Racing - 3, Airoh - 2, Fox - 1, Troy Lee Designs - 1

Goggle: 100 Percent - 8, Oakley - 7, Scott - 6, Alpinestars - 1, Fly Racing - 1, Fox - 1

Gear: Alpinestars - 12, Thor - 5, Fox - 3, Fly Racing - 3, Troy Lee Designs - 1

Boots: Alpinestars - 19, Fox - 3, Gaerne - 2

OEM: Honda - 8, Yamaha - 6, Kawasaki - 4, Husqvarna - 2, KTM - 2, Gas Gas - 1, Suzuki - 1

Energy Drink: Monster - 13, Red Bull - 8, Rockstar - 2, None - 1

Takeaways from the podium brand breakdown:

• Alpinestars is EVERYWHERE 

• Very cool to see so many different OEMs on the podium

• Only 2 podiums for KTM…Roger DeCoster can’t be pleased with that

• Didn’t the Alpinestars helmet just come out a couple years ago?

• No energy drink sponsor for Max Anstie - he must be dying of thirst…

• The ‘Big 3’ in goggle companies continue to battle to the death

It’s always interesting to see how these brands stack up against one another in terms of exposure at the highest level of the sport.  One major unknown here is the tangible ROI that these brands receive from being on the podium.  It’s anyone’s guess as to how much money Alpinestars sees coming in from being near the top in many of the above categories, but it’s clear that they, and other brands, are willing to do a lot with teams, riders, and the series as a whole to have a presence on the podium. 

Written by Jackson Halsmer