How to sponsor

What is rider sponsorship?

You have probably heard about another rider who has a sponsor - most often a brand or a shop. This rider receives spare parts from the sponsor, sometimes even complete sets, sometimes shirts, shoes, backpacks, caps, stickers, etc.- It always depends on what the sponsor produces. Very good riders who place in races then receive financial rewards from major sponsors, travel to races and exhibitions even abroad. And of course, the other riders really like that. However, sponsorship is not just about the rider receiving; they must also give. Sponsorship is 70% of the work around it and 30% is the actual riding. A rider must work hard and train diligently, must be visible, must participate in races, must shoot videos, take photos, and publish all of this on social media and the web. The main thing sponsors are interested in is where you promote the brand. The most powerful are mass media - TV interviews, magazine interviews, online magazine interviews, video views. Rewards are also based on that. Let's call it all professional sponsorship. But let's start from the beginning...

How to get sponsorship?

Securing professional sponsorship is not entirely easy.For 1. you must have. You need to have the level, you need to have the desire, you need to want it, you need to have the time, and if you want to ride for a foreign brand, you definitely need to have good English. If you think you have what it takes, you can reach out to brands or shops. First and foremost, you must ask yourself what you can truly offer. Certainly, it's not enough to write an email like "I want sponsorship, what do you offer". That's wrong. Describe who you are, what you do, what you can do, send videos, photos, links to your pages, fanpage, and especially a presentation about yourself - PowerPoint, Word, or another format. Make something like a "book".Write to the brand or shop who you are, where you are from, what you like, what kind of person you are, what you do, etc.You must be interesting in some way for both the brand and the shop. But be careful, it's definitely not smart to say you want to ride for a certain brand and yet not even use its parts!

Professional athletes have created a presentation with an offer. The offer describes everything they can do for the brand (regarding riding and beyond), where they have been and are visible, and especially the numbers (reach on Facebook, number of friends, number of views, number of subscribers on YouTube). E.g. How Martin Nogol has it done. 

It is also good not to just write an email, but to call the sponsor and arrange a personal meeting to present yourself. Essentially, convince the sponsor that you are an interesting person for them who can represent the brand well. 

What will the sponsor want from you?

The sponsor will mainly want your activity. He will want you to try. He will want you to have results. And of course, the better you become, the bigger sponsors and more benefits from the sponsor you will gain. The sponsor will want to regularly receive videos from your training sessions and competitions, photos from skateparks, and will want you to be well-known so that other riders are aware of you. Therefore, it will be important how many people you have around you and how many people will follow and support you. The sponsor will also want you to use and present only what you agree on - parts from the agreed brand, t-shirts with the brand's logo, stickers. Its logo must be visible everywhere. The job of a professional rider is not only about how well they ride and how they place. That's in second place. The main thing is how the brand is promoted, whether the rider can speak in front of the camera, write reports, shoot videos, and remain visible. And of course, they must not forget to do these things on time.

It's always great to write down what I've accomplished over the year or month. Develop the so-called. MEDIA PACK. This is how you show your activity to the sponsor. The sponsor always needs to know what you are doing; they don't have time to check your Facebook every day.

You must want to do things differently than other riders, and for that, you will be rewarded.

It's not bad at all to try sponsorship at the Czech Republic level - semi-pro sponsorship - you can even ride in the "colors" of our shop.

What won't sponsors like?

But beware, sponsorship is still not that simple. In your contract with the sponsor, you will definitely have rules about what you should not do! This is a professional collaboration. Your sponsor is a pro at what they do and will expect the same from you. Some sponsors won't be happy if you don't have their stickers on, if you don't wear their shirt, if you don't use their parts. The sponsor will part ways with you if, for example, you start driving for another brand without prior agreement, if you behave unrepresentatively, if you don't speak well about your brand, if you don't deal honestly with sponsors, if you deal with them rudely, if you don't train and don't provide materials, and simply as soon as you start slacking off. Once you stop trying, your contract with the sponsor will simply end. You must not forget that although the sponsor wants you as the face of their brand, you are not the only one they offer this to! And remember, a sponsor is not exactly a friend, so you must not treat them as such. Sponsorship is not (although it may be surprising for many riders...) just about sticking stickers and sharing posts on Facebook!!

How to get support from Scootshop.cz?

Scootshop.cz does not accept sponsorship requests. We form teams from riders selected at races, etc.