Shawn White Essay Example

at first appearance seemed a little under pressure. He did not qualify for the finals after his first run while three other Americans did.On his second run he came back and swept away the competition with a 46. 8 which no other rider could top winning him an Olympic Gold metal. Not only did Shaun White snowboard but he was a professional skateboarder also. He joined Tony Hawk on his Gigantic Skatepark tour in 2002.

Then made his pro skateboarding debut in 2003 at the Slam City Jam where he finished fourth in the vert half pipe. He was then qualified for his first summer X Games in 2003, where he places sixth in vert half pipe. Then in 2005 he came back to the Sumer X Games and go his first metal which was a silver in the vert half pipe.White was the first to ever participated in both the winter and summer X Games which he did in 2005.

By White getting the gold in the Olympics it will take White into a whole other stratosphere. It may be hard for White to reach the older demographics which is needed to be a sports icon. He will need to crossover from traditional action sports sponsors to major brand sponsors to reach Tony Hawks level of marketability. Many of the corporations would rather follow the pack than lead because they are afraid to take the rise that White will only bring in the younger demographics.

Whites public awareness has risen from 3. 5 percent from December to 28 percent in February. And the adults age 35-54 have risen from 2 percent to 32 percent. “The rise moved

White from the bottom of the index’s celebrity pool of 1,500 individuals to the 50th percentile,” said Bill Glenn, vice president of analytics at the Marketing Arm, the Omnicom agency that conducts the poll. (Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, pg. 32)

Shaun’s sponsorships and winning this year are estimated to exceed three million dollars.His sponsorships include; Burton which he has been with for twelve years, Volcom for five years, Oakley for five years, Birdhouse for four years, Adio for two years, Mt. Dew for three years, Playstation for five years, and Target for four years.

White’s next steps will be working with brands that will put him with a much wider audience. One of the most important deals he is working on is an agreement to create a signature snowboarding video game with Ubisoft. This will give White a chance to reach beyond his core demographics. Shaun has the ability to bring his name and stamp and signature and take snowboarding gaming to the next level,” Sawabini said. (Streets & Smiths Sports Business journal, pg. 33)

Whites work off the slopes may be the leading factor that extends his demographics. OpinionIn my opinion I think that White is an outstanding athlete and extremely talented. He has great ambition and love for the sport, which gives him the urge to do better every time his board hit’s the snow. I think we are going to continue to see white on top for years to come. He snowboards for himself not his parents or his sponsors, which adds to his grace on the hill.

He snowboards with such grace and ease which makes him a great athlete to watch. There are many

boarders that can do more elaborate stunts but you can tell they are nervous about doing them unlike White’s performances which gets him the gold. He makes it look easy when it is really extremely hard. I think that after his appearance in the Olympics his demographics will rise in every age group.

White can only go up from here with his marketability. I think that over time marketers will take a chance on White and hw will be a sports icon.