The Esurance Icer Air always had the trappings of an over-hyped circus side show. The faux contest began as a fun event on the snow-covered streets of San Francisco and in the hands of marketing experts quickly escalated into an example of everything that is wrong with snowboarding as grand spectacle.
Now according to a story on ESPN.com/Action it looks like the circus left town without paying the dancing bears.
Icer Air is, for all intents and purposes, out of business. As yet another major contest bites the dust, Icer Air has managed to rile up a controversy in its wake that has the 28 invite-only athletes fired up. . . The athletes will not be paid the $2,000 agreed upon fee for competing in the October 2008 event. ($5,000 each for winners of Best Trick in skiing and snowboarding.) . . . To add to the frustration, last week riders saw a $271.51 charge appear on the credit cards they put down for incidentals at the W Hotel, which Icer Air had provided according to the rider contracts. . . “First we were told that no one was going to get paid from the event. Now the riders who put their cards down for the security deposit are being charged for their hotel rooms, which were supposed to be covered. What else is the Icer Air going to take away from us?” commented athlete Tim Humphreys.
We wish we could say we were surprised, but here is what we said about the event last September.
[Link: ESPN.com/Action]
Shady biz from Icer! That event is to circus style anyway.
What intrigues me is if Esurance thinks this will do anything to their image and step int o pay the performers er, athletes. Even thought they already paid them once through the organizers.
dam… the first year was actually pretty cool when they did on the street.
who wouldnt make Tim Humphreys pay for his hotel room
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