Don’t Hold Your Breath

While Darren’s post is specific the challenges of high-profile, pro-bike racing, the messed up relationship he describes is evident in so many other industries, the major entertainment publishers come to mind immediately (music, books, etc).

While I admittedly don’t know the specifics of the issues within bike racing (Darren’s the expert here, and I could scare up a couple more if you’d like) – seems to me walking into the sport there’s some degree of acceptance that’s ‘this is the way the game is played’.

Of course, “The Man” has more incentive to keep things status quo than do the “the little guys”. All around me, I’m seeing similar hierarchies bypassed. RSS, podcasting, Tivo, YouTube, email, BarCamps, open-source software, and weblogs – all bypass existing gatekeepers, syndicators, and publishing structures, and organizational structures.

“You’ve got to build bypasses” – Douglas Adams, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

These bypasses changes the game at a fundamental, un-ignorable way. The best bypasses promise sustainability without threat of holding your breath underwater.

What would it look like if the same thing that happened to stock brokers and real estate agents happened to professional sports leagues?

Related:

“Meanwhile, top reporters and columnists at major newspapers are realizing (or will realize soon) that their fates are not necessarily tied to those of their employers.” – Michael Hirschorn