Gameface Media Race Photographs - Has anyone used them? How much did it cost? Did they get $7.5 million in VC?

running photographer wrote:

So you can see an event like the NYC marathon (which marathonfoto still shoots even though gameface has ALL the other NYRR events) my photos alone from just the ONE race probably brought in maybe $80,000-100,000 in revenue since 2700 of my photos were sold with an average cost of about $25-35 or so. However at a BAA 5k only about 30 of my shots were sold for a total of maybe $1,000.

I just can't imagine gameface being able to generate the amount of revenue from the event organizers and sponsors that could have come from the runners buying them instead....

I believe I misunderstood my own stats earlier... which makes sense since $100,000 worth of sold images from just 1 photographer at 1 event seems extremely high, lol.

If I take the 2013 NYC marathon as an example; 2781 photos were purchased that I shot however only 92 units were sold (since people can buy all of their photos in a package deal and a runner might have 20-40 photos of taken them). Considering you can buy the digital files of all your photos for $55 or a single photo for $25, I would imagine my shots produced about $5,00-$6,000 worth of sales (92 units sold x $55 and maybe 40 individual photo purchases x $25)... which makes WAY more sense than $100,000!

re: "How hard is it to take thousands of photos, get photo software to recognize the bib numbers and sort them?" - Automating this is more difficult than you think. Bibs come in all colors, sizes, font sizes and are worn at different angles, etc., which makes it difficult for recognition software to read. Most of the tagging for large events is done, manually by companies in India and There is software that does it, but the accuracy rate is not very high.

GF's model of completely giving the photos away and depending on branding / sponsorship was unstainable and destined to fall apart at some time. GF is probably not going away, they will likely rename and restructure themselves and go back to a blend of the more traditional model, albeit they have a black eye in the professional photographers community and will have to rely weekend warriors.

A 500 participant 5k may only have 15 sales, but 15 x $20 bucks net of expenses could be about $150 dollars. Not too bad for 2 hours doing something you enjoy. A much bigger, highly themed event can net several thousands dollars.

rojo wrote:

The article claims they got $7.5 million in VC. How in the world is that possible? Why would anyone think this would be a company worth more than $10+ million dollars. If there are millions to be made in road race photos, one would think the races would just do it themselves. How hard is it to take thousands of photos, get photo software to recognize the bib numbers and sort them?

rojo: jealous much that somebody can make money in other ways than from a trust fund? Have the VCs been asking you for some action on your web site?

That's a winning idea. Runners will access amateur pics if they are for free. But paying for amateur pics is not popular.

running photographer wrote:

Money is funny wrote:

What's your net income from all of this activity?

A full marathon typically nets me $400-$500. A 5k or 10k would net me $130-$200. + all expenses would be covered; hotel, rental car, gas, food.

That small amount doesn't get close to covering your DSLR and lenses.

If they can start talking race organizers to bundle in the purchase of race photos with race fees...we're talking exponential rise in profits all around.

Burrito Boy Wet Parking wrote:

If they can start talking race organizers to bundle in the purchase of race photos with race fees...we're talking exponential rise in profits all around.

That's not the real world. In the real world the Race Organizers want to keep the money for themselves, and not give a dime to For-Profit photo companies.

Don't major in Liberal Arts wrote:

running photographer wrote:

A full marathon typically nets me $400-$500. A 5k or 10k would net me $130-$200. + all expenses would be covered; hotel, rental car, gas, food.

That small amount doesn't get close to covering your DSLR and lenses.

Marathonfoto provides all the gear. I can't speak for GameFace though. I bring my gear as a back up (to the backup they provide) and I did end up using it 1 year for the boston marathon. They then reimbursed me about $250 to replace my shutter on the camera. Marathonfoto treats their photographer's well which is why it's unfortunate to hear about what is happening to the photographers working for GF and the fact that GF has taken events away from marathonfoto.

What the hell. It's $1500/day for TV Camera Operators.

For what it's worth, very few have been paid yet, people are still getting strung along and it looks like the company isn't doin so hot. Those considering shooting for them, i'd stay far far away.