Non-Monogamous Sponsorship: Miranda Miller

Note: This interview comes as part 2 of 3 on my series “ Non-Monogamous Sponsorship ” where I dig into the evolving world of professional mountain bike sponsorship and explore if these relationships are becoming more flexible as the bike industry adjusts to a post-pandemic market.

In part 1 we mentioned Miranda Miller as a prime example of a unique sponsorship situation so I reached out to her to see if she could give us her thoughts on sponsorship and how her unique contract is working.

Miranda Miller is a professional mountain biker from British Columbia, Canada. Miranda gained international recognition when she won the UCI Downhill World Championship in 2017 and has recently produced and starred in a broad-reaching video series called Here. There. Everywhere.

It seems like you have a pretty unique sponsor situation with SRAM. How did that come to be? Did you approach them with the idea? How is it going?

In 2021, when I was still racing for Kona, I was constantly surrounded by conversations about the value of racing. I am a firm believer in, supporter of and lover of racing but I also recognized that me racing EWS, a discipline I enjoyed but honestly didn’t love, wasn’t of much value to anyone. And we all want to feel valued, in some way or another. Sponsorship is a job, and it didn’t feel like I was holding up my end of the deal.

So, in 2022, we started Here, There, Everywhere - a film series that my friend, Graeme Meiklejohn and I created. It was a way for me to break out of the routine of racing that I had been in for the past 10+ years, exercise more creativity and feel a connection to the sport again.

The first season, I pooled all my sponsorship money together and Kona supplied a media budget for Graeme and we just went for it. The goal was that everywhere we traveled we tried to establish more of a connection than the race circuit allowed. While we were on these film trips, we hosted kids coaching camps in Scotland and trail dig days, we raffled off a custom bike for a fundraiser, we organized a ‘Show & Shine’ with prizes in Japan, and we got to spend more time with the communities we visited and whose trails we were riding. It might not seem like it here, but I don’t love always having to talk about myself, like you do on social media. Some of the episodes we have produced, are not about me, I am the host or the constant throughout the series, but many of the episodes are about others. And that is what I love the most.

For 2023, SRAM took over the series with S2 and S3 exclusively on their channels. There are a few key players at SRAM that have always looked out for me, and more importantly, challenged me a little bit when I needed it. For the past two seasons, I have been a content creator for SRAM and my sponsorship is no longer led by a frame manufacturer. I’ve had many ‘dreams’ come true throughout my career, but this is maybe the most impactful one. I think I was lucky with my timing, but Graeme and I were also able to create a product that showed potential and value. It has been so cool to work with a brand like SRAM and learn from a team of that caliber.

How does it work with the various bike brands that you are riding? Do any of them get jealous, or express any sort of disappointment when you’re not committed to one brand?

One of the best parts of my partnership with SRAM is not having a frame sponsor. Instead of trying to create a series around one specific frame brand and its athletes, this opens up Here, There, Everywhere to such a variety of people, places, and events. For example, some of the athletes and brands in S3 of HTE are Lael Wilcox, Magnus Manson, Vero Sandler, and Onguza Bicycles.

I hope that the brands involved feel value in supporting me with a frame for the series. The bikes I ride, are all very specific, so their use cases are all unique. The Epic can’t do what the v10 does, and the Dreadnought is a completely different beast. I really do appreciate all disciplines of riding and I hope that is reflected in the work we do.

Over the years have you or anyone you know ever had to run “blacked out” non-sponsor equipment because the product you were using was not working? If you have seen that, why do you think situations like that happen?

We had a short stint on Specialized where we ran blacked-out Maxxis tires. But Laurent Delorme was a great team manager, and after some timing sessions, and a proven performance increase, we didn’t have to black them out anymore until Specialized improved theirs. This was a long time ago, and I’m not sure how these things work anymore. I mean, these things happen when an athlete doesn’t feel they can perform at the same level with the product, despite the sponsorship agreement. I imagine it’s messy, but I also believe that racing can be one of the best tools for product development.

It seems like you have a nice balance of racing and other video projects in your schedule. Do you find that sponsors are more or less picky in the video creation space than in the racing space?

Personally, it is easier for me to say to myself, “This is what I’ve done, and this is why I think it’s important” and that keeps me motivated. If you’re not at the top in racing, this is harder. What I’m doing now, has me more motivated to adapt, learn and answer to my sponsors. I will always be harder on myself than any sponsor has been to me.

What was your first sponsorship? How did it work out? Any advice you’d give your younger self?

My first sponsorship (free bikes) was Marin when I was a junior (07/08), and my first paying sponsorship was Specialized when I was 27. It took me a long time to make a career, but I’m from the era where I was told I wouldn’t get sponsored because I wasn’t ‘girly’ enough or that ‘women were too much work’ to be on factory teams. It’s only now, that I’m older, and looking back, I realize how wild it was to say that to a teenager. I think because of that, sponsorship was uncomfortable; I wasn’t confident. I always understood that it was a job or ‘2-way street’, but I would just fumble around trying to ‘pay it back.’

My advice? Be more confident in what you think you’re good at because you probably are actually good at it and come up with 3 good reasons why you can be of value. Tyler Morland asked me when I was like 16 to tell him 3 reasons why I should be sponsored and I had NO CLUE because there weren’t any.

What have you learned about sponsorship over the years? How do you filter out good and bad deals?

It’s simple, I think. Like any good relationship, it shouldn’t be hard, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to work hard. Communication should be easy, clear, and feel good.

Does loyalty pay off? Or is it really just business out there and you have to take care of your bank account above all else?

I’m a loyal person and I make emotional decisions, the ones I feel are right and those have led to what I’m doing right now. I’ve had so many incredible experiences, sponsors, relationships, friendships, and teammates, honestly, I don’t even know if there were any bad ones? Mountain biking doesn’t owe me anything.