Podcast: George Costa on His Team Retirement
It has been a long road of ups & downs, with some big successes along the way for George Costa, owner and team manager of Factory Answer/Rennen for the past seven seasons. Before that, he was title sponsor for Rennen-Intense, and got a feel for how the Factory Team scene works.
On November 21 of this year, BMX News reported a pre-Grands story with the news that George would be retiring from his team owner/manager role, effective with the 2019 season. Man members of the Answer/Rennen team will continue with the team in its new incarnation as “Factory Answer.”
We were anxious for the full story on why he made the decision to step back from the team at this particular point in time, and promised a post-Grands podcast with George to cover that material.
Aside from the real-and-the-raw about his retirement from team competition (he is still president of Rennen Design Group, of course), George gives his opinions on many other topics that are impacting today’s BMX Racing scene.
With all the drama swirling around the team sheet side of the sport, we ask George “What make its worthwhile to endure all of that?” His answer certainly does not disappoint.
He shares a unique perspective on why winning a team title may-well represent the high point of the fans’ interest in your brand, talks about the entitlement culture of modern day co-sponsorship, and even delivers some sharp commentary on BMX media.
It’s all packed neatly into a single episode of the Announcers Tower Podcast. We hope you enjoy listening.
As promised on the show, News will continue following the progress and products George brings into the world from his new workspace (when finished), and will keep our eye out for him at the races, for we know that it’s tough for a true BMXer like him to stay away.
—Mike Carruth
TOP PHOTO: George Costa, in 2016, with the first of two USA BMX #1 Factory Team cups. The team repeated the title the following year for a back-to-back championship.
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