ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the intersection of digital media and urban sport and leisure practices through a focus on point-of-view videos of downhill MTB racing, specifically the Cerro Abajo races in Valparaiso, Chile. In our analysis, we discuss how these videos function as part of the wider marketing and advertising efforts of GoPro and Red Bull and reflect transformations within the relationships between corporations, athletes, and fans in the contemporary sport industry, especially in regard to ‘niche’ sport cultures such as downhill MTB. We argue that these videos demonstrate a particular type of ‘GoPro gaze’ that incorporates not only the representations of active bodies and the sights and sounds of branded global sport competitions, but also depends on the unique urban environments of the race route and emphasises the ways in which this form of branded content includes representations of do-it-yourself (DIY) urbanism.
