And Die Hard 
[/quote]
Yes…he does.
His actual youtube earnings compared to a lot of folks isn’t great, but he’s got the largest platform of any Triathlete by some margin, but I wouldn’t judge his revenue based on what Youtube is directly paying. But what his sponsors are paying to get the reach he provides.
YT pays ~$800-$1200 per million views (so $0.80-$1.20 CPM). Unless you are Mr.Beast, it’s chump change.
Good creators make LOTS more on embedded ads, sponsorships, and merch than on the paltry YT payouts.
Talbot has said in the past that Lionel gives him the YT revenue as part of his pay package.
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The only thing that has been proven so far is that Lionel making his own decisions has resulted in poor results. He wants to do it his way…well, this is what his way gets.
I don’t think his ego will ever allow someone else to be in charge of his approach. He surrounds himself only with cheerleaders, and nobody who actually challenges his ideas.
I don’t think anything will change, and time has pretty much run out. As a longtime fan it has been frustrating to watch.
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2025 will be Lionel’s year
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100% it will definitely be a year.
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I wonder if he has a psychologist or a sport psychologist as part of his “team”. I actually think it’s less ego that is keeping him from being “coachable” to more of a trust issue. And if that is the deeper issue, no amount of “expertise” can basically win in that situation. Now is that “trust” issue because he internally thinks he has all the answers? IDK, but when you fire/remove/move on from what publicly looked like a great setup that got you 2nd in the world at a relatively young part of your career…that’s viewed as illogical. So to me I almost see it more as “deeper issues” than just an ego. Add in the “backstory” of his past, and I think the puzzle pieces suddenly start to make more sense to then why said athlete behaves the way he does.
(and no I’m not a psychologist, but I think that’s one side of the sport and life that least understood and also is so negatively viewed)
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Do you concur, @marcag? 
Let me ask Lionel what to answer
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Exactly. And good luck trying to match the likes of Jelly Greens (Jelle Geens) in any 70.3 without fixing his swim technique.
Uber frustrating to see him running the same swim strategy time and time again.
If nothing else this is a cautionary tale for us all to learn from.
This is the way he wants it
WELL he gits it
lol
I criticize Lionel as much as anyone but I don’t think he surrounds himself with cheerleaders. I think his team (current and past team members) have tried to help. There are times he takes their advice and other times he doesn’t. From the outside looking in, it seems the latter happens more than the former. But I’m sure there are a lot more conversations had than we ever know about. One could say he needs someone with a strong personality to take charge of everything but that seems to end in a very severed relationship because Lionel wants to have control and isn’t willing to fully give it up.
The guy is still a great athlete and will remembered for a long time. But not everyone is built or capable of being a world champion. And that’s ok.
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I’m a lot more strongly leaning in this direction, with the current gen of young tri superstars who can do it all, with no swim weakness. No swim weakness is tolerated anymore with the current competition at world class level.
I’m actually however also much more sympathetic to LS than most of these comments, not just because I’m a nice guy, but because I actually believe that he plays up his personality a lot for the videos and views (which works!) Seems that everyone who actually meets him says he’s a normal chill family guy, and not that over-the-top monster competitor personality that one might have expected from his earlier videos.
There’s a definite difference in judging someone from just the camera clips, then from reality. And in terms of being ‘uncoachable’, sure he’s tried several different approaches but he’s reached out to tons of folks searching for the right match. Would I have preferred he stuck with one longer, maybe, but I can’t fault him for doing the work to find the best possible approaches rather than doing the same non-WC thing again.
I’ll however always be curious as to how he might respond to higher volume training - I think he was averaging like 20hrs/wk in one of his year-end video summaries, can’t help but wonder if his success at 70.3 vs 140 might be related to the volume difference between him and the 25+/hr wk guys.
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I’ve met him a couple of times and bro is a sweetheart. I’ve also met Talbot and he’s pretty chill, and they’re always willing to chat for a bit. Also met Eric Lagerstrom once and he too is a pretty cool dude.
The Lionel in the videos is definitely some exaggerated version of himself for the engagement and views; not only does he get attention from those that love him, but also from those that don’t like him, or get frustrated by him. It’s a winning strategy.
I don’t care if Lionel never wins a high-stakes race again, I got on the train many-a years ago, and I’m not getting off. I really like the guy, I find him entertaining, and like I said, he is a really nice person. I will continue to root for him until he retires.
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There’s another point of view to consider, which is how he defines success (consciously or unconsciously).
Consider a false dichotomy: he can live an extreme monk life (say in a training center like Anne Haug), win every race but have zero followers (which would impact his sponsorship, financials, etc.), OR he can be the most successful influencer but have terrible results (compared to his expectations).
I’m not saying his tantrum sessions are completely manufactured to keep the cult following (lovers and haters) entertained - he seems genuine in the moment - but I suspect there’s some of that. He is balancing between the two extremes, much closer to pure influencer than to pure athlete.
So as we watch the annual self-deprecating holiday drama, perhaps we should not take it too seriously; its just part of the act. Just sit back, sip your eggnog and enjoy the show.
If people don’t know this already… I don’t know what to tell them.
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Only thing I’ll push back on. His “terrible results” would be a career achievement for 98% of the pro’s in our sport. He’s only terrible in the fact that he’s not made the top step. That’s his “failure”. He’s not Anna Kornikoaving this. Like he’s gotten legit world class results.
I mean he was “pro youtubing” and still finished 2nd just 2 years ago, so it’s not like he’s lived off his 1 2nd place and then driven to the bank with Talbot laughing at how he’s “trolled” us. He’s gotta be “over” the filming part, but then again it’s also part of his brand now. So I would even go so far as to say now more than ever his vidoes are important to keep engagement/sponsors for his next move- coaching.
But yes I also think there is a bit of “entertainment” factor to all of this. And truthfully it’s sorta “easy” to troll us now. Which is also probaly why it’s gotta suck to having to keep doing it. The “authenticity” to it has to certainly have worn off by now. I think that’s why Eric L and Paula F with TTL have so many followers. Atleast for now their “content” seems “real” and they are sorta filling the “lifestyle” side of the sport, which is a really untapped resource. Everyone else’s content is basically “this is how I train to win a race”.
It reminds me of NFL this year. Aaron Rodgers is sucking ass as a QB and now he’s basically throwing jabs at anyone who’s calling him out. Yet he’s getting paid a million dollars a week to do the same stupid content that he’s bitching about cus now the content isn’t positive all of a sudden about his play. LS sorta is in that space…the “content” is sorta played out. The angle that Talbot needs to showcase really isn’t there anymore vs sorta “play the hits” format. Like how many different ways can we really hear from LS in his yearly holiday “I found the secret…this is why I’m winning next year” videos. But to their credit, the biggest “fans” of his content or maybe the loudest are his “haters”. So whether the content is actually good or not, “we” eat it up.
It’s also likely why the content with other athletes is such a treat/hit. It also allows Talbot’s “creativity” to be showcased…His “bits” with Blu in the build up for Kona this year…that’s funny shit right there.
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Some people have a very bi-polar way of measuring success in our sport, where it’s basically: KONA OR BUST!!!
Lionel has had some really solid wins, and his reach with the triathlon community goes way beyond almost everyone, including those that have won Kona.
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I wonder if this wishful thinking is more viable, whether LS makes this transfer soon, while he is still “in business” or wait until (also soon) he is laughing stock.