The marketing manager of the Red Bull’s western business unit (who the company declined to name) worked with Vancouver-based Hangman Productions, which managed the flight deck and the competition on all four stops of the tour, and Ocean Watch, which coordinated the live video show. The team worked together for nine months, coordinating logistical and production concerns and meeting with the City of Long Beach on a monthly basis to vet all event details. The day of the actual event, the team hired hundreds of staffers to help with tasks like managing information booths, handling security, and helping transport the 34 human-powered aircraft in the competition.
The event holds promotional power after its close, as Red Bull often uses footage of the competition in advertisements. This year, the company will also broadcast “On the Wings of Glory,” a reality show focusing on Red Bull Flugtag Twin Cities, the second stop of the U.S. tour and site of the competition’s new record-breaking 207-foot flight. The show will air on Sundays on Fox Sports Networks starting September 5.
The fourth and final leg of the Red Bull Flugtag U.S. tour hits Philadelphia on September 4.
