Twitter

Pay To Play?

Cycling’s governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), and Tour de France race organizer Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) recently backtracked on one of the key WorldTour reforms both parties agreed to this year. The number of WorldTour teams in 2017 will remain at 18 instead of the ratified plan to trim it to 17, a move which enables continuity of the Dimension Data team’s WorldTour license next year, and quite possibly, the team’s longer-term survival.  But by agreeing to make this exception, The UCI and ASO have set a dangerous precedent and a further potential setback to the sport’s investment climate. Control over the sport’s economic future is at the heart of the matter here, just as we have described in several previous articles.  The UCI and ASO seem incapable of breaking their long standing stalemate over how the sport should be run, and as a result, their...

New Twists on Sponsorship: Good or Bad?

Several new pro cycling sponsorship deals have been announced in the last couple weeks. The first was a commitment from Deloitte – the international accounting and consultancy firm – to be a new “gold” sponsor for the newly named Dimension Data-Qhubeka team.  Then the German grocery chain Lidl made a commitment to add funding to the Etixx-QuickStep team.  These two events share a common thread: the investments were needed to bring specific riders on board. Deloitte believes that Mark Cavendish and his key lead-out men can bring multiple wins and exposure for its brand name, while Lidl seems to think Marcel Kittel can do the same for them. Team sponsorship is the critical financial under-pinning of professional cycling, and it is always something of an economic gamble.  Sponsors come and go with alarming regularity; neither of the above-mentioned teams have the same sponsors today that...