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McLaren Races to the Rescue?

Just as Sky was announcing its departure from the sport a few weeks ago, motorsport giant McLaren signaled that they were on their way in – saying it would join up with the Bahrain-Merida pro cycling team as a sponsor and a reported 50-50 partner in the team’s ownership structure. Such a well-known international brand coming into the sport was quickly hailed as a game-changer for the team, and even for cycling as a whole. The news even caused some speculative observers to wonder on social media if the British-based company might step up to replace Sky as the owner/sponsor of the homegrown team. The ever-changing game of musical chairs in pro cycling sponsorship is one of the biggest challenges the sport faces. So it is fantastic news any time a major brand decides to throw their marketing dollars into professional cycling, given the current downward trend in the sport’s investment...

Canary In The Coal Mine?

The announcement that the Cannondale-Drapac pro cycling team may be on the brink of folding came as a surprise – though it probably shouldn’t have. Pro cycling is almost completely dependent on sponsorship to keep its economic wheels turning, and a sponsor’s decision to pull up and walk away can make or break a team in an instant. Many teams operate close to this financial precipice in cycling’s current economics, so why do some fail when others thrive? Cannondale-Drapac’s predicament highlights an important difference between teams which are primarily backed by passionate and wealthy patrons, versus those which are sponsored by corporations. Patrons typically have the flexibility, and the money to “burn” on their passions and interests. On the other hand, corporations have to undertake in-depth financial analyses and calculations before committing to a sporting sponsorship – before...

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...