Rock is, in fact, dead
Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 in Bike Racing, Sponsors
In 2007, Rock Racing was a little-known domestic team that finished 13th in the NRC standings. Their best result was Rahsaan Bahati’s win at the CSC Invitational; their top rider in the NRC was almost certainly the only pro cyclist ever to list “tattooing” as a hobby on an official team bio. But people started paying attention when Rock & Roll Pants Impresario Michael Ball announced that the 2008 team would feature a massive budget increase and several Big Name riders coming off doping suspensions. And then things started to get weird(er).
Briefly… Team director Frankie Andreu quit. Contract disputes with industry sponsors. They didn’t actually sign Chris Horner. Operacion Puerto suspects barred from starting the Tour of California. That whole Mario Cipollini thing. Legal action on behalf of a clearly guilty Kayle Leogrande. Hiring Rudy Pevenage, then reportedly not paying him. Various flirtations with Floyd Landis that ended poorly for everyone. Accidentally registering as a Continental team instead of Professional Continental, which meant that they had too many riders. Running out of money and releasing riders as a cost-cutting measure. Getting sued by ex-riders. The list goes on and on.
After months of uncertainty over what kind of license Rock would hold for 2010 and in what country, the UCI finally announced last week that the team would not be granted a license at any UCI level. Mr. Ball seems to think that he’s been marginalized because of his aggressive personality and willingness to give second chances to past dopers. There’s likely some truth to his assertion, but I draw a couple additional conclusions.
The sponsor shouldn’t own the team. I wrote in more detail about this topic a while back, but the basic idea is that teams, riders, and staff have a stronger safety net when the sponsor is on the hook to fund the team for the duration of its contract. But in a case like Rock Racing, budget cuts at Rock & Republic meant layoffs of team staff and riders – even though UCI rules say that teams can only terminate riders’ contracts “in the event of serious misconduct on the part of the Rider or of the suspension of the Rider.” (see PDF) I have to imagine that was a major factor in the UCI’s decision to deny the team’s 2010 license application.
As always, know your audience. Rock Racing’s strategy aimed to capitalize on previously unmet demand for corporate memorobilia blending Hollywood trash-glam, Hot Topic angst, Michael Ball’s middle finger, and professional cycling. No one’s buying. Perhaps not surprisingly, people who follow bike racing typically don’t have much in common with people who wear $300 jeans with winged skulls embroidered on the butt. I’m not optimistic for Rock’s new bike line, either.
Ball should have learned from the mistakes of Sean Tucker and the United Pro Cycling Team. Instead, Rock Racing followed the doomed model of creating a brand for a cycling team before creating a cycling team.
Even thought it was a freak show of sorts – at least Rock Racing brought some excitement to the table. It was cool when they had Mario for the short while.
True, most involved with bike racing don’t wear $300 designer jeans. I’m sure the intent was to get $300 jeans wearing folk interested in bike racing – though that doesn’t sound too plausible.
In any event, I still give Ball credit for throwing some dough and interest into something he loves – bike racing. I’ll miss reading about the antics he provided.
It was fun while it lasted.
I dunno… The flip side of excitement and antics has been headaches and stress for the riders and sponsors that tried to do business with RR. I agree with a lot of what Ball has said about riders’ rights and second chances, but his own actions have made things more difficult for a lot of the riders who put their faith in him.
[...] his career with Rock Racing, Rahsaan started a bike racing team and created the the Bahati Foundation as a way to encourage [...]
I think Michael’s heart really was in the right place. I met him briefly at the ToG a few years ago. Nice guy, really. I can’t condone what has been done to the riders of this team, but I would hope it wasn’t entirely in his hands to prevent.
The fact that there is still no cyclists union is still perplexing to me.
The work rules and contract stipulations both domestically and at the UCI ProTour level are perplexing. The best recent example of this is the Team Sky fiasco. The fact that Wiggins was just able to jump ship, basically because UK labor laws protected him and Garmin didn’t want to spend the time or resources fighting it is messed up.
Riders and sponsors deserve protection in labor and doping issues.
I’m think Ball completely underestimated the market positioning, as you said. I wish more people had the passion to put there money and time into our sport.
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