Sponsors

A winged horse teaches us about sponsorship and funding

Posted on 14. Dec, 2010 by in Bike Racing, Sponsors | No Comments

A winged horse teaches us about sponsorship and funding

Sponsorship and investment funding are different ways of getting money to run a cycling team, and the lack of clarity around that difference is a major source of the confusion around what’s actually happening with Pegasus Racing. My best guess is that they never had a major sponsor on board for their would-be ProTour squad. Instead, they found someone who agreed to fund the team until they could sign a sponsor. Then that investor decided to do something else with his money.

Team Schleck coming in 2011

Posted on 03. Jul, 2010 by in Bike Racing, Sponsors, Sports Business | No Comments

Team Schleck coming in 2011

It looks like Andy Schleck and Fabian Cancellara won’t be teammates next season. Instead, Andy and his brother Frank will ride for a Luxembourg-based team that they’re launching with a couple of other former Riis Cycling employees. I wrote a couple months ago in my column for ROAD Magazine about the idea of teams built around star riders. Check it out.

The relative merits of cannibalism

Posted on 14. Jun, 2010 by in Bike industry, Marketing, Sponsors | 4 Comments

The relative merits of cannibalism

Despite the legend of its namesake, Eddy Merckx Cycles NV is a small company. And if you’re small, you do what you have to do to get attention. But is a shock campaign the right approach? Sort of.

Rock is, in fact, dead

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by in Bike Racing, Sponsors | 4 Comments

Rock is, in fact, dead

After months of uncertainty over what kind of license Rock Racing 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 international level. Team owner Michael 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.

1909 Coca-Cola ad with six-day rider

Posted on 15. Dec, 2009 by in Marketing, Sponsors | No Comments

1909 Coca-Cola ad with six-day rider

When I first went into a six-day race I took a jug of Coca-Cola to New York with me and drank it all the time I was there. I won the championship and came out of that great contest ten pounds heavier than when I went in. After that experience I have never been without Coca-Cola, because it keeps me fresh, but does not stimulate and then leave me all broken up.

Cycling sponsorship: The short answer

Posted on 06. Oct, 2009 by in Sponsors | 3 Comments

Cycling sponsorship: The short answer

I know a guy in the ad network business who’s involved with a pro cycling team. Let’s call him Markus. After offering me an opportunity to work with said team, which I couldn’t accept due to other commitments, he sent me this email about how small cycling really is. Here’s my response…

Debunking traditional sponsorship measurement

Posted on 14. Sep, 2009 by in Sponsors, Sports Business | 3 Comments

Debunking traditional sponsorship measurement

If you’re running a cycling team (or anything else that relies on sponsorship), the traditional centerpiece of the post-season report that you send to your sponsor is an approximation of how much “exposure” the sponsor received. The most basic unit of measurement is the impression. What evolved from calculating impressions was calculating media value. Unfortunately, there’s not much substance to either.

What social media can’t tell you

Posted on 29. Jul, 2009 by in Bike industry, New Media, Sponsors, Sports Business | 4 Comments

What social media can’t tell you

Robert Gourley of Mojave Interactive recently posted this analysis of social media performance during the Tour de France for Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, and Cervélo. What the study fails to address is that Cervélo is a title sponsor of Cervélo TestTeam, whereas Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale are the bike sponsors of Astana, Saxo Bank, and Liquigas. The way I see it, metrics like those used by Mojave are extremely valuable but I think they’re much more useful when tracking single brand’s social media footprint over time.

Tour de France team & sponsor video battle!

Posted on 22. Jul, 2009 by in Bike Racing, Bike industry, New Media, Sponsors | 3 Comments

Tour de France team & sponsor video battle!

Especially during the Tour, teams and sponsors are generating some interesting documentary-style video coverage of pro cycling. But who’s got the best content? Let’s figure it out! I’ve posted sample videos below from five well known teams and brands. Watch them – or better yet, use the links to check out the full series – and complete the poll to give each a rating. Then vote for your favorite. Voting will be open until the end of the Tour and I’ll post the results next week.

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