Josh Kadis is a freelancer and marketing consultant specializing in copywriting, web content, and WordPress production for the bicycle industry.
Posted on 03. Jul, 2010 by Josh in Bike Racing, Sponsors, Sports Business | No Comments
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.
Posted on 04. Feb, 2010 by Josh in Bike Racing, Sports Business | No Comments
The final twist in the unusual contract saga of Fumiyuki Beppu came yesterday, when Skil-Shimano released him from the final year of his deal. He’ll now join Team RadioShack. Despite headlines like “Skil bow to power of Armstrong”, pressure from Lance or Johan Bruyneel would have been unnecessary. Thanks to Andy Webster, that’s been well established in European football (aka soccer).
Posted on 07. Jan, 2010 by Josh in Sports Business | 3 Comments
But just when you thought it was all about the money, the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world passes up $40 million to defend his principles. In this case, the principle in question is his right not to be tested for doping. But the Pacquiao-Mayweather situation brings up an interesting hypothetical: Would you rather see a Tour de France with only minimal drug testing than no Tour at all?
Posted on 29. Sep, 2009 by Josh in Bike Racing, Sports Business | 1 Comment
After the UCI announced that Bbox-Bouygues Telecom and Cofidis would not be asked back to the ProTour – although both are assured of a spot in the Tour de France – Bbox manager Jean-René Bernaudeau wasn’t worried. Other than the embarrassment of getting kicked out of the ProTour club, there’s little downside for these teams. So what’s the point of the ProTour?
Posted on 14. Sep, 2009 by Josh in Sponsors, Sports Business | 2 Comments
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.
Posted on 29. Jul, 2009 by Josh in Bike industry, New Media, Sponsors, Sports Business | 4 Comments
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.
Posted on 13. May, 2009 by Josh in Bike Racing, New Media, Sports Business | 4 Comments
In a recent column for ROAD, I argued that teams and events should more directly serve and monetize the sport’s existing core fan base. One of my suggestions was that AEG charge for the Tour of California’s Tour Tracker website that features multiple live video streams, real-time GPS tracking per rider, photos, chat, etc. And guess what? Universal Sports has done exactly that with its Race Tracker for the Giro coverage that it scooped up from RCS just before the race started. At $3.95 for a stage and $34.95 for the whole race, the Giro Race Tracker is pricier than the $25 I suggested in my column for the Tour de France. But I gave it a shot today, watching side-by-side with Universal Sports’ free live online video. Here’s my analysis…
Posted on 06. May, 2009 by Josh in Bike Racing, Sponsors, Sports Business | 1 Comment
The Kazakhstan cycling federation pays Bruyneel’s program with money it receives from a consortium of Kazakh companies. Those companies are unwilling or unable to pay the federation, which has in turn put the team in financial straits. Luckily, if the Kazakhs pull out entirely, all the pieces will be in place for a new title sponsor to “save” Lance Armstrong’s team just in time for the Tour de France. Even in this economy, that’s a very saleable sponsorship. It might even be better in the long run than if Astana had stayed on. Why? Sponsorship activation and metrics.
Posted on 27. Feb, 2009 by Josh in Bike Racing, Bike industry, New Media, Sponsors, Sports Business | 3 Comments
More than any other pro sport, cycling has taken to Twitter like a fish to water. I believe it’s because the approachability of the tweet fits with the already approachable nature of the sport. As Twitter and other social tools permeate our everyday lives, myths will become human and a pre-humanized sport like cycling will adapt more quickly and naturally than its larger counterparts. In other words, we’ll benefit from the convergence of what Mike refers to as the road version and the raw version.