Defending the ProTour - Part 1

So the UCI ProTour is off to … a start. With the Grand Tours and a few other races still keeping their distance, whether it’s a good start will be decided only in hindsight. But at the very least, the plan makes sense to Lance Armstrong, who’s called it “the future of cycling.”

Essentially, the ProTour tries to crystallize complicated sets of overlapping events and a constantly shifting group of teams into a coherent league that can compete on the world stage against sports with stronger central management.

Next month, I’ll discuss the potential benefits of the UCI’s intention to sell a package of television rights for all ProTour events. This month, I’ll explain why the ProTour is in the teams’ long-term interest, even if it’s a bitter pill for some to swallow.

Without question, one of the 20 ProTour teams that are guaranteed to ride in the Tour de France and other major races will be more desirable to sponsors than a team that will maybe – or even probably – ride in the races that provide the exposure that the sponsors are paying for.

Now imagine yourself as a team manager. After years of asking potential sponsors to cross their fingers and hope for the Tour, now you can guarantee a berth. Also, you would probably feel more comfortable making long-term investments in your program like a fancy team bus or a promising young rider.

In the past, a much smaller number of teams could even come close to the ProTour’s guarantees. In fact, only seven teams raced the Tour de France every year from 2002 to 2004 and made the 2005 ProTour without a change of title sponsor: T-Mobile (formerly Telekom), Fassa Bortolo, Rabobank, Cofidis, Credit Agricole, Euskaltel-Euskadi and La Francaise Des Jeux.

Two came close – Bjarne Riis’ CSC outfit has only grown since dropping Tiscali after the 2002 season, and the relatively modest AG2R team has raced the Tour every year since 2002, but didn’t make the ProTour cut. But still, only nine major teams have had continuity over the last four years.

Under the new system, 20 teams have been granted ProTour licenses, mostly through 2008. So four years will likely become the standard team sponsorship term, leading to more stable sponsorships – and hopefully to more stable rosters if rider contracts follow suit.

Naturally, the ProTour won’t work for everyone. For a few teams on the bubble, the future is uncertain. How much is it worth to sponsor a team just outside the ProTour’s guaranteed exposure? It will take a few years to find the price that the market will bear for these programs.

With or without guarantees, the business of operating a professional cycling team carries the significant risk of not finding a title sponsor. Although the ProTour may have increased this risk for the bubble teams, it has substantially mitigated it for the top 20 teams in the world.

With many of the events and all the teams owned by different entities, the ProTour cannot please everyone. But by taking a realistic look at the sports marketing landscape and cycling’s place in it, the ProTour will increase the likelihood that world-class team management will become a more stable and profitable business model, and that’s a net benefit for the sport.