Alcohol a forbidden sponsor ?

[fatandfast]

Are beer,wine and alcohol companies not allowed to sponsor pro teams ? Was just looking at some old US racing photos and 4 teams had alcohol sponsorship? I think we still have Sutter Home

 

[Belokki]

Pro cyclists have to limit their diet on alcoohol to be effective, they drink little and would be a bad commercial! It's like doing a tobbaco commercial with cyclists. Not authenthic...

 

[Kimono]

Pro cyclists have to limit their diet on alcoohol to be effective, they drink little and would be a bad commercial! It's like doing a tobbaco commercial with cyclists. Not authenthic...

Pharma?

Sorry, couldn't resist

 

[Anonymous]

However, Colombian Drug Lords are lining up to sponsor teams...

 

[Cobber]

Pharma?

Sorry, couldn't resist

Well.... Amgen, the maker of Epogen (EPO) sponsored the Tour of California.

 

[CiclismoDeCalifornia]

However, Colombian Drug Lords are lining up to sponsor teams...

Thoughtforfood, that is hilarious. LMAO
I’m thinking Tom Boonen would make a profitable candidate for a Colombian Coke Cartel cycling Team, He is a great sprinter and a habitual cocaine consumer.

Team motto can be: “Quitting is for losers!”

 

[philcrisp]

Advertising the sauce is illegal in France. No advertising at the TdF, no point getting involved at least at Pro Tour level.

 

[Bala Verde]

What about alcohol free/low alcohol beer instead:

 

[Trafficrider]

Buckler

One of the previous incarnations of Rabobank had Buckler (alcohol free lager) as a title sponsor, back when that team was manager by Jan Ras (ca 1990). Then I think it was taken over by Novell, then WordPerfect, before finally becoming Rabo IIRC.

 

[ridley]

Interesting observation on the alcohol or tobacco sponsorship. But then neither are big soft drink manufacturers hopping on the bandwagon.

What about companies like Coca-Cola or Pepsi - riders are seen taking cans of Coke on the ride (while others take a different kind recreationally) - ;-)

Was just wondering -

 

[usedtobefast]

Are beer,wine and alcohol companies not allowed to sponsor pro teams ? Was just looking at some old US racing photos and 4 teams had alcohol sponsorship? I think we still have Sutter Home

there was Sierra Nevada Beer recently.

 

[ingsve]

Advertising the sauce is illegal in France. No advertising at the TdF, no point getting involved at least at Pro Tour level.

Ya, thats' the problem Unibet.com cycling team had as well. They couldn't get invites to alot of races because it was illegal to advertise online gambling sites in france. Or at least sites that compete with the french national lottery.

 

[Anonymous]

Are beer,wine and alcohol companies not allowed to sponsor pro teams ? Was just looking at some old US racing photos and 4 teams had alcohol sponsorship? I think we still have Sutter Home

Kostritzer had a DII team a few years back. I think Marcus Fothen turned pro with them.

Their beer is outstanding too.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Ya, thats' the problem Unibet.com cycling team had as well. They couldn't get invites to alot of races because it was illegal to advertise online gambling sites in france. Or at least sites that compete with the french national lottery.

I think what happened to Unibet was they wandered into the middle of a turf war between ASO and UCI.

 

[The_Z_man]

I think what happened to Unibet was they wandered into the middle of a turf war between ASO and UCI.

That's always how I saw it.

As for soft drinks, Pepsi was a sponsor of Gaggoli's team back in the late '80s. Also for a long time Coke was a major sponsor of the TdF. If you look at pix from the '80's and '90's, you'll notice that every rider was drinking out of a Coke water bottle. Also, Gatorade sponsored Fignon's and Bugno's team in the early '90's.

 

[scribe]

Advertising the sauce is illegal in France. No advertising at the TdF, no point getting involved at least at Pro Tour level.

Interesting! American's are led to believe Europeans are much more open about things like alcohol, and abuse them less as a result.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Kostritzer had a DII team a few years back. I think Marcus Fothen turned pro with them.

Their beer is outstanding too.

I second that, about the beer. Have the Jersey too.

 

[slcbiker]

Gitane, a cig manufacturer, used to be a team sponsor. But the rules may have changed over the years.

And Galouises, another cig manufacturer, sponsored one of the first big multi-sport adventure races in the Chamonix area.

 

[rtbenson]

Bell's Sponsorship

Bell's Beer sponsors a MTB team in Michigan:

http://bellsmtbteam.blogspot.com/

 

[philcrisp]

Gitane, a cig manufacturer, used to be a team sponsor. But the rules may have changed over the years.

And Galouises, another cig manufacturer, sponsored one of the first big multi-sport adventure races in the Chamonix area.

Are you sure that was the fags or the bike company? http://www.gitaneusa.com/racing.asp

IIRC there was a Dutch team sponsored by a cigarette/cigar brand in the sixties, Vilhem II?

 

[philcrisp]

Interesting! American's are led to believe Europeans are much more open about things like alcohol, and abuse them less as a result.

We're talking about the French so it may well be a form of protectionism, there was more than a whiff of that about their tobacco advertising ban. (Sorry wandering off topic)

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Warsteiner was the official beer sponsor for the Vattenfall Cyclassics.

Susan

 

[Stani Kléber]

For a long time the season rankings were the Super Prestige Pernod rankings, and during their day the season-long competition mattered to riders and fans.

There was the Henninger Turm race in Germany, sponsored by beer. That's recently stopped.

Several European countries ban alcohol and tobacco advertising as way to ensure smoking isn't seen as "cool". It's common for racing cars and motorbike teams to use different colours when in a country operating a ban. But of course there are ways around this.

Today, don't forget the Tour down Under, sponsored by Jacob's Creek wines.

 

[analo69]

What about alcohol free/low alcohol beer instead:

In Europe we don't really care about light beer. Almost nobody drinks it and in Denmark at least there are no ads for alcohol free beer, but a lot for ordinary beer.

 

[Abdoujaparov]

Or how about the Amstel Gold Race?
Rund um den Henninger-Turm? (albeit discontinued)

Colavita Sutter Home?

They are present

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edit: My apologies for not noticing that both Sutter Home and Henninger were mentioned. I'm guessing there are still some left out though.