Breaking Away - "Top cycling teams explore creating new competitive league"

[The fridge in the blue trees]

Yes they have… Google it then… I mean I’ve already said they grew harder which means cycling has a smaller market share. If you think they didn’t grow as hard, show me. You say Rugby didn’t grow as hard, the WC alone generated 500M in revenue.

I googled something too. Highest paid Rugby player in 2025 gets 1.2 million Euros google told me. Or Volleyball., 1,4 millions. For all the mad growth and enormous market share, that has cycling on the brink of extinction, oddly the top salaries in cycling are higher. Market shares? What market shares? The whole market is like 8 billion times bigger than it was in 1970 anyway.

Revenue in cycling is limited to broadcasting rights basically. And the Tour is the one race that makes lots of money. Why teams should get a share is something I can't really understand. Will teams then pay to make up for the money loss races like the Tour of Guangxi most likely have? No. And with the new system all races would make a profit, to be shared with the teams? Entrance fees? Good luck with that, you'll see the Alpe d'Huez with 10% of the spectators we have now (which might be a good thing) Broadcasting fees? That's what Hein Verbruggen tried with the World Tour originally, get some of the ASO money from the Tour, packaging all together, have Tour money come the UCI's way. Unsurprisingly the Tour wasn't happy. Ok, sell those new easy to understand races? A separate package? I wouldn't pay a single dollar for that series, sorry. A turkish lira, ok...Package it with ASO, RCS, Flanders? None of those organizations would agree with that unless they make WAY more money than they do now. Way more, sell their independence for roughly the same amount they make now? Never.

Teams MAKE money. They get it from their sponsors. Be successful, the sponsor will possibly pay more. Or a new one will want in.

Profit from races (well, the lucky ones that make a profit) should go to the organizers. I fail to see how giving the teams money would benefit cycling in any way. Team Vaughters make 10 M profit in 2025? What's the benefit for cycling? There is none. Zero. Is he going to pave roads? Is he going to provide security for races? What exactly is he going to do with it? But but but, somebody wrote a while back, it COST'S teams money to participate at the Tour. No it doesn't. That's included in the budget, in the sponsorship deal they get. Vaughers isn't going to tell EF: We need x millions to pay the salary for our riders and completely forget all other expenses. It costs the team 0 money to participate in any race, that's paid by the sponsor. But Team Vaughters might disappear if they don't get money from ASO? Again, how does that hurt cycling? It doesn't, another team will take over their spot. Cycling is not a team sport, as much as Vaughters would like it to be, and somehow get fans to root for him like they do for the Yankees.... It's an individual sport where the athletes compete in teams. The vast majority of people support individual riders, I like Carapaz, if he goes to Visma, I still support him over his replacement at EF. (Most likely anyway, depends who is the replacement too) The system is unique, but is nowhere close to collapsing.

 

[saunaking]

owners have every right to get the money for themselves.

why not call out race organizers who are doing everything they can to keep all of they money for themselves?

I agree but they just go on about made up bs about how they will make the sport better when in fact its just destroying most events.

Which race organizers do i need to call out?
Whoever puts on Basque Country?
Whoever puts on Catalunya?
Whoever puts on Route de Sud?

There are only 3 organizers that matter and without their events cycling is basically not worth watching. At least they contribute by putting on races that without their cash cows probably would not exist.

 

[Breezy1985]

Yes they have… Google it then… I mean I’ve already said they grew harder which means cycling has a smaller market share. If you think they didn’t grow as hard, show me. You say Rugby didn’t grow as hard, the WC alone generated 500M in revenue.

The Breakdown | Rugby World Cups aren’t adding up for major unions and there is no easy fix

South Africa no longer see hosting as viable and World Rugby is under pressure to deliver for its members

www.theguardian.com

I’m not a fan of sportwashing either, would rather have a different company fund the initial investment, but they don’t find anyone apparently. But I do want to see a change, the business model doesn’t work and the sport is getting smaller compared to others.

Rugby went from a totally nothing amateur sport to something bigger and better. They have increased viewers for the few big tournaments like the 6 Nations and RWC but it is almost totally confined to the same Nations it always was. This growth is also about to bankrupt practically every nation outside of Ireland and South Africa.

I follow both rugby and cycling quite closely behind the scenes and they are very similar in terms of size. Both have a historic set of nations they find it hard to break out of and are always second fiddle to soccer nationally. Both are in a huge state of flux with many teams under pressure for money and Arab countries sniffing around looking to sport wash. Both sports pass totally unnoticed to the vast majority of people even in their own countries and are totally reliant on 1 tournament a year for any sort of notice outside the core fanbase.

 

[pastronef]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1945897139416203403

View: https://x.com/Cyclingnewsfeed/status/1945897139416203403

 

[E_F_]

If UAE don't join I might just have to support it.

 

[Rob5091]

Has the onecycling people been watching the demise of Liv golf?
https://slate.com/culture/2026/01/liv-golf-league-collapse-pga-tour-donald-trump-saudi-arabia.html

With the exception of a few dozen professional golfers who have taken advantage of this geopolitical market distortion to make a lot more money, nobody is better off for LIV Golf having come into the world. Fans have missed out on three years and counting of watching the best players compete head-to-head on a regular basis, and a nation-state has burned billions of dollars that it could have spent doing literally anything else. Whether it continues to spend cash or finally ends this charade, nobody involved should be proud of their work.

 

[Potomac]

But this time, it's different.

Or not.

I wasn't bothered by the LIV, and not bothered by the One Cycling.

 

[pastronef]

Escape Collective writes about Glasenberg and Bakala

From the ashes of One Cycling comes another attempt to change pro road racing's business model, led by two of the sport’s billionaires.

 

[Rob5091]

Plugge talking about a death spiral for cycling too, so the narative rolls on ...
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...cept-simon-yates-exit-and-chase-bigger-budget

 

[Rob5091]

Well, the boys behind OneCycling might not get exactly what they wanted, but there is an interesting connection with your local sports hero becoming a "value creator" and the whizz kids of finance looking to "to transform a passion into an economic engine." One of the men behind NSN Cycling ...

https://sportune.20minutes.fr/charles-leclerc-sinvestit- ans-le-divertissement-les-projets-de-swi-group-et-max-herve-george-en-ligne-de-mire-370832

The arrival of Charles Leclerc at SWI Group is not a simple communication coup. This is a sign that the lines are moving. That athletes are no longer just icons, but economic actors in their own right. That entertainment becomes as strategic an investment territory as any tangible asset.

Leaning on Leclerc, Max-Hervé George gives his band a face, a voice. Together, they draw a future where performance is no longer measured only in speed, but in the capacity to create value, to unite audiences, and to transform a passion into an economic engine.