Chinese billionaire wants to buy the Giro, Tour and Vuelta

[Red Rick]

So apparently, just buying football clubs isn't cool enough anymore among the richest of the rich. This dude, Wang Lianjin, who already owns 20% of Atletico Madrid and also owns the television rights of the Serie A and other events, wants to buy the organisations of all GT's.

Whadayathink?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Errr no.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re: Chinese billionaire wants to buy the Giro, Tour and Vuel

Let him go for it and then put Angelo Zomegnan in charge of all three races.

 

[Jacques de Molay]

Re: Chinese billionaire wants to buy the Giro, Tour and Vuel

Whadayathink?

If so, then the end is near.

http://www.calcioefinanza.it/2015/1...our-de-france-giro-d-italia-e-vuelta-a-espana

Google Translate

Not just football, the Chinese Sports Wanda points to the control of the Tour, Giro and Vuelta

Wanda Sports (formerly Infront Sports & Media), the giant of the management of TV rights not only of football but of a number of other sports, including winter disciplines, as well as active in the production of content, strong tip about cycling.

As it reported by Milano Finanza, the group controlled by businessman Wang Jianlin is considering the possibility of buying the brand and the organization of the three major stage races in the world cycling scene : the Tour de France (now in hand Amaury family, which also serves L'Equipe, France Football and Vélo Magazine), the Tour of Italy and Tour of Spain (instead organized by RCS Sport, the company's publishing group Via Rizzoli , which also manages the Milan- turin, the Tour of Lombardy , the Milan-San Remo, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The first step, writes the financial weekly, has been probing the availability of Amaury. China would start a courtship decided the family of French publishers, however, always jealous of their creatures. In addition to the tour company organizational Aso, it manages the Paris-Nice, the legendary Paris-Roubaix, the Critérium du Dauphiné, the Tour of Qatar and the Oman. In addition to another historic sporting event of transalpine matrix, or the Dakar Rally, and the Paris Marathon. A rich and global business that if it ended in the portfolio in Dalian Wanda could be expanded and exported even in the Far East.

But such a project, of course, focused on the Tour de France, he would be a worthy global reach if it was completed with the entry into the portfolio of Sports Wanda also the Giro and the Vuelta. Three aces in short, that would allow Dalian Wanda to fill and have the reins and the fortunes of cycling matters.

The project to aggregate the three major tours of Europe was a ball of the old management of RCS , which already ten years ago approached the Amaury, but received a polite refusal as firm (it is said that the family patriarch French first he died, he asked his heirs never to sell the tour).

Now in via Rizzoli , things are different and the primary objective of management, from the president Maurizio Costa and by CEO Laura Cioli , is cutting the cuttable. For this the bite RCS Sport (45 million in revenues in 2014) in addition to the Chinese threw themselves Americans Img, historical rivals of Infront, but above all, according to the reconstruction of the market, even the television group Discovery, the third largest in Italy with almost 7% share and the owner of the pan-European platform Eurosport.

Obvious that RCS will not be easy at this time deprive a business thriving and growing. But it could also be envisaged strategic alliance with one of the international players interested in the business management of sporting events. Because Cioli currently seems to have few cards to play to present by 18 December the business plan that must point slaughter of debt (500 million) to avoid the capital increase.

Option that could be overcome with the exploitation of Unidad Editorial. In addition to cut structural costs by intervening corporate area, where still today include 472 employees of a total of 4,007, the same as in 2007 (476) but when total headcount was 6,480 people and the turnover was double the current. A big burden (negative EBITDA of 23 million on revenues of 53.8 million) that so far the company has not dented.

 

[Jacques de Molay]

Re: Chinese billionaire wants to buy the Giro, Tour and Vuel

Oh look, it gets even worse.

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/12/r...in-may-try-to-purchase-the-three-grand-tours/

Jianlin is China’s wealthiest person with an estimated fortune of almost $30 billion.

Should Jianlin succeed in the reported goal of owning the three Grand Tours, he could have a major influence on the future of the sport. A long-standing member of the Chinese Communist party, he was described this year by The Economist as ‘clearly a man of Napoleonic ambition.’

The company’s president and CEO is Philippe Blatter, the nephew of embattled former FIFA head Sepp Blatter.

 

[Red Rick]

RIP Cycling if that's the case

 

[dacooley]

why not actually, that would be interesting to see how it goes. it could give cycling a more commercial future.

 

[pink_jersey]

Re:

why not actually, that would be interesting to see how it goes. it could give cycling a more commercial future.

Hell not...I don't want to see one week of GT's in Beijing, Shanghai or Teda.

 

[Moviestar]

Dutch club ADO Den Haag is in Chinese hands and that's also not a good combination. The owner promises a lot of investments, but Den Haag hasn't seen a penny ever since. They're now in financial trouble as a result of the (false) promises. So i haven't got a good feeling on this

 

[Arnout]

I doubt France would allow major changes to the Tour by a foreign entity, they'll throw it under some sort of national heritage umbrella for sure. The Giro and the Vuelta may be a different case but they're less attractive on their own.

Let's not forget that cycling much more than other sports depends on cooperation between state (municipalities, police) and organizer, which makes it more difficult to radically change the sport - unless what they want is circuit racing.

 

[Velolover2]

Re: Chinese billionaire wants to buy the Giro, Tour and Vuel

Oh look, it gets even worse.

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/12/r...in-may-try-to-purchase-the-three-grand-tours/

Jianlin is China’s wealthiest person with an estimated fortune of almost $30 billion.

Should Jianlin succeed in the reported goal of owning the three Grand Tours, he could have a major influence on the future of the sport. A long-standing member of the Chinese Communist party, he was described this year by The Economist as ‘clearly a man of Napoleonic ambition.’

Urgh!

The company’s president and CEO is Philippe Blatter, the nephew of embattled former FIFA head Sepp Blatter.

URGH!

No thanks. The traditions will vanish and the I don't want to see any of the Grand Tours start in a country like China. If they treat the riders as they treat their dissidents and animals, it's looking very bleak.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

I doubt France would allow major changes to the Tour by a foreign entity, they'll throw it under some sort of national heritage umbrella for sure. The Giro and the Vuelta may be a different case but they're less attractive on their own.

Let's not forget that cycling much more than other sports depends on cooperation between state (municipalities, police) and organizer, which makes it more difficult to radically change the sport - unless what they want is circuit racing.

But circuit racing is what Brian Cookson wants at the moment. That way, he can sell tickets and popcorn and take away that pesky point to point racing that makes the race more attractive, free and accessible but less profitable.

 

[Arnout]

Re: Re:

I doubt France would allow major changes to the Tour by a foreign entity, they'll throw it under some sort of national heritage umbrella for sure. The Giro and the Vuelta may be a different case but they're less attractive on their own.

Let's not forget that cycling much more than other sports depends on cooperation between state (municipalities, police) and organizer, which makes it more difficult to radically change the sport - unless what they want is circuit racing.

But circuit racing is what Brian Cookson wants at the moment. That way, he can sell tickets and popcorn and take away that pesky point to point racing that makes the race more attractive, free and accessible but less profitable.

Where's Cookson saying (implying) he wants circuit racing? Velon probably wants it but I don't take them seriously.

And anyway when they start racing on circuits they'll discover soon enough that it doesn't generate the same interest as road stages and they will stop it again.

 

[jsem94]

Circuit racing might be advantageous in the short run, but it won't be profitable in the long run. It will drive away fans and viewers and thus later on sponsors from the sport as it slowly dies. If they continue like this it will kill the sport and decrease revenue.

Philippe Blatter? Please keep that family away from cycling. For the love of God.

 

[coimbrawu]

Re:

Dutch club ADO Den Haag is in Chinese hands and that's also not a good combination. The owner promises a lot of investments, but Den Haag hasn't seen a penny ever since. They're now in financial trouble as a result of the (false) promises. So i haven't got a good feeling on this

Wang Jianlin and his Wanda are totally different from this case. Wang is the richest man in China and he is not a opportunist. In fact, he doesn't like investing a team. Yes not a team but an organization like RCS or ASO, or World Triathlon Corporation, which he just bought few months ago. And he is not playing football or cycling, he just wants to make money from it. He is a smart merchant, so yes, he will invest many if he thinks it is profitable.

But of course you can doubt any Chinese merchant's ethic. He can hire Philippe Blatter and he can do anything just for money. He is not Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

 

[coimbrawu]

From what I read in Wang Jianlin's interview with Chinese media (mostly Chinese Media), there are some points I can share with you:
1. Wang is the richest man in China. He said his strength in these purchase is money. He has tons of money. Those money he used to buy World Triathlon Corporation is nothing for him. So the offer to ASO and RCS can be too good to ignore.
2. Wang is a smart and successful merchant. He said he never wants to buy a team. The 20% share of Atletico Madrid is just because of good friendship. He said he wants to buy some company owning the TV right and marketing rights, just like Infront Sports & Media, which he brought several months ago, or World Triathlon Corporation. One things he is jealous but can't buy is the ownership of some famous sports, like football World Cup, or Olympic Game. He said he can't buy IOC or FIFA, because it is not for sale. But tour or giro is totally different. Road Cycling is in the trough at the moment. So I think he found this is a mere chance for him.
3. Why he wants to buy the tour? There are no reveal from Wang but we can get some info from his interview. Wang is a real estate tycoon. His Wanda has much commercial real estate all over China. And now, part of his real estate is used for traveling. One of his plan is sports combining with traveling. His company has owned a winter sports game in China. And it has promoted his own traveling company and his own hotel. So cycling tour can be promoted for his travelling and hotel as well. Wait, what's the link between this and buying tour, giro? He said that all the sports game he bought should be copied to China, which is why he doesn't want to buy a american football company (very few guys play american football in China but there are more an more cyclists). While there are some cycling tours in China, so my guess is Wang wants to buy tour and giro. Then copy a tour to China. The tour will be host around some of his hotels or traveling spot. Besides, don't forget tour and giro is profitable. Wang is not stupid to buy a cycling team. Cycling team is not profitable right now, but tour and giro are. Finally, some of the rich in China are doing assert transfer (changing Chinese yuan/rmb into US dollars) at the moment. Buying tour and giro is absolutely one kind of these things.
4. Is it good for cycling and tour/giro/vuelta? Well, in the past few years, many cycling fans want more capital from diff countries, diff areas into cycling. That's why we happy to see Deloitte stepping into cycling and sponsor Dimension Data. You can deny if money from Far East pour into cycling will make changes to this sport. The problem maybe many concern is: Will Wang and his Wanda Empire destroy these GT? Like I said before, Wang is a successful merchant. He knows how to manage a company. One case is the US company AMC, which Wanda brought in 2012. He didn't fire anybody but just made some management changes. And the company was declining when Wang bought and has turned around and begun to profit now. So he is stupid to make tour/giro/vuelta worse? At least I don't see he wants to. And he knows cycling very good well? Absolutely not. But he can manage. He can hire Zomegnan for the head of cycling part. He can also hire Pat McQuaid, he can hire Guillen, or whoever he wants. But you can't predict that right now. The deal is not over and we just get very little info.
5. For who knows Chinese, he can read this interview:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjY2NzgwMjU0MA==&mid=400633791&idx=1&sn=9cf700937a7840a239a174b40b94e75e&scene=1&srcid=1123pGOdhCCl2fSKNirmwqd0&key=ac89cba618d2d976f81851b180af3dbe5e930e26d856800fcfa79465b279808c641b9eb16ddb0188919de18b42d6f62e&ascene=0&uin=MTk2ODk3NDk0MA%3D%3D&devicetype=iMac+MacBookPro11%2C1+OSX+OSX+10.11.1+build%2815B42%29&version=11020201&pass_ticket=XTsyHmUFAyNWhm3nSlBBOMgWbsFkNH4NJmomxkeHKrL4f0iAKG0rIwkK4NHC9ufE

 

[Red Rick]

Does it say at any point that the guy even likes cycling? I think he might make Tinkoff look like Jesus before all is said and done

 

[Arnout]

Re:

Does it say at any point that the guy even likes cycling? I think he might make Tinkoff look like Jesus before all is said and done

That's a better argument against this deal than much of the xenophobia displayed above you.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

Does it say at any point that the guy even likes cycling? I think he might make Tinkoff look like Jesus before all is said and done

That's a better argument against this deal than much of the xenophobia displayed above you.

Exactly. The issue isn't that he's Chinese. It's that he's a plutocrat who doesn't invest in sport as a hobby or fan but in order to extract maximum profit. Such a figure in charge of the main events in the sport is unlikely in the extreme to align with the preferences of cycling fans.

 

[observer]

could be a political ploy. something that cookson has put in the air to put pressure on ASO to adopt his new changes.

 

[Taxus4a]

Things that happens in this capitalism world where money command.

But anyway in Burgos we still consider Campofrio as spanish, even after it was bought by chinesse people...

 

[Tonton]

Re:

I doubt France would allow major changes to the Tour by a foreign entity, they'll throw it under some sort of national heritage umbrella for sure. The Giro and the Vuelta may be a different case but they're less attractive on their own.

Let's not forget that cycling much more than other sports depends on cooperation between state (municipalities, police) and organizer, which makes it more difficult to radically change the sport - unless what they want is circuit racing.

Excellent points. Excellent post.

 

[matter]

Re: Re:

Wang Jianlin and his Wanda are totally different from this case. Wang is the richest man in China and he is not a opportunist. [...edited for brevity...] He is not Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

Thank you for your useful translation but I want to point you to the following link if you use Mother Teresa as an example of moral purity: https://youtu.be/65JxnUW7Wk4
My apologies for off topic.

 

[coimbrawu]

Re: Re:

Wang Jianlin and his Wanda are totally different from this case. Wang is the richest man in China and he is not a opportunist. [...edited for brevity...] He is not Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

Thank you for your useful translation but I want to point you to the following link if you use Mother Teresa as an example of moral purity: https://youtu.be/65JxnUW7Wk4
My apologies for off topic.

well, I didn't know that before. Thanks for your link. It's shocking for me.

 

[personal]

Re: Re:

Wang Jianlin and his Wanda are totally different from this case. Wang is the richest man in China and he is not a opportunist. [...edited for brevity...] He is not Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

Thank you for your useful translation but I want to point you to the following link if you use Mother Teresa as an example of moral purity: https://youtu.be/65JxnUW7Wk4
My apologies for off topic.

well, I didn't know that before. Thanks for your link. It's shocking for me.

Lies.