Chinese billionaire wants to buy the Giro, Tour and Vuelta

[Susan Westemeyer]

Stay on topic, please.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

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.

New cars too.

 

[hfer07]

At some point, this can happen-like it or not- the new money will take over & there is nothing that can stop it.

I wouldn't mind as long as the Investment respects the integrity of the races & their formats while generating revenues for the teams and the riders- which are the ones in most need for an stable environment.

 

[timmers]

Re:

At some point, this can happen-like it or not- the new money will take over & there is nothing that can stop it.

I wouldn't mind as long as the Investment respects the integrity of the races & their formats while generating revenues for the teams and the riders- which are the ones in most need for an stable environment.

Do you know any World Tour riders? The ones I know are living the good life compared to normal people like me who can't get 40hrs work a week. I would swap places in a flash!. They know when they start that it is unlikely that they will have a guaranteed income much past the mid thirties from riding. A few allegedly overpaid riders like Sagan and Contador has raised the expectations beyond what is realistic for a minority sport!

Teams revenues is from sponsorship and associated opportunities. Team Owners/Managers need to balance revenue against expenditure!

This aside I will be disappointed if the Giro or any national race is owned by foreigners!

 

[staubsauger]

It may be better if a Chinese businessman buys RCS instead of ASO controlling everything in the future. But it's a gamble. It ain't no dream scenario either.

As someone already mentioned. The Vuelta stayed with it's newly created own characteristic when ASO took over Unipublic. Maybe ASO would force the Giro to become a pure climbers race again, like in the years when Pantani and Simoni used to win it.

That would be something I would certainly appreciate has Italy as so many beautiful, hard cols that France and Spain just can't offer in that dimension. It should be a pure climbers race every now and then from pov.

 

[hfer07]

Re: Re:

At some point, this can happen-like it or not- the new money will take over & there is nothing that can stop it.

I wouldn't mind as long as the Investment respects the integrity of the races & their formats while generating revenues for the teams and the riders- which are the ones in most need for an stable environment.

Do you know any World Tour riders? The ones I know are living the good life compared to normal people like me who can't get 40hrs work a week. I would swap places in a flash!. They know when they start that it is unlikely that they will have a guaranteed income much past the mid thirties from riding. A few allegedly overpaid riders like Sagan and Contador has raised the expectations beyond what is realistic for a minority sport!

Teams revenues is from sponsorship and associated opportunities. Team Owners/Managers need to balance revenue against expenditure!

This aside I will be disappointed if the Giro or any national race is owned by foreigners!

The salaries/revenues of cyclists compared to other professional sports still extremely low, considering how tough the sport is, with all the sacrifices & traveling to be made in order to earn a decent contract that may only last 2 years-and let alone injuries & illness. BTW Names like Contador & Sagan- perhaps Froome and the top 5 in the sport are the exception when you look at the overall number of licensed professional riders- IOW there are 5 riders earning "good salaries" among 1000 colleagues? As far as Team revenues- its all about "long term" stability, since -as you mentioned- it's based on sponsorship and not institutionalized like football (soccer) Basketball, etc. - so it will always "depend" on external circunstancies to be sustainable.

On topic - if a billionaire - Chinese, Russian, Mexican, Canadian, whatever - is willing to buy out an Old model and reinvent it in a way that is structured better where salaries for the average rider are risen & teams are built with a long term commitment due to share revenues- then I'm ALL FOR IT!! - then perhaps you should quit your work & join Cycling full time

 

[timmers]

Re: Re:

At some point, this can happen-like it or not- the new money will take over & there is nothing that can stop it.

I wouldn't mind as long as the Investment respects the integrity of the races & their formats while generating revenues for the teams and the riders- which are the ones in most need for an stable environment.

Do you know any World Tour riders? The ones I know are living the good life compared to normal people like me who can't get 40hrs work a week. I would swap places in a flash!. They know when they start that it is unlikely that they will have a guaranteed income much past the mid thirties from riding. A few allegedly overpaid riders like Sagan and Contador has raised the expectations beyond what is realistic for a minority sport!

Teams revenues is from sponsorship and associated opportunities. Team Owners/Managers need to balance revenue against expenditure!

This aside I will be disappointed if the Giro or any national race is owned by foreigners!

The salaries/revenues of cyclists compared to other professional sports still extremely low, considering how tough the sport is, with all the sacrifices & traveling to be made in order to earn a decent contract that may only last 2 years-and let alone injuries & illness. BTW Names like Contador & Sagan- perhaps Froome and the top 5 in the sport are the exception when you look at the overall number of licensed professional riders- IOW there are 5 riders earning "good salaries" among 1000 colleagues? As far as Team revenues- its all about "long term" stability, since -as you mentioned- it's based on sponsorship and not institutionalized like football (soccer) Basketball, etc. - so it will always "depend" on external circunstancies to be sustainable.

On topic - if a billionaire - Chinese, Russian, Mexican, Canadian, whatever - is willing to buy out an Old model and reinvent it in a way that is structured better where salaries for the average rider are risen & teams are built with a long term commitment due to share revenues- then I'm ALL FOR IT!! - then perhaps you should quit your work & join Cycling full time

This is often suggested but I suspect is not necessarily correct. American football, basketball, football and baseball have extremes in salary compared to many other sports. Most pros live in Europe so travel to races is not a significant issue. I would be surprised if a billionaire who is buying an event is going to raise salaries for WT riders. I wait with interest to see the new model as I think that the existing model for races is sustainable. The overspending by teams for riders has exceeded the sponsorship and that is the problem plus the misplaced desire by some to extend the calendar outside Feb-Oct. One of the consequences of this increased travel for riders!

Unfortunately I am in the same position as many riders and don't have a right (or the ability) to ride for a living! Cheers

 

[coimbrawu]

IMG and Discovery Communities are also bidding for Giro (but the news come from the same source: Milano Finanza):
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/racing/giro-ditalia/discovery-make-return-cycling-by-buying-giro-ditalia-203984

 

[staubsauger]

Discovery ain't no bad option from my pov. At least the Giro's gonna stay on Eurosport in that scenario.