Should Pro Cycling Teams Build Stronger, Franchise-Like Brands?

[Carolin Schloßer]

Hi!

I'm currently conducting research for my Master's thesis on fan preferences in professional road cycling and how a consistent team identity (same team name, logo, colors) might influence team identification and fan engagement.

As we all know, pro cycling teams often change names and identities as sponsors come and go. I'm curious to hear your thoughts:

Would you prefer teams to have a more consistent identity (like football franchises), or do you think cycling's sponsor-based model works just fine?

I've created a short survey to explore this topic further — it only takes a few minutes, and your input would be incredibly valuable:


Survey - Professional Road Cycling - Fans


Thank you so much for your time and for helping me better understand what makes cycling fans tick!

Carolin

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

There is one big difference between cycling and football, and that is that football takes place in a fixed location, where teams charge supporters to come and watch. Cycling does not have that and a lot less money flows from supporters, to the team. A lot of the money flow gets stuck at ASO and UCI. Teams don't have the luxury since the sport also, again unlike football, does not revolve around transfer fees (yet). There is less financial margin and teams sometimes have to jump from one sponsor to the next just to survive.

Due to being less popular, one way of enticing sponsors, is for the team to carry the main sponsor's name. Hence the name changes when the sponsor changes. This is also completely different from (most) football teams.

A strong brand makes sense for regions where cycling is popular. If nobody in Sri Lanka cares about it, then local brands will have little to gain by sponsoring it.