Just a couple of articles from back in the day:
USPS to Drop Lance Armstrong Sponsorship
USPS Blasted for Its Sports Sponsorships
Postal Service Shouldn’t Dabble In Sports Sponsorship
USPS Races Downhill and Loses Money
USPS to Drop Lance Armstrong Sponsorship
According to a February 2003 USPS Inspector General (OIG) report, the objective of the sponsorship was to "increase revenue and sales of Postal Service's products on a global basis and to increase sales in key international markets" with a specific monetary goal of increasing [annual international] revenue by $20 million. However, despite the cycling team's outstanding performance and extremely high profile, revenues from USPS international operations in 2003 were actually $12.8 million less than four- years earlier in 1999.
USPS Blasted for Its Sports Sponsorships
The recent $40 million sponsorship contract with the team "does not include the costs associated with sending postal executives and their spouses on junkets to the Tour De France as they have done in the past," said Leslie K. Paige, director of special projects for CAGW, in a statement. Paige continued that the USPS offers "no verifiable evidence" that these sponsorships raise brand awareness in Europe while generating $19 million in annual revenue
Postal Service Shouldn’t Dabble In Sports Sponsorship
From any management perspective, the Postal Service’s sports sponsorships have been an unnecessary drain, if not a disaster – at least for stamp-buyers. Besides cycling, USPS has magnanimously bestowed your postage dollars on other professional teams as well, including the impoverished New York Yankees and New York Giants.
USPS Races Downhill and Loses Money
“Postal officials routinely pedal the line that sponsorship of the cycling team raises ‘brand awareness’ in Europe and results in $19 million in revenue annually. Yet, they present no verifiable evidence of this and, according to the IG report, fail to quantify any impact to the bottom line with any of its sports sponsorships. International sales account for only 2.6 percent of the USPS’ total revenue and anecdotal evidence suggests that the USPS’ performance in the international arena is substandard. Congress, the Presidential Reform Commission, and the USPS Board of Governors ought to put the brakes on these wasteful expenditures,” Paige said.